The Mariners are identified to be in search of infield upgrades this offseason and have been exploring the commerce market as a part of that pursuit. Adam Jude of the Seattle Instances stories that the membership has had some commerce discussions with the Phillies about Alec Bohm and with the Cubs about Nico Hoerner.
The Seattle infield is prone to be considerably completely different in 2025 than it was in 2024. Ty France was traded to the Reds final 12 months. Justin Turner grew to become a free agent at season’s finish. The Mariners additionally turned down a membership possibility on Jorge Polanco and non-tendered Josh Rojas. That leaves them J.P. Crawford at quick at query marks elsewhere. Current reporting has urged they could be comfy with Dylan Moore and Ryan Bliss overlaying second base till prospect Cole Younger is prepared, however even in that case, the corners would have to be addressed. Luke Raley is an possibility at first base however he is also within the nook outfield combine and would doubtless have to be platooned anyway, for the reason that lefty swinger is much better in opposition to righties.
Regardless of the necessity, the M’s had been by no means prone to be enormous gamers in free company. As proven in MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, Seattle has by no means given a free agent place participant greater than the $24MM they gave to Mitch Garver within the period with Jerry Dipoto main the entrance workplace. Moreover, whereas the membership is planning for a payroll bump relative to final 12 months, it’s anticipated to be pretty modest. RosterResource initiatives the membership to have already got a reasonably related spending outlay subsequent 12 months as they did in 2024, so it doesn’t seem a serious splash on somebody like Alex Bregman or Willy Adames is probably going.
All these elements, in addition to Dipoto’s “Dealer Jerry” repute for being aggressive on the commerce market, have pointed that to being the doubtless path ahead. As such, the talks about Bohm and Hoerner are pretty logical developments, although a commerce truly coming collectively will not be doubtless with both.
The Phillies wish to shake up their roster and Bohm is among the logical commerce candidates they’ve. Lots of their place gamers are veterans who’re pretty cemented in place, both as a consequence of their key contributions, their contracts or each. Bohm, alternatively, is a stable however not elite participant who’s managed through the arbitration system by means of 2026.
Bohm is coming off a 2024 season through which he hit .280/.332/.448 for a wRC+ of 115, his finest offensive efficiency in a full season to date in his profession. Nonetheless, he did so in lopsided vogue, hitting .295/.348/.482 within the first half for a 128 wRC+ and .251/.299/.382 within the second half for a 90 wRC+. He’s additionally been a bit higher in opposition to lefties in his profession, which continued in 2024. He hit .287/.335/.473 with the platoon benefit for a 123 wRC+ whereas slashing .276/.330/.437 in opposition to righties for a 111 wRC+.
Defensively, Bohm has been a little bit of a blended bag. Metrics like Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Common have each thought-about him to be subpar at third base in his profession however nearer to league common this 12 months. He can even play some first base as nicely, that means he supplies a little bit of versatility.
Bohm is undoubtedly a helpful participant and would absolutely enchantment to the Mariners, given their want to cut back their strikeout issues. His 17.9% profession strikeout price is a couple of ticks under common and he’s been ever decrease than that previously three seasons, attending to 14.2% in 2024.
Nonetheless, regardless of Bohm’s utility, it appears the Phils are setting a excessive asking worth for his companies. Per Jude’s report, the Phillies requested for both Logan Gilbert or George Kirby in return, which is unquestionably why a deal hasn’t occurred but. Again in September, Dipoto mentioned that dealing from the rotation was “Plan Z” for this winter. And even when Seattle was attempting to maneuver a starter, Bohm for Gilbert or Kirby wouldn’t be alignment by way of commerce worth.
Bohm has two remaining years of arbitration management left and is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a wage of $8.1MM. Gilbert is projected for a similar wage in 2025 however may be managed for 3 extra seasons in comparison with Bohm’s two. Gilbert has additionally been the way more helpful participant in his profession, having tossed 704 1/3 innings with a 3.60 earned run common. FanGraphs considers him to have been price 12.4 wins above alternative over his 4 huge league seasons whereas placing Bohm at 7.7 fWAR in his 5 campaigns. Kirby has 4 seasons of membership management remaining and is projected for a modest $5.5MM wage subsequent 12 months. He’s additionally racked up 11.4 fWAR already in simply three seasons by tossing over 500 innings with a 3.43 ERA.
Maybe Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski was simply staking out an excessive place for the beginning of discussions and can bridge the hole later within the offseason, but when that’s any indication of how the Phillies genuinely view Bohm’s worth, it might be robust to line up on a deal.
For the Cubs, Hoerner additionally is sensible as a commerce candidate for a couple of causes. That membership has a crowded place participant combine however there are difficulties in buying and selling lots of them. Dansby Swanson, Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ have full no-trade clauses. Cody Bellinger’s opt-out makes it troublesome to line up with one other membership, given the potential draw back for the buying crew. Michael Busch and Pete Crow-Armstrong simply took steps ahead in 2024 and are nonetheless reasonably priced and controllable. Isaac Paredes was simply acquired from the Rays a couple of months in the past and his commerce worth doubtless dropped a bit since he struggled after that swap.
Hoerner, alternatively, is likely to be extra helpful to a different membership. He got here up as a shortstop however has been moved to second base in deference to Swanson. The defensive metrics have preferred his work on the keystone however another crew would possibly think about him a viable shortstop if given the possibility. Offensively, he’s been only a bit above common in his profession, hitting .278/.338/.381 for a 102 wRC+. He’s additionally stolen not less than 20 bases in every of the previous three years. He’ll make $11.5MM in 2025 and $12MM in 2026 as a part of the extension he signed final 12 months.
Going into the winter, there was an argument for the Cubs to commerce Hoerner for pitching, thus opening up second base for a prospect comparable to Matt Shaw or James Triantos. Nonetheless, Hoerner underwent flexor tendon surgical procedure in October, which complicates the opportunity of a commerce coming collectively considerably. His restoration timeline remains to be unsure, which is able to make it exhausting for the Cubs and one other membership to line up on a valuation.
His main place being second base can also be imperfect, on condition that the M’s seem to desire so as to add on the corners. Hoerner does have some third base expertise however simply 41 1/3 innings within the majors. He does have a contact-based strategy, with a profession strikeout price of simply 12%, which might line up nicely with Seattle’s plans to enhance in that division.
Per Jude, the Cubs are in search of “confirmed main league expertise”, however the Mariners appear to be extra enthusiastic about dealing from their farm system. Jude notes that the membership has eight prospect on Baseball America’s Prime 100 listing (Colt Emerson, Lazaro Montes, Younger, Jonny Farmelo, Harry Ford, Logan Evans, Michael Arroyo, Felnin Celesten) and will use that stockpile of expertise to improve the foremost league roster. Given the membership’s aforementioned budgetary constraints, penchant for swinging offers and acknowledged want to maintain their huge league rotation intact, buying and selling from that group appears extra doubtless than giving up somebody like Gilbert or Kirby.
Although they gained’t be enormous gamers in free company, Jude provides that the membership stays involved with Turner and outdated buddy Carlos Santana, which is a connection that has been made in earlier stories. Turner is now 40 and Santana will likely be 39 in April, so each will likely be restricted to one-year offers with pretty modest salaries.
