Off Season Plan Based on Current Rumors and Dipoto comments.

[Seattle or Bust]

Trades:

Mariners trade RHP Logan Evans ($5M) and RHP Eduard Bazardo ($1.5M) to the Giants for 3B Matt Chapman (-$46M) and $40M cash.

According to MLBTV... this trade with the cash back to Seattle ends up being a wash in value (I don't think Chapman's contract is THIS far under water). The Giants pay off close to half of Chapman's remaining contract in an effort to reset their roster. SF's GM said they will be trying to shed some of the teams larger, under water contracts and trading Chapman would also pave way for Casey Schmitt to start for them at 3B. The Giants are in serious need of young, controlled starting pitching and Evans just looks like a Giant's pitcher. They also traded off 3x of their bigger bullpen arms this past trade deadline and Bazardo gives them an arm to slot there. Dipoto said one of the team's goals is to add a veteran infielder who can play next to Colt Emerson. Despite a pedestrian 97 OPS+ in a '26 where Chapman did not play the second half, he still put up 2.8 bWAR over 82 games highlighting a still plus glove on the hot corner. He also got off to a horrible start in '26 but turned it around before the injury with a June where he hit .241/.355/.483/.838 with 6 homers. The M's were rumored to put an aggressive offer in for Chapman before he ended up in SF and get him now at a much cheaper price.

Mariners trade RHP Emerson Hancock ($24M) to the Cardinals for OF/DH Jordan Walker ($23M).

The M's are also rumored to be shopping from their surplus of starting pitching for a bat and the Cardinals could line up given their need for starting pitching after trading Dustin May and Matthew Liberatore continuing to not work out. Walker, a former top prospect, finally had a breakout year in '26 until a really bad final month of the season. Before September, Walker slashed .288/.345/.505/.850 w. a 134 wRC+. Walker isn't much of a defender, but he can play there and platoon a bit with Montez given lefty/righty splits. The Cards have breakout rookie Joshua Baez to replace Walker. The Mariners send their own former top prospect back in Hancock to the Cards to complete the trade.

Signings:

Mariners sign RHP Jason Adam to a 1-year $7M deal.

Adam is 35, but you would be hard pressed to find a reliever with better numbers than him since 2021. He hasn't posted an ERA over 2.98 since '21 and was an AS in '25 with a 1.93 ERA over 65 innings. In '26 he missed time but still posted a 2.62 ERA over 34 innings. Adam is a bit of a throw back... he's a junk baller with a weird wind up but man do his pitches get movement so his age shouldn't matter much.

Mariners sign RHP Carlos Estevez to a 1-year $7M deal.

Estevez spent all of '26 hurt after signing a big contract with the Royals. He was a dominant closer for the Angels/Philles in '24 and the Royals in '25. He's a large human with a large fastball. If healthy, he's a good buy-low candidate.

Lineup:

1. Brendan Donovan LF
2. Julio Rodriguez CF
3. Dom Canzone RF
4. Cal Raleigh C
5. Jordan Walker DH/OF
6. Matt Chapman 3B
7. Josh Naylor 1B
8. Colt Emerson SS
9. Cole Young 2B

Bench: Johnny Pereda C, Michael Arroyo OF/2B, Lazaro Montez OF

Rotation:

1. Logan Gilbert
2. Bryan Woo
3. George Kirby
4. Bryce Miller
5. Kade Anderson

Relief:

CL: Andres Munoz
HL: Matt Brash, Jason Adam, Carlos Estevez, Gabe Speier
ML/LL: Jose Ferrer, Carlos Vargas, Seranthony Dominguez

[Bil522]

Trades:

Mariners trade RHP Logan Evans ($5M) and RHP Eduard Bazardo ($1.5M) to the Giants for 3B Matt Chapman (-$46M) and $40M cash.

According to MLBTV... this trade with the cash back to Seattle ends up being a wash in value (I don't think Chapman's contract is THIS far under water). The Giants pay off close to half of Chapman's remaining contract in an effort to reset their roster. SF's GM said they will be trying to shed some of the teams larger, under water contracts and trading Chapman would also pave way for Casey Schmitt to start for them at 3B. The Giants are in serious need of young, controlled starting pitching and Evans just looks like a Giant's pitcher. They also traded off 3x of their bigger bullpen arms this past trade deadline and Bazardo gives them an arm to slot there. Dipoto said one of the team's goals is to add a veteran infielder who can play next to Colt Emerson. Despite a pedestrian 97 OPS+ in a '26 where Chapman did not play the second half, he still put up 2.8 bWAR over 82 games highlighting a still plus glove on the hot corner. He also got off to a horrible start in '26 but turned it around before the injury with a June where he hit .241/.355/.483/.838 with 6 homers. The M's were rumored to put an aggressive offer in for Chapman before he ended up in SF and get him now at a much cheaper price.

Mariners trade RHP Emerson Hancock ($24M) to the Cardinals for OF/DH Jordan Walker ($23M).

