Seattle Mariners: What’s on their post-lockout to-do list
The Seattle Mariners are gearing up for what could be their first postseason berth since 2001. Last season, the club finished the year in second place in the AL West with a record of 90-72, good for a .556 win-loss%, their best since 2003.
Franchise icon Kyle Seager and left-handers Tyler Anderson, Yusei Kikuchi, Sean Doolittle, and James Paxton represent the Seattle Mariners’ biggest losses heading into this offseason. To this point, Paxton is the only one to sign with a new team and Seager elected to retire from the game after a successful career as a member of the M’s.
The Mariners had been quietly making moves to shore up their roster before the lockout was put into effect, signing Andres Munoz to a contract extension, acquiring utility player Adam Frazier, and signing the reigning AL Cy Young award winner Robbie Ray to a huge five-year contract. Knowing Jerry DiPoto, the moves are certainly not done.
Taking a look at the projected 26-man roster, there are not many noticeable holes in the Seattle Mariners’ current configuration of players. Of course they, like all other teams, have room for improvement.
Let’s take a look at what should be on the Seattle Mariners’ to-do list when the Major League Baseball lockout is lifted.
The Seattle Mariners should look to sign Carlos Correa
Ever since the conclusion of the World Series, all Major League Baseball fans have been obsessively pointing out potential landing spots for superstar free agent Carlos Correa.
Carlos Correa is going to the Yankees. Carlos Correa is going to the Phillies. Carlos Correa is going to the Cubs. Carlos Correa is going to the Tigers. Carlos Correa is going to the Rangers.
What if the team that ends up acquiring his services is one that has not been mentioned by the general public as a possible landing spot for him? What if the Seattle Mariners swoop in and sign the biggest fish in the free agent pool and ride on his shoulders to a championship?
It is easy to go on and on about the on-field success that Carlos Correa has had since his debut in 2015. The 27-year old infielder is a two-time All-Star, winner of the 2015 AL Rookie of the Year award, a Gold/Platinum Glove award winner, and, on top of all of that, a World Series champion.
Last season was arguably Correa’s best in the big leagues. In 640 plate appearances across 148 games, Correa hit a career-high 26 home runs, scored a career-high 104 runs, and was worth a career-high 5.8 WAR. He won his first Gold Glove (and later, Platinum Glove), and was able to walk at a higher rate and strikeout at a lower rate than he ever has before to the tune of a 0.65 BB/K ratio.
The Mariners’ infield from third to first currently consists of Abraham Toro, J.P. Crawford, Adam Frazier, and Ty France. That’s not too shabby at all. With Carlos Correa coming aboard, it is a reasonable assumption to make that it would not be as a full-time shortstop. J.P. Crawford is an excellent defensive option at short, while Adam Frazier is capable of bouncing around all over the diamond and Abraham Toro has some versatility as well. Carlos Correa could easily be signed by the Mariners as their full-time second baseman or, more likely, third baseman. An infield of Correa, Crawford, Frazier and France would easily be one of the best in the majors.
The Seattle Mariners have room to add another right-handed power bat
With left-handed bats J.P. Crawford, Adam Frazier, Jarred Kelenic, and Jake Fraley currently penciled in to starting roles, the Mariners could use another right-handed bat with pop to pair with outfielders Kyle Lewis and Mitch Haniger as well as breakout infielder Ty France.
There are still a handful of bats out there to fill a designated hitter/emergency outfield spot on this Mariners club as Jorge Soler, Khris Davis, and even Albert Pujols all remain available. What about old friend Nelson Cruz?
Cruz is 41 years young and still kicking, showing no real signs of slowing down. He split time in 2021 between the Twins and Rays, hitting 32 home runs and posting 2.0 WAR and a 122 wRC+. While those numbers aren’t perfectly on par with his previous performances, they’re still above-average and he remains one of the most-feared power hitters in the Major Leagues, despite the fact that he is also the oldest.
A member of the Seattle Mariners from 2015-2018, Nelson Cruz is a familiar face who had four excellent seasons with the club and is a proven high-profile power bat who hits very well against AL West opponents.
The fit on paper between the Mariners and Cruz is there and the familiarity between team and player may even give them a slight edge over other teams competing for his services. There will be much more widespread interest in the slugger this offseason, as the universal DH is expected to be passed in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement between the players and the league.
Should the M’s bring Nelson Cruz aboard, there would have to be some shifting done in their current defensive alignments. As things currently stand, outfielder Kyle Lewis is set to be the designated hitter on opening day with Jake Fraley, Jarred Kelenic, and Mitch Haniger manning the outfield spots from left to right. The addition of Cruz would push Lewis back to the outfield, most likely in center field, with Kelenic shifting to left field, effectively making Jake Fraley an oft-used fourth outfielder.
The Seattle Mariners should look to bring one more bench bat aboard
The Mariners already have a super-utility player on their major league roster in Dylan Moore. Moore has been an oft-used utility player for the M’s over the past three seasons, playing over 100 games twice and making defensive appearances at every infield and outfield position. Moore will certainly be back for Seattle in 2022, but after struggling on offense and striking out way too frequently in 2021, the Mariners may need to look for a backup to the backup. Enter Chris Owings.
Chris Owings, 30, is your typical journeyman and utilityman. Since a six-year stretch with the Diamondbacks to begin his career, Owings has bounced around from Arizona to Kansas City to Boston to Colorado over the past three seasons. Similarly to Moore, Owings is capable of playing every infield and outfield spot and may still have some untapped potential on the offensive side of things.
In 2021 with the Rockies, Owings played in just 21 games and registered 50 at-bats, but half of his 14 hits were extra-base hits (four doubles, three triples, and a home run) and he put up a .326 batting average. Owings has not gotten an extended look in the big leagues since the 2018 campaign with Arizona, but last year’s small showing in Colorado is certainly encouraging and may be worth taking a look at if you’re the Mariners.
Bringing Chris Owings aboard would jettison one of corner infielder Kevin Padlo or outfielder Taylor Trammell off of the big league roster. Both players struggled in 2021, Trammell to a greater extent, as he hit .160 and struck out in 42% of his at-bats across 51 games. Padlo, on the other hand, made his major league debut last season and registered just one hit in 13 plate appearances between the Rays and Mariners.
Would this Mariners-A's trade proposal work?. dark. Next
Each of Kevin Padlo and Taylor Trammell have options left (Padlo has one and Trammell two), so they can freely be sent down to the minor leagues should a player like Chris Owings fall into the Mariners lap. The versatile journeyman should be available for dirt cheap and can provide value to the M’s should Dylan Moore flop again next year.