Sign Logan Gilbert to five-year, $130 million extension
Sign Seiya Suzuki to four-year, $110 million contract
Trade George Kirby to the Yankees for four years of starter Will Warren and five years of lefty reliever Brent Headrick
Trade Jonny Farmelo, Luke Raley and Mason Peters to the Guardians for one year of outfielder Steven Kwan
Trade Emerson Hancock to the Brewers for three years of third baseman Joey Ortiz
Trade Charlie Beilenson and Aiden Taurek to the Rays for one year of shortstop Taylor Walls and one year of reliever Tyler Wells
The lineup:
LF Steven Kwan L
RF Seiya Suzuki R
CF Julio Rodriguez R
C Cal Raleigh S
DH Dominic Canzone L
1B Josh Naylor L
3B Joey Ortiz R
2B Cole Young L
SS Taylor Walls S
C Jhonny Pereda R
IF/OF Brendan Donovan L
OF/IF Michael Arroyo R
OF/DH Lazaro Montes L
SP Logan Gilbert R
SP Bryan Woo R
SP Bryce Miller R
SP Kade Anderson L
SP Will Warren R
CL Andres Munoz R
HL Seranthony Dominguez R
HL Gabe Speier L
HL Tyler Wells R
RP Jose Ferrer L
RP Eduard Bazardo R
RP Brent Headrick L
RP Carlos Vargas R
The Seattle defense would feature the reigning AL Gold Glove middle infielders, a four-time Gold Glove winner in left field and solid defenders in right field and at third base. Raleigh would need to rebound to his 2024 Platinum Glove form and Rodriguez would need to return to the play that earned him a Gold Glove nomination in 2023.
The Fielding Bible is high on many of those defenders:
https://www.fieldingbible.com/drs-leaderboard/players?
Walls goes to the bench when Colt Emerson returns. Matt Brash starts the year in the minors until he proves himself healthy.
Will Warren, who made 62 starts for the Yankees over the past two seasons, can hold down a rotation slot until Ryan Sloan is ready.
One could argue that Arroyo and Montes should play every day in the minors but the pair could provide at-bats off the bench. Instead of a late-inning defensive replacement, the Mariners would have late-inning replacement bats in Arroyo, Montes and Donovan.
FWIW Baseball Trade Values accepts as fair the trade of Kirby to the Yankees. BTV rejects the Kwan trade, maintaining that the Mariners are giving up too much. A trade of Farmelo for Kwan straight up would be a major overpay by the M's, according to BTV. BTV deemed the Hancock-for-Ortiz trade a minor overpay by the Brewers. BTV approves the trade with the Rays for Walls and Wells even without the inclusion of Taurek, who apparently is not in the BTV system.
This plan comes in just under the $170 million payroll projected in Ahoy Baseball's 2027 Offseason Simulator:
https://ahoybaseball.com/offseasonsimulator/
Let me take cover before you fire off your responses.