The M's are also rumored to be shopping from their surplus of starting pitching for a bat and the Cardinals could line up given their need for starting pitching after trading Dustin May and Matthew Liberatore continuing to not work out. Walker, a former top prospect, finally had a breakout year in '26 until a really bad final month of the season. Before September, Walker slashed .288/.345/.505/.850 w. a 134 wRC+. Walker isn't much of a defender, but he can play there and platoon a bit with Montez given lefty/righty splits. The Cards have breakout rookie Joshua Baez to replace Walker in LF and Nootbar/Church to complete their outfield. The Mariners send their own former top prospect back in Hancock to the Cards to complete the trade.

Signings:

Mariners sign RHP Jason Adam to a 1-year $7M deal.

Adam is 35, but you would be hard pressed to find a reliever with better numbers than him since 2021. He hasn't posted an ERA over 2.98 since '21 and was an AS in '25 with a 1.93 ERA over 65 innings. In '26 he missed time but still posted a 2.62 ERA over 34 innings. Adam is a bit of a throw back... he's a junk baller with a weird wind up but man do his pitches get movement so his age shouldn't matter much.

Mariners sign RHP Carlos Estevez to a 1-year $7M deal.

Estevez spent all of '26 hurt after signing a big contract with the Royals. He was a dominant closer for the Angels/Philles in '24 and the Royals in '25. He's a large human with a large fastball. If healthy, he's a good buy-low candidate.

Lineup:

1. Brendan Donovan LF
2. Julio Rodriguez CF
3. Dom Canzone RF
4. Cal Raleigh C
5. Jordan Walker DH/OF
6. Matt Chapman 3B
7. Josh Naylor 1B
8. Colt Emerson SS
9. Cole Young 2B

Bench: Johnny Pereda C, Michael Arroyo OF/2B, Lazaro Montez OF

Rotation:

1. Logan Gilbert
2. Bryan Woo
3. George Kirby
4. Bryce Miller
5. Kade Anderson

Relief:

CL: Andres Munoz
HL: Matt Brash, Jason Adam, Carlos Estevez, Gabe Speier
ML/LL: Jose Ferrer, Carlos Vargas

Nootbar no longer plays for the Cards. He was traded at the deadline to the Snakes and is under contract through 2027. The last month undid a lot of Walker's progress, so to trade Hancock for him is not the best use of resources. Chapman makes Matt Brash look durable, so getting an oft-injured player is really not going to help the M's. I do like the additions of Adam and Estevez. No way in heck are the M's going to not start Laz if he is on the roster. At this point, I think that Arroyo is going to be our primary DH this season.

[GL_Storm]

It doesn't seem like a Mariner type move to take on someone else's bad money on a depreciating asset, even with the Giants paying down a large portion of the contract. It would definitely improve the infield defense, but I feel like the Mariners would still view the remaining dollars as too much risk on a player going into his age 34 season.

[Seattle or Bust]

It doesn't seem like a Mariner type move to take on someone else's bad money on a depreciating asset, even with the Giants paying down a large portion of the contract. It would definitely improve the infield defense, but I feel like the Mariners would still view the remaining dollars as too much risk on a player going into his age 34 season.

I'd usually agree with you.

However, it seems the M's at least made an offer to Chapman in free agency before he signed with the Giants. I've heard Divish mention this multiple times on the Puck show. Now, this is 3 years later and knowing the M's... they likely only would have offered a 3-4 year contract so the 4 years remaining on his deal might be a problem.

That said, if the Giants paid off $40M or basically 40% of the remaining deal... the M's would be paying about $15M a year for the next 4 years which is practically nothing given that you'll expect at least 3 WAR for the next few seasons with some potential drop off as he hits 36/37.

It wouldn't be my first choice. More so a logical fit given that the M's deal with SF often, SF is trying to move these players, and he fits Dipoto's expression of what they want to add to a T.

[Seattle or Bust]

Trades:

Mariners trade RHP Logan Evans ($5M) and RHP Eduard Bazardo ($1.5M) to the Giants for 3B Matt Chapman (-$46M) and $40M cash.

According to MLBTV... this trade with the cash back to Seattle ends up being a wash in value (I don't think Chapman's contract is THIS far under water). The Giants pay off close to half of Chapman's remaining contract in an effort to reset their roster. SF's GM said they will be trying to shed some of the teams larger, under water contracts and trading Chapman would also pave way for Casey Schmitt to start for them at 3B. The Giants are in serious need of young, controlled starting pitching and Evans just looks like a Giant's pitcher. They also traded off 3x of their bigger bullpen arms this past trade deadline and Bazardo gives them an arm to slot there. Dipoto said one of the team's goals is to add a veteran infielder who can play next to Colt Emerson. Despite a pedestrian 97 OPS+ in a '26 where Chapman did not play the second half, he still put up 2.8 bWAR over 82 games highlighting a still plus glove on the hot corner. He also got off to a horrible start in '26 but turned it around before the injury with a June where he hit .241/.355/.483/.838 with 6 homers. The M's were rumored to put an aggressive offer in for Chapman before he ended up in SF and get him now at a much cheaper price.

