M's have an offer on Kim!

[Donn Beach]

Except that's not what his agent claimed was important, it wasn't going to be market size, it was going to be opportunity for Sasaki's development. The mariners like to view themselves as an attractive destination for japanese players. Ohtani at least played lip service to it. Sasaki not bothering to talk to them be interesting. That list really doesn't seem to jive with what Wolf has been saying

[Donn Beach]

"The next steps will be something in the neighborhood of possibly meeting with one or two additional teams, or narrowing the field, which I think may be more likely," Wolfe said, "and whether or not he wants to visit one or two cities as he tries to finalize the decision-making process

[D-train]

Except that's not what his agent claimed was important, it wasn't going to be market size, it was going to be opportunity for Sasaki's development. The mariners like to view themselves as an attractive destination for japanese players. Ohtani at least played lip service to it. Sasaki not bothering to talk to them be interesting. That list really doesn't seem to jive with what Wolf has been saying

The lip service might be him saying development is most important.

[harmony]

Jim Bowden
@JimBowdenGM
Teams that are still in on Roki Sasaski: Dodgers Padres Cubs Yankees Mets Rangers maybe Giants not the White Sox others could be added to list

If Dipoto is not allowed to meet with Sasaki be an embarrassing blow to the organization

Said these teams earlier and got attacked. Mariners are not getting Sasaki. Even he can see this offense is trash

FWIW FanGraphs currently projects the 2025 Seattle Mariners sixth in the American League in overall WAR:

https://www.fangraphs.com/depthcharts.a ... &teamid=11

... including sixth in position player WAR and seventh in pitching WAR.

[Donn Beach]

Except that's not what his agent claimed was important, it wasn't going to be market size, it was going to be opportunity for Sasaki's development. The mariners like to view themselves as an attractive destination for japanese players. Ohtani at least played lip service to it. Sasaki not bothering to talk to them be interesting. That list really doesn't seem to jive with what Wolf has been saying

The lip service might be him saying development is most important.

Only makes sense for him to be concerned about his development, the market size crap might be a little suspect

[D-train]

Except that's not what his agent claimed was important, it wasn't going to be market size, it was going to be opportunity for Sasaki's development. The mariners like to view themselves as an attractive destination for japanese players. Ohtani at least played lip service to it. Sasaki not bothering to talk to them be interesting. That list really doesn't seem to jive with what Wolf has been saying

The lip service might be him saying development is most important.

Only makes sense for him to be concerned about his development, the market size crap might be a little suspect

Why would he make either public....Sounds like ARod saying he wanted to play for a winner after the 2000 season.

[Bil522]

It would be embarrasing for a big market or successful team, but we are neither. Only team to never appear in a WS. Only a handful of playoff appearances in 45 years. Mid to small market payroll. A cheap owner. An idiot GM. The list goes on. Why would Sasaki want to play here when teams who actually care about winning are chasing after him?

Because the Mariners have one thing that no other team can offer.....Japanese and MLB Hall of Famer and Global Icon Ichiro Suzuki on their coaching staff. Just because he asks the M's have had a meeting, as a sign of respect. Now it is the M's who need to put a proposition together to sign him, but that is business. Japanese players will show Ichiro that kind of respect....too bad the M's don't feel the same way and make a legitimate offer worthy of Japanese honor.

[Donn Beach]

The lip service might be him saying development is most important.

Only makes sense for him to be concerned about his development, the market size crap might be a little suspect

Why would he make either public....Sounds like ARod saying he wanted to play for a winner after the 2000 season.

Course that's his agent talking who feels the need to hold press conferences. I would think a significant issue would be positioning him best for marketing. I would have thought the mariners would be reasonable in that regard

[D-train]

2pm PST deadline:

By Ryan Divish
Seattle Times staff reporter
Will this offseason of inaction from the Mariners’ front office finally come to an end with a notable transaction to improve the team’s projected roster?

It’s at least a possibility, aided by a mandatory deadline set by Major League Baseball.

On Friday at 2 p.m. PT, the 30-day posting window for Hyeseong Kim will officially close, meaning the Korean infielder must reach a contract agreement with an MLB team by then in order to play in the U.S. in the 2025 season.

According to various “reports” coming out of Korea, five teams — the Mariners, Padres, Angels, Reds and Blue Jays — have offered MLB contracts to Kim. There was the insinuation that Seattle’s contract offer was less than some of the other teams in terms of overall money, which probably shouldn’t be surprising given the payroll budget limitations set by the Mariners’ ownership group.

But any information coming out of Korea about the situation, including a website loosely reporting that Kim had chosen to sign with the Mariners, should be considered speculative, if not specious.

Kim traveled to the U.S. in late November and was officially posted by the Kiwoom Heroes of the Korean Baseball Organization on Dec. 4. He spent the posting period working out at a facility in Los Angeles and meeting with MLB teams along with representatives from Creative Artists Agency.

Kim would fill a need at second base for Seattle.

With the Mariners opting to not exercise a $12 million club option on Jorge Polanco, making him a free agent, they are once again looking to fill a position that hasn’t been stable since Robinson Cano was wearing a Mariners uniform.

Kim, who turns 26 on January 27, is a glove-first infielder with speed on the bases. At the plate, his lefty swing generates solid bat-to-ball contact, but produces minimal power.

Last season while playing for the Kiwoom Heroes of the KBO, Kim posted one of his best offensive seasons with a .326/.383/.458 slash line, including 26 doubles, four triples, 11 homers, 75 RBI, 30 stolen bases, 47 walks and 62 strikeouts.

While he did play shortstop in 114 games for the Heroes in 2021, earning the league’s version of the Gold Glove Award, he’s been primarily a second baseman since then, earning two more Gold Gloves the last two seasons.


MLB scouts believe that Kim likely won’t be as productive at the plate, facing the consistently higher levels of velocity in the big leagues and the deeper talent pool of pitchers on every MLB staff. Also there was some thought that the KBO used a livelier baseball last season, leading to an uptick in offensive numbers for players.

The Mariners would almost certainly use him in a platoon with either Dylan Moore or Ryan Bliss at second base, limiting his plate appearances vs. left-handed pitchers.

Investing heavily in a player coming from the KBO, or really any free agent, isn’t something that Jerry Dipoto, the Mariners president of baseball operations, can do with roughly $15 million in available payroll for the 2025 season.

If they can get Kim to agree to a multiyear contract at roughly $5 million per season, it would be a feasible signing.

The Mariners opted to non-tender veteran infielder Josh Rojas, who was entering his third year of arbitration eligibility and projected to make more than $4 million in 2025 to free up salary.

Seattle third baseman Josh Rojas gets Detroit’s Justyn-Henry Malloy at first off the broken bat grounder in the fourth. The Detroit Tigers played the Seattle Mariners in Major League Baseball Tuesday, August 6, 2024 at T-Mobile Park, in Seattle. (Dean Rutz / The Seattle Times)

Seattle third baseman Josh Rojas gets Detroit’s Justyn-Henry Malloy at first off the broken bat grounder in the fourth. The Detroit Tigers played the Seattle Mariners in Major League Baseball Tuesday,... (Dean Rutz / The Seattle Times)More
Kim is essentially a younger and faster version of Rojas with less positional versatility.

Fittingly, Rojas reached an agreement Thursday with the White Sox on a one-year MLB contract according to MLB.com.

The 30-year-old utility player posted a 1.9 FanGraphs Wins Above Replacement for Seattle in 2024. He got off to a torrid start at the plate, posting a .330/.395/.482 slash line with four doubles, two triples, three homers, nine RBI, 12 walks and 23 strikeouts in his first 34 games of the season.

He was unable to sustain that early hitting pace.

Over his final 108 games, he posted a .187/.272/.284 slash line with 15 doubles, five homers, 22 RBI, 34 walks and 85 strikeouts

.

[seth8734]

Welp looks like he a dodger according to Korean radio. Wow we aren't gonna Make any moves this off season. Players only sign here to kill thier careers.