The Mariners are as soon as once more trying to improve their offense this winter after 2024’s underwhelming outcomes on the plate squandered a terrific season from their pitching employees. Unsurprisingly, basic supervisor Justin Hollander tells Jon Morosi of MLB.com that the M’s view second base as a precedence this offseason. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic provides that the M’s would additionally like so as to add at first base. Ideally, Seattle would add one bat to assist out at second or third base — with Josh Rojas and Dylan Moore a possible platoon on the different spot — and one other at first base. Hollander downplayed the concept of including to the outfield, telling FanSided’s Robert Murray that between Randy Arozarena in left, Julio Rodriguez in heart, Victor Robles in proper and Luke Raley as a nook outfield/first base/DH possibility, the Mariners really feel they’ve potential for a “fairly high-end outfield.”
With the offseason simply days outdated, there are in fact just about limitless choices to discover through free company and commerce. Morosi studies that Seattle is among the many groups to have evaluated Hyeseong Kim, the star second baseman of the Korea Baseball Group’s Kiwoom Heroes. Kim, 25, is scheduled to be posted for MLB golf equipment to bid on this winter. Rosenthal lists a reunion with Justin Turner as one thing Seattle might pursue. He cautions towards the chance of the Mariners spending to the degrees vital so as to add longtime division rival Alex Bregman or (to a lesser extent) first baseman Christian Walker.
Kim, 26 in January, hit .326/.383/.458 with 11 house runs, 30 steals, an 8.3% stroll price and only a 10.9% strikeout price for the Heroes this previous season. He’s been a plus hitter three straight seasons within the KBO however is extra of a contact-, speed- and defense-oriented participant, as he’s not thought of to have a lot house run pop. This previous season’s 11 round-trippers have been a career-high. Turner, in fact, completed out the 2024 season in Seattle after coming over from the Blue Jays in a commerce. He batted .264/.363/.403 in 190 plate appearances as a Mariner. His total .259/.354/.383 slash is a methods from peak ranges, and Turner will flip 40 later this month. That stated, he was nonetheless a productive massive league hitter this previous season.
The Mariners’ anticipated deal with infield bats — and their flexibility to have a look at a number of positions — was specified by our Mariners Offseason Outlook. As famous in that piece a number of weeks again, Kim and Gleyber Torres are two notably fascinating choices at second base, and each are more likely to be comparatively reasonably priced. Former Padres shortstop Ha-Seong Kim might technically be a match at second or third base, however he’s more likely to miss the start of the season following his current shoulder surgical procedure and derives an excellent little bit of his worth from his plus glovework. He’d be a less-than-ideal match if the objective is to bolster the offense from day one.
In the meantime, signing Bregman or Willy Adames (maybe with eye towards transferring him to 3rd base) would characterize a significant philosophical departure from the Mariners’ previous mode of operation. The M’s have solely given out one multi-year deal to a free agent place participant below president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto — that being final winter’s two-year, $24MM pact to Mitch Garver. Rosenthal means that signing a $100MM+ deal might be exterior the workforce’s price range, however even past that, it’s merely not how Dipoto has traditionally operated.
The commerce market might current numerous alternate options. The Rays will seemingly take heed to presents on Yandy Diaz, making him one speculative match at first base. He’d align nicely with Seattle’s want to cut back their MLB-worst strikeout price and is slated to earn $10MM subsequent yr with a $12MM membership possibility for 2026. Rays second baseman Brandon Lowe, owed $10.5MM with an $11.5MM membership possibility for 2026, is one other on-paper match. He wouldn’t cut back the workforce’s strikeout price, however he’s a possible influence bat with a number of years of membership management. Cleveland might take heed to presents on slugging first baseman Josh Naylor.
Nevertheless issues play out, the M’s will likely be trying to as soon as once more redraw an offense that has struggled to make contact at one of the obvious charges within the league. Along with tying the Rockies with an MLB-high 26.8% strikeout price, Mariners hitters had the league’s third-lowest total contact price (74%) and have been tied for MLB’s second-worst contact price on swings at pitches inside the strike zone (82.9%). The Seattle lineup truly chased pitches off the plate on the fourth-lowest price in MLB … however their contact price on these swings was nonetheless the third-worst.
