Seattle Mariners: Three realistic free agents targets
While the Seattle Mariners wait on more of their top young talent, these three free agent targets could help improve the 2021 roster.
The Seattle Mariners enter the 2020-2021 offseason in a unique situation. Many of their top-ranked prospects are knocking on the door of the major leagues, the financial situation in Seattle is in a great place, and the current major league roster is on the verge of competing for a playoff spot in a division open for the taking.
Handing out a few big contracts this winter and going for it in 2021 is a viable option, but it’s not going to happen. The Seattle Mariners are in a good position and there’s no sense in deviating from their long-term goals and going all in quite yet.
General manager Jerry Dipoto has routinely expressed interest in adding multiple relievers to the bullpen and a veteran starting pitcher to fill out a six-man rotation, knowing that large investments in volatile bullpen arms and splashy targets like Trevor Bauer are risky for a team on the cusp of competing, but still one-two years away from taking the next step.
The Mariners could also use some help in the outfield. Can the organization count on Mitch Haniger across a full season? Who joins Haniger and AL Rookie of the Year Kyle Lewis in the outfield? Jarred Kelenic, Julio Rodriguez, and Taylor Trammell are exciting young talents, but they won’t be in the major leagues on Opening Day.
Someone like a recently released Hunter Renfroe or one of the likely many outfield options soon to be non-tendered (Tommy Pham?) could be a short-term fix. A low-cost veteran signing, waiver claim, or trade seems like the most possible route to solve that issue.
But let’s look at the current crop of free agents and talk about three realistic free agent targets for the Seattle Mariners.
Multiple teams are interested in Kolten Wong, but the Seattle Mariners should also be in pursuit of the second baseman.
With a number of big contracts off the books and a solid core of prospects arriving soon, the Seattle Mariners would be smart to take a conservative route this winter by adding high-floor veterans to a young roster who won’t block any future paths to the majors or tie up any significant amount of dollars ahead of what could be a pretty big 2021 offseason.
With that being said, let’s kick this off by taking a look at a free agent who should garner a decent, but not over-priced contract in Kolten Wong.
Dylan Moore played admirably last season and is a solid option to begin the year at second base, but adding Wong into the mix makes sense for a few different reasons.
The most obvious reason is his Gold Glove defense. Over the last three seasons, Wong has accumulated 41 Defensive Runs Saved, a 22.4 Ultimate Zone Rating, and 21 Outs Above Average. Even if the defense isn’t as elite as it was in 2018, he’s still an above-average option for a team that has ranked in the bottom half of the league in these advanced metrics from their second basemen.
Wong’s bat is a league-average option, but he can get on base (.350+ OBP in three of the last four seasons), can make some noise on the basepaths, and his low strikeout rates are positive. With a roster full of young pieces, a few question marks, and streaky performers, a steady, reliable bat would be a slight boost.
The Seattle Mariners need multiple bullpen pieces.
The 2020 season was a rough year for the Seattle Mariners bullpen, finishing dead last among MLB teams in combined bullpen fWAR (-1.5) and posting a 5.92 ERA, a league-high 5.08 BB/9 IP rate, and a pedestrian 8.29 K/9 IP mark.
Dipoto has already stated that he wants to add multiple bullpen arms, but not necessarily a trio of the top bullpen arms available. Understanding the volatility of relief arms, the Mariners can piece together a much-improved bullpen in 2021 without spending a significant amount of money, but landing at least one of the top-tier of free agent bullpen arms would give Seattle a reliable late-inning arm they are in desperate need of.
Considering price tag and age, RHP Trevor May makes a lot of sense for the Seattle Mariners. Standing at 6-5 and 240 pounds, May has been a successful bullpen piece for Minnesota over the last four years after transitioning to the bullpen, armed with a high-powered four-seam fastball and wipeout slider capable of handling late-inning duties.
A Washington native, May produced a 47% whiff rate with his 96 mph fastball and held opponents to a .173 average with his slider, along with a 34.4% whiff rate.
Hitters are able to barrel the ball against May and he saw a spike in home runs allowed in a shortened 2020 campaign, but he ranked in the 99th percentile in whiff rate, 98th percentile in strikeouts, and among the league leaders in expected batting average and ERA.
Another name to keep an eye on is RHP Kirby Yates. Yates will likely command a very reasonable contract after an injury-filled 2020 season, but if Yates can rebound, the Mariners have a veteran bullpen arm who can hold late-inning leads and even be dangled out as trade bait at next year’s deadline, seeing as his age (33) hampers his ability to be a long-term piece.
Garrett Richards is a low-cost, veteran option to round out the Seattle Mariners rotation.
Heading into the 2021 season, the Seattle Mariners have a starting rotation capable of being a productive unit, but it appears that Dipoto is going to deploy a six-man rotation to protect younger arms, which sounds like a plan many other rebuilding teams should employ.
Marco Gonzalez and Yusei Kikuchi are the veterans at the top of the rotation, with Justus Sheffield emerging as one of the more intriguing young arms to watch in the American League. In shorter stints and on longer rest, Justin Dunn and Nick Margevicious are decent options to round out a rotation, but adding another veteran to bridge the gap to Logan Gilbert, Emerson Hancock, and George Kirby would be valuable.
If the Mariners want to spend a little more, reuniting with Taijuan Walker is a great option, but after his breakout 2020 season, Walker will have plenty more suitors this offseason willing to offer a more lucrative deal.
Dipoto could turn to another familiar face in RHP Garrett Richards. Of the five starters mentioned earlier, Dunn is the only righty in the mix. Adding another righty to round out the rotation would help offset the unbalance there.
Richards spent his first eight seasons in the big leagues with the Angels, the first five of which under Dipoto as the Angels general manager, so there’s plenty of familiarities there.
Richards is another year removed from Tommy John surgery and adding him to a six-man rotation as he continues to build his innings could be even more beneficial to the 32-year-old starter.
Last season with the Padres, Richards went 2-2 with a 4.03 ERA, a 21.6% strikeout rate, and a 1.25 WHIP, numbers more similar to his 2014/2015 seasons in LA when he was healthy.
Signing Garrett Richards to a one-year deal just south of $10 million could pan out well if he can continue to re-establish himself and eventually become a trade piece to make room for an up-and-coming prospect or pitch valuable innings throughout the year as a backend starter/swing-man.
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The Seattle Mariners may not be overly aggressive this offseason, but there are still smaller moves they can make to improve the roster for 2021 as they wait for their top young talent to reach the major leagues. It shouldn’t be long before the Mariners become one of the more intriguing teams in the AL.