Divish's OD roster projection

[D-train]

Like I said this weekend, Marco has already "Won" the 5th starter spot.

By Ryan Divish
Seattle Times staff reporter
SURPRISE, Ariz. — While we await the warm weather associated with spring training — 60 degrees and windy is considered not warm in Arizona — it’s time to offer the first opening-day roster projection of the spring.

Just three games into the Cactus League schedule, it’s become clear that the Mariners’ 26-man roster — 13 pitchers and 13 position players — is essentially set barring injury.

The position player group is locked into place, with perhaps the last bench spot up for competition. The other possible competition might be for the final spot in a strong bullpen that lost only one pitcher — right-hander Erik Swanson — and added veteran right-hander Trevor Gott.

Starting rotation (5)
Luis Castillo, RHP
Robbie Ray, LHP
Logan Gilbert, RHP
George Kirby, RHP
Marco Gonzales, LHP
The Mariners will go with the rotation they finished with last season. The group could be one of the best in baseball with good health. A year ago, Seattle didn’t have a starting pitcher miss a turn in the rotation because of injury. Given the fickle nature of pitcher health, that’s unlikely to happen again.

Perhaps that’s where there is some real competition in this position group — who would be the first pitcher called upon to fill a rotation spot if needed? If it’s early in the season, the Mariners would likely turn to former starter Chris Flexen, who will pitch out of the bullpen (if he isn’t traded). Flexen will stay stretched out as a starter this spring and transition to a multi-inning reliever by opening day. But if the need comes and the Mariners wanted a stretched-out starter, they could turn to one of their pitching prospects. A quick guess at that depth chart:

Bryce Miller, RHP
Taylor Dollard, RHP
Emerson Hancock, RHP
Bryan Woo, RHP
Miller, the organization’s top pitching prospect, is scheduled to pitch Tuesday, while Hancock, a former No. 6 overall pick, will pitch Wednesday.

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Bullpen (8)
Paul Sewald, RHP
Andres Munoz, RHP
Matt Brash, RHP
Diego Castillo, RHP
Penn Murfee, RHP
Chris Flexen, RHP
Trevor Gott, RHP
Matt Festa, RHP
Could the Mariners have another all-right-handed bullpen? It’s possible given the setup of the 40-man roster and the lack of minor-league options for some pitchers.

Manager Scott Servais sure seems to prefer having a lefty in the bullpen. The Mariners have three left-handed relievers on the 40-man roster. Gabe Speier and Taylor Saucedo made their first appearances in Cactus League play Sunday against the Royals.

Speier worked a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout while Saucedo, a former Tahoma High School and Tacoma Community College standout, retired the side in order, striking out two and not throwing a ball. Both have MLB experience. The other lefty, Brennan Bernardino, is scheduled to pitch Monday. He was signed out of the Mexican League last season.

If the Mariners add a lefty, they’d have to remove one of the right-handers. Festa is out of minor-league options and would have to be designated for assignment. The likely casualty would be Penn Murfee, who has three minor-league option (years) available.

Outfielders (5)
Julio Rodriguez
Teoscar Hernandez
Jarred Kelenic
AJ Pollock
Sam Haggerty
The signing of Pollock, a veteran right-handed hitter who will platoon with Kelenic in left field, and an injury to Taylor Trammell, who suffered a broken hamate bone just before spring training, ended any competition in the outfield.

Trammell had surgery to remove the damaged hamate and will be out six to seven weeks. Kelenic has looked outstanding this spring, hitting a pair of homers Sunday and showing a calm demeanor on the field.

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With Rodriguez and Hernandez leaving for the World Baseball Classic on March 6, Cade Marlowe will see plenty of at-bats and playing time. Marlowe homered Saturday and has shown speed and athleticism in the field and on the bases.

The Mariners signed veteran outfielder Kole Calhoun to a minor-league contract as insurance. But if everyone remains healthy, he will likely opt out of his deal before the end of spring training.

Infielders (6)
Ty France
Kolten Wong
J.P. Crawford
Eugenio Suarez
Dylan Moore
Tommy La Stella
The Mariners signed La Stella to a one-year contract to be a bench player who could fill in at first base or third base and see time as the designated hitter. After a handful of workouts, he was sidelined with a sore right elbow. Injuries have been an issue for La Stella throughout his career, a reason why the Giants opted to designate him for assignment just two years into his three-year, $18.75 million contract. San Francisco will pay $10.78 million to La Stella this season, while the Mariners will pay him the veteran’s league minimum of $720,000.

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It wouldn’t be surprising if La Stella doesn’t make the team because of physical limitations. The Mariners could go with Colin Moran, a once-touted prospect and former first-round pick (No. 6 in 2013) by the Marlins, to fill that role. Moran, 30, has played parts of seven seasons in the big leagues, appearing in 507 games and posting a career .263/.327/.415 slash line. After signing a one-year contract and struggling early for the Reds, he was designated for assignment and outrighted to Class AAA last season.

A left-handed hitter, Moran could be useful as a hitter off the bench or giving Suarez or France an off day. Moran has a career .274/.338/.434 slash line in 1,366 plate appearances against right-handed pitchers.

Of course, there’s Evan White, who’s back to full health after two frustrating seasons of injuries, surgeries and uncertainty. But the Mariners want White to play in a large quantity of games with AAA Tacoma to start the season. He’s still working on some swing and approach improvements that he hopes will yield to a higher contact rate and fewer strikeouts.

Catchers (2)
Cal Raleigh
Tom Murphy
Raleigh was absent from the lineup for the first three Cactus League games, but the Mariners are in no rush since he has plenty of games to come. Catching Luis Castillo’s first start of the spring Tuesday seems like a good day to play Raleigh. The Mariners also want Murphy to play early and often. The veteran played in just 14 games in 2022 before dislocating his shoulder and having season-ending surgery. The Mariners want to get him in plenty of at-bats and game reps, knowing that Raleigh will be the primary catcher in the regular season.

Servais mentioned the idea of putting both Raleigh and Murphy in the lineup in certain occasions. That doesn’t mean Cooper Hummel, who can play catcher as well as left field and first base, will make the team. The Mariners love Hummel’s hitting potential — a switch-hitter with a good sense of the strike zone and some power. Catching is probably his weakest spot defensively and the Mariners are using him there this spring to improve his skills. He could also fill a bench role projected for La Stella, offering more positional versatility.

[D-train]

Hoping for Hummel over La Stella. Given it is only 700k they might be willing to cut him if he isn't healthy...

[Big_Maple]

I would be interested to see if Berroa finds a place in the bullpen sometime this season. There is a lot of buzz around him; I love this article saying the trade for Berroa from the Giants was the worst trade of 2022:

https://www.si.com/mlb/giants/history/s ... orst-trade

And if you subscribe to the Athletic, there's an interesting article on him here:

https://theathletic.com/4251374/2023/02 ... er-berroa/

[Juliooooo]

Hoping for Hummel over La Stella. Given it is only 700k they might be willing to cut him if he isn't healthy...

Hummel is going to Tacoma to start. He’s got options and I think that was one of the biggest reasons they traded for him.

[D-train]

Hoping for Hummel over La Stella. Given it is only 700k they might be willing to cut him if he isn't healthy...

Hummel is going to Tacoma to start. He’s got options and I think that was one of the biggest reasons they traded for him.

Maybe. They keep talking about his value being able to DH Murphy or Cal. It was a good trade regardless...

Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said Lewis (legs) is expected to make his spring training debut by the weekend, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports.

The manager said Lewis has been dealing with leg fatigue, likely the result of numerous knee problems during his major-league career. The outfielder was the AL Rookie of the Year while with the Mariners in 2020 but has done little since.

[D-train]

Lewis still not right almost two years after surgery. He's toast. What could have been...

[GL_Storm]

I was just listening to the Locked On podcast and they were talking briefly about something sourced by Churchill on his podcast, supposedly from front office people that he says he (Churchill) knows. Anyway, the rumor put forth by Churchill is that DiPoto is looking hard at other teams' pitching, and may even want to bring in a starter.

This could be bullshit. I'm not sure I believe in Churchill's supposed sources. But it's not implausible. Maybe we'll see both Marco and Flex get moved along with some minor leaguers to bring in someone more legit. I've no idea who that could be. One of the guys was speculating about Kenta Maeda, but he has no idea. I don't really see that as an upgrade anyway since the guy missed all of last year.

[Donn Beach]

Believe dipoto is always looking at pitchers

Worse trade of the year

. But the Berroa trade was a serious one. It cost the Giants. In a story from The Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish, an American League scout says the trade was horrendous:

Prelander Berroa for Donnie Walton might have been the worst trade of 2022. And it might not be close.

[Pharmabro]

I was just listening to the Locked On podcast and they were talking briefly about something sourced by Churchill on his podcast, supposedly from front office people that he says he (Churchill) knows. Anyway, the rumor put forth by Churchill is that DiPoto is looking hard at other teams' pitching, and may even want to bring in a starter.

This could be bullshit. I'm not sure I believe in Churchill's supposed sources. But it's not implausible. Maybe we'll see both Marco and Flex get moved along with some minor leaguers to bring in someone more legit. I've no idea who that could be. One of the guys was speculating about Kenta Maeda, but he has no idea. I don't really see that as an upgrade anyway since the guy missed all of last year.

1 AL Central
4 NL West?

It is funny they went right into it right as I was browsing this thread.

[harmony]

I was just listening to the Locked On podcast and they were talking briefly about something sourced by Churchill on his podcast, supposedly from front office people that he says he (Churchill) knows. Anyway, the rumor put forth by Churchill is that DiPoto is looking hard at other teams' pitching, and may even want to bring in a starter.

This could be bullshit. I'm not sure I believe in Churchill's supposed sources. But it's not implausible. Maybe we'll see both Marco and Flex get moved along with some minor leaguers to bring in someone more legit. I've no idea who that could be. One of the guys was speculating about Kenta Maeda, but he has no idea. I don't really see that as an upgrade anyway since the guy missed all of last year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiKcqipIfWM