Official Hot Stove League Thread

[D-train]

Arod signed on the 6th of December 2000...didn't see it up there, there is no particular reason to wait, other than to allow the market to develop. You don't wait just to wait, then the money would get spend elsewhere.

That was just 2019, the last "normal" offseason.

[Sexymarinersfan]

Sodo pitched an interesting three team trade this morning. I think I'd be on board with this. I like the idea of moving Steckenrider for a bigger piece(s).

[Sexymarinersfan]

The Athletic
Most critical offseason in club history? Mariners primed to augment roster

Nov 13, 2019; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; Seattle Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto speaks with members of the media during general managers meetings at the Omni Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Montelucia Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
By Corey Brock 1h ago 7
Three years ago this week, Jerry Dipoto popped into a room where breakfast was being served at the general manager’s meetings at the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif., prepared for eggs and bacon and likely little else.

But as The Athletic wrote in March, Dipoto, the Mariners’ president of baseball operations, found a trade fit over breakfast with then-New York Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen, a conversation that eventually led to the Mariners acquiring prospect Jarred Kelenic for Robinson Cano.

At the time, the Mariners were essentially at the start of the club’s rebuild, and Dipoto was looking for long-term fits who could help bring baseball prominence back to the Pacific Northwest. In a sense, that remains true today.

But when Dipoto and the club’s baseball operations staff arrive in Carlsbad this week, they’ll still be looking for key pieces to help the team — only they are in a far different place today than they were at the outset of the rebuild in the fall of 2018.

The Mariners, coming off a 90-win season, are in win-now mode and have made it perfectly clear they are ready to spend and wheel-and-deal to augment the team’s roster in advance of the 2022 season (and beyond) when they believe they’ll be ready for prime time.

All of which leads to this question: Is this be the most critical offseason in club history?

“It’s incumbent on us to go add where we can add and improve where we can improve. That’s not lost on us,” Dipoto said. “We’ll visit every avenue to do that, whether it’s the free-agent market, it’s the potential for trade, but we do have payroll flexibility and we’re going to use it to go out and make the team better.”

It’s go-time for the Mariners, who not only have their sights set on reaching the postseason for the first time since 2001 after a promising 2021 campaign, but also the prospect of adding impact players who, coupled with the club’s talent and one of baseball’s top farm systems, could help build a sustainable winner in Seattle.

With the A’s facing a handful of difficult roster decisions and potentially a financial crunch, and if Carlos Correa opts to leave Houston, the American League West all of a sudden, gasp, looks … winnable?

The Mariners enter these meetings with even more payroll flexibility than they had before — which, to be honest, was a lot. Last week, pitcher Yusei Kikuchi all but surprised everyone by turning down his $13 million player option after the team declined to exercise its four-year, $66 million option on a pitcher who had a 4.97 ERA in 70 career starts in Seattle.

They are also well-prepared for these meetings, as the club has spent more than the last month identifying ideal fits — free agent and also trade targets, Dipoto said. This will allow them to hit the ground running this week in Carlsbad.

“As is always the case, we’ve done our due diligence to see what teams are potential fits,” Dipoto said. “We have a pretty good sense where we may match up with teams. We’re really excited for it.”

What are the Mariners looking for? We know this much because they’ve told us: Offense, for starters. This is a club, after all, that ranked 26th in the big leagues in fWAR, 27th in wOBA, 18th in wRC+ and was 27th out of 30 teams in strikeouts.

If the Mariners are to move the needle further in 2022, they can’t rely on Ty France, J.P. Crawford and Mitch Haniger to do all of the lifting. They’ll need considerable help, either through free agency or the trade market.

“We need to get better offensively, there’s no question about it,” said Mariners manager Scott Servais. “We certainly struggled early in the season. That’s the one area we do need to get better … a more consistent offense. You can’t just rely on one or two guys every night.”

The Mariners want to add an infielder — either a second baseman or third baseman — to bolster the offense. There’s a chance with a deep free-agent pool that they can find help there, though Dipoto is certainly well-versed in navigating the trade market for upgrades, too.

Last month, The Athletic looked at a few potential scenarios the Mariners could explore this offseason as they set out to better their team. Adding second baseman Marcus Semien, coming off a huge season with the Blue Jays, is one of a handful of viable options. Could the team also dig into the market for third baseman Kris Bryant to fill the void left by Kyle Seager?

The Mariners will, at a minimum, add at least one starting pitcher this winter and there are plenty of options on the free-agent market to add to a group that has Marco Gonzales, Chris Flexen and Logan Gilbert returning. Marcus Stroman, Anthony DeSclafani and Jon Gray could be fits.

Seattle could certainly add a second starter this winter — and let’s not forget the work Tyler Anderson, a free agent, did for the team last season — though the Mariners don’t want to roadblock a trio of their minor-league starters (Matt Brash, George Kirby and Brandon Williamson) who could be ready to join the rotation during the 2022 season.

Whereas in the past, Dipoto has used these meetings to talk in person with other teams about potential trade fits, he indicated that the club could actually be more active in talks about free agents in Carlsbad.

In addition to an impact bat for the infield and a starting pitcher (or two), the Mariners would like to add an outfielder, and a left-handed hitter preferably. The ability to play center field is important since the team still needs to see a healthy Kyle Lewis (limited to 112 games by injury) and would rather let Kelenic play left field.

And even if top prospect outfielder Julio Rodriguez is beating down the door, the Mariners can use the outfield help. And there are always DH at-bats that can be given to an outfielder as well. Dipoto said he’s already talked with first baseman Evan White about getting work with the outfielders (in addition to first base) in spring training.

The Mariners value versatility, so don’t be surprised if they sign or trade for a player they can move around. Chris Taylor, a homegrown player who made it big with the Dodgers, is a free agent who could be a player of interest for the Mariners. He would probably be best off at second base, but you could run him out to the outfield. Potentially complicating Taylor’s status is that he was given a qualifying offer from the Dodgers on Sunday.

Another player no one is really talking about who could help a short bench is free agent Leury Garcia, who played six positions and was a key cog in the White Sox’s 93-win season — including 26 games in center field. And he’s a switch hitter.

“In today’s game, that is incredibly valuable,” Dipoto said of a versatile roster.

The one thing the Mariners won’t do this week or the rest of the offseason, according to Dipoto, is break up their core of top prospects for trade bait — no matter how tempting it may be.

That means guys like Rodriguez, Brash, Kirby and shortstop Noelvi Marte are likely off-limits, though other players could get some hits — like pitchers Levi Stoudt and Williamson, for example.

“I would say it goes further than (the top) 10,” Dipoto said. “We’ll get hits on the guys at the top of the system, but will also get hits on guys in the 15 to 25 range.”

“There’s no scenario where we will move the top prospects in our system, the guys who are prominent in our system. (But) if there is an opportunity to add a player to be with the Mariners for more than a year, it will create a conversation for us in (Carlsbad) and as the offseason progresses.”

(Photo of Jerry Dipoto: Joe Camporeale / USA Today)

What did you think of this story?

MEH

SOLID

AWESOME
Corey Brock is the staff writer for The Athletic covering the Seattle Mariners. A native Washingtonian, he has over 20 years experience covering baseball for newspapers and for MLB.com. Follow Corey on Twitter @CoreyBrockMLB.

7 COMMENTS
Add a comment...
Gerry O.
1h ago
I didn’t track what happened to Hancock that takes him out of the top prospects. Did he get hurt?



Corey Brock
STAFF
1h ago
He’s still in that group. Had some minor stuff this season.


Chris D.
1h ago
Hey Corey,

Do you see the Ms kicking the tires on Rodon now that Chicago failed to give him a QO? He's an injury risk for sure, but when he's right, he's quite talented.



Corey Brock
STAFF
57m ago
Talented for sure. I never got a clear idea what happened late in the year - if that was fatigue or more.


Ben S.
1h ago
Interesting comment at the end there by Dipoto saying "we won't move guys at the top" but also "if it there is an opportunity to add a player with more than a year". You laid out your list of who was off-limits, out of curiosity, did Dipoto mention those names or is that you guessing?

Seems like Jerry is kind of leaving the term "top prospects" a little vague for a purpose, and the last part of that comment "more than a year" is him cracking that door.

Leury is interesting. He's a nice super utility if the price is right but he's a career .666 OPS guy at age 31, so I have to question how much of an upgrade he is on the bench when we basically already have Toro/Moore filling those roles. Seems like the old type of "well this is what we can afford" move from the Mariners.

Again, I would love to see an analytical, data first review of Semien as a 31 year old 2B in Seattle. This is disaster to me. He simply doesn't hit in two ball parks he'd play almost 100 games in. Plus the fact we have to over-bid to get him, this has red flags all over it.

3


Corey Brock
STAFF
56m ago
I think Garcia is a complimentary piece and is an upgrade for the bench who offers more than Toro or Moore.


BL D.
4m ago
I'm excited to see what they come up with this week. Hope it's a top notch SP and a few big bats.

Fuck yeah!!!! Thats what I've been saying. They've identified a core group of prospects and are holding onto them tight. I love this!!!

So much for all those JRam and Reynolds trade ideas!

[D-train]

Sodo pitched an interesting three team trade this morning. I think I'd be on board with this. I like the idea of moving Steckenrider for a bigger piece(s).

LOVE it from our end.

[Sexymarinersfan]

Sodo pitched an interesting three team trade this morning. I think I'd be on board with this. I like the idea of moving Steckenrider for a bigger piece(s).

LOVE it from our end.

It also sounds like we are going to be a lot more active in FA rather than trades. Not saying we won't make a couple of swaps. That's also grlood to know.

[Donn Beach]

Arod signed on the 6th of December 2000...didn't see it up there, there is no particular reason to wait, other than to allow the market to develop. You don't wait just to wait, then the money would get spend elsewhere.

That was just 2019, the last "normal" offseason.

Scott Boras is a pretty interesting guy, I think he is also misunderstood. Fans always seem to view him as some sort of enemy, Boras doesn't see his role as trying to squeeze money for his clients, his role is trying to help deliver a championship to a fanbase. If you look at a lot of what he says, I don't think there be a lot of disagreement actually, particularly with like bpj. Its about the money, sure, he isn't going to deliver it on the cheap, but if you really want to win, he is the guy to go to.

Boras is an entire baseball corporation, and its interesting he only deals in baseball. I think a player going with Boras is more of a lifestyle decision than just being about their contract. Its an entire process, with his training facilities, they work with their clients on training, diet, phycology.

Nobody is more analytical than scot boras

"Don't bring me mass analytics," barks Boras.

"This analytic cap is a false dimension in the game because everyone knows you're not winning without a core three-four-five (hitters) in the lineup," Boras continues. "What we've done, we've gone in and assessed without the negatives, our own algorithms for value. We don't publish them. We don't talk about it. The reason I don't publish them is because I go to teams and say, 'Look, we're going to talk about the truth here. You have a hole. You need offense.'"

that is what he sells, a plan to win...and I think if you looked, his clients tend to perform. He supplies quality ballplayers to help teams win, isn't that what we want?

[GL_Storm]

Sodo pitched an interesting three team trade this morning. I think I'd be on board with this. I like the idea of moving Steckenrider for a bigger piece(s).

Most of the time I sort of laugh at these trade ideas our boy Curtis throws out there. But this one is reasonably well thought out. I think the Cubs would need some sweetener, but the basic idea makes sense for all three teams so long as the Cubs are going more in the tanking direction for 2022.

[Sexymarinersfan]

Sodo pitched an interesting three team trade this morning. I think I'd be on board with this. I like the idea of moving Steckenrider for a bigger piece(s).

Most of the time I sort of laugh at these trade ideas our boy Curtis throws out there. But this one is reasonably well thought out. I think the Cubs would need some sweetener, but the basic idea makes sense for all three teams so long as the Cubs are going more in the tanking direction for 2022.

I was thinking that too. Cade Marlowe?

[GL_Storm]

Sodo pitched an interesting three team trade this morning. I think I'd be on board with this. I like the idea of moving Steckenrider for a bigger piece(s).

Most of the time I sort of laugh at these trade ideas our boy Curtis throws out there. But this one is reasonably well thought out. I think the Cubs would need some sweetener, but the basic idea makes sense for all three teams so long as the Cubs are going more in the tanking direction for 2022.

I was thinking that too. Cade Marlowe?

Yeah, something like that, lower level guys with upside. Add a little quantity to the deal to at least make it look better from the Cubbies' perspective.

[D-train]

1st FA signing on the books!