Mariners trade RHP Emerson Hancock ($24M) to the Cardinals for OF/DH Jordan Walker ($23M).

The M's are also rumored to be shopping from their surplus of starting pitching for a bat and the Cardinals could line up given their need for starting pitching after trading Dustin May and Matthew Liberatore continuing to not work out. Walker, a former top prospect, finally had a breakout year in '26 until a really bad final month of the season. Before September, Walker slashed .288/.345/.505/.850 w. a 134 wRC+. Walker isn't much of a defender, but he can play there and platoon a bit with Montez given lefty/righty splits. The Cards have breakout rookie Joshua Baez to replace Walker in LF and Nootbar/Church to complete their outfield. The Mariners send their own former top prospect back in Hancock to the Cards to complete the trade.

Signings:

Mariners sign RHP Jason Adam to a 1-year $7M deal.

Adam is 35, but you would be hard pressed to find a reliever with better numbers than him since 2021. He hasn't posted an ERA over 2.98 since '21 and was an AS in '25 with a 1.93 ERA over 65 innings. In '26 he missed time but still posted a 2.62 ERA over 34 innings. Adam is a bit of a throw back... he's a junk baller with a weird wind up but man do his pitches get movement so his age shouldn't matter much.

Mariners sign RHP Carlos Estevez to a 1-year $7M deal.

Estevez spent all of '26 hurt after signing a big contract with the Royals. He was a dominant closer for the Angels/Philles in '24 and the Royals in '25. He's a large human with a large fastball. If healthy, he's a good buy-low candidate.

Lineup:

1. Brendan Donovan LF
2. Julio Rodriguez CF
3. Dom Canzone RF
4. Cal Raleigh C
5. Jordan Walker DH/OF
6. Matt Chapman 3B
7. Josh Naylor 1B
8. Colt Emerson SS
9. Cole Young 2B

Bench: Johnny Pereda C, Michael Arroyo OF/2B, Lazaro Montez OF

Rotation:

1. Logan Gilbert
2. Bryan Woo
3. George Kirby
4. Bryce Miller
5. Kade Anderson

Relief:

CL: Andres Munoz
HL: Matt Brash, Jason Adam, Carlos Estevez, Gabe Speier
ML/LL: Jose Ferrer, Carlos Vargas

Nootbar no longer plays for the Cards. He was traded at the deadline to the Snakes and is under contract through 2027. The last month undid a lot of Walker's progress, so to trade Hancock for him is not the best use of resources. Chapman makes Matt Brash look durable, so getting an oft-injured player is really not going to help the M's. I do like the additions of Adam and Estevez. No way in heck are the M's going to not start Laz if he is on the roster. At this point, I think that Arroyo is going to be our primary DH this season.

Chapman has played at least 140 games every season since his rookie year in 2017 other than '26... and 128 games in '25... so not sure what you're talking about there. He's been quite healthy all things considered.

I think there are a lot of ways the M's will not start Laz if he's on the roster. He has to earn his playing time and prove he doesn't have a hole in his bat. Regardless... with the way this roster is constructed he'll get at least 3 starts a week with the ability to pinch hit vs righties late in games.

I'm also not going to over read one month as "undoing progress." That's silly. We have no idea what was going on with him. Perhaps he got a little banged up. Actually... a Google search reveals he was dealing with a hip issue in September.

[Captain 97]

All I can say is if that's the best we can do under Jerry's self proclaimed constraints, we might as well throw in the towel now. That's an 80 win team tops.

[Seattle or Bust]

All I can say is if that's the best we can do under Jerry's self proclaimed constraints, we might as well throw in the towel now. That's an 80 win team tops.

How do you quantify that?

Walker was a 3.5 WAR player and Chapman was on pace for 5.0 WAR over 162.

The relievers added, if they can stay healthy, would be far better than what the M’s threw out there last year.

Any sort of rebound from Cal, Julio, Naylor = far more than 80 wins “tops.”

[DavidGee24]

1. Chapman's bat has officially hit the wall. His value is purely defensive and he would hit like shit in a Mariner uniform. That 2.8 WAR he had over 84 games in 2026 would likely drop like a rock. He'd be just the latest in a long line of "one year too late" right-handed hitters we've acquired. Evans and Bazardo are nothing to write home about but the Giants would see that trade as addition by subtraction and it's doubtful that they'd just give us 40 million dollars to take him off their hands as that would in large part defeat the purpose of getting out from under his contract.

2. I can't see the Cards trading Walker to us for Hancock. Both really emerged in 2026 but Walker seems to be more of a sure thing, plus he's only 24 whereas Hancock is 27.

3. Adam isn't as good as his ERA would indicate (ERA can be misleading with relief pitchers), but still looks like he'd be a solid pickup.

4. Estevez has been successful, but if the Royals aren't interested in re-signing him that's a red flag. 23 and missing the entire season is one thing, 33 is a little different.