Two weeks before position players report to spring training in Peoria, Ariz., Jerry Dipoto acknowledged that there won’t be many new names among them …
“Much to, I think, the dismay of a few.”
A few more than a few.
The 2024 Mariners (85-77), after all, finished one game out of a wild-card spot – thanks to an offense that ranked 21st in MLB in runs per game (4.17), 25th in slugging percentage (.376), 27th in doubles (228), 29th in batting average (.224) and dead last in strikeouts (1,625) and strikeout percentage (26.8%).
Of course, an injured bullpen with dwindling depth also faded down the stretch.
But the Mariners entered the offseason in need of position players with proven pop.
They signed … Jorge Polanco and Donovan Solano?
We don’t need to rehash the reasons. Afforded a roughly $15 million budget by a frustratingly frugal ownership group, Seattle struck out (whether swinging or looking) on a free-agent buffet – Anthony Santander, Christian Walker, Carlos Santana, etc. They also failed to trade for impact bats, faced with a shortage of partners willing to accept Seattle’s pool of prospects.
The result? Yahoo Sports’ Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman gave the Mariners’ moves (or lack thereof) an “F” grade and wrote:
“In my opinion, this is the worst offseason of the offseason.”
(Ah, yes: the dismay of a few.)
The same day, Dipoto – Seattle’s president of baseball operations – supplied a different spin.
“[It was a] pretty quiet offseason. And I think that’s reflective of a team that didn’t have a whole lot of holes to fill,” Dipoto said via video conference Monday. “We feel great about our farm system. We feel great about the stability in our team, and we feel like our offense doesn’t get enough credit for the things they do well.
“[Manager Dan Wilson] and [senior director of hitting strategy Edgar Martinez], once they jumped onboard in August, I think there was a different vibe around our team. With few exceptions, just about anything that we could hope to have achieved over the last six weeks of the season – from uptick in play on the field, to improved offense, to just to winning games – we were as good as anybody in the league for that time. We’re hoping we can take that and ride that momentum into 2025.”
That statement can be interpreted one of two ways:
1.) Dipoto genuinely believes Wilson and Martinez unlocked something sustainable in a 34-game sample size, thus negating the need for overwhelming upgrades.
Or …
2.) It’s what he has to say to justify an unacceptable offseason in which Seattle stood still.
Is there a credible case for Option No. 1? The Mariners did go 21-13 after Wilson replaced manager Scott Servais, and Martinez’s influence coincided with a September surge.
But regardless of what’s true – Option No. 1 or 2 – the Mariners are betting that September was the start of something.
Not a stray, sunny Seattle day amid the endless gray.
Here’s why that’s, at best, a risky bet. The Mariners entered the offseason with obvious holes at first, second and third base. They signed the 37-year-old Solano and placed him in a platoon with Luke Raley at first – unconvincing considering Solano’s age, his 40 career home runs and Raley’s limited two-season sample size as a productive player.
Dipoto and Co. then re-signed Polanco – who managed a .213/.296/.355 slash line in 2024, battered by hamstring and knee injuries – and plan to move him to third base, where the 31-year-old has appeared in just 24 of 950 career games. The hope is Polanco can stay healthy at a less-demanding position.
But if he can’t? Or if last season’s offensive outage can’t be surgically solved? That bet looks even bleaker.
At second base, Seattle didn’t add at all – opting instead for some combination of Dylan Moore, Ryan Bliss, Leo Rivas and promising prospect Cole Young.
For a team that says it’s trying to contend, those are uninspiring solutions.
As for Dipoto’s assertion that the Mariners “didn’t have a whole lot of holes to fill”?
If shortstop J.P. Crawford can’t bounce back from a cratering 2024 campaign, then that’s another hole.
If right fielder Victor Robles – who slashed .236/.311/.356 in eight uneven seasons with the Nationals – can’t replicate his 2024 Mariners success, then that’s another hole.
If 34-year-old veterans Mitch Haniger and Mitch Garver – who combined for a -0.3 WAR last season – can’t at least help as designated hitters, then that’s another hole.
If Matt Brash and Gregory Santos can’t return from injuries to stabilize Seattle’s bullpen, then that’s another hole.
If a spectacular starting rotation can’t stay reasonably healthy for a third consecutive season – a rarity in MLB – then that’s another hole.
Seattle’s ifs stretch outside the infield.
None of which means the Mariners can’t or won’t win. This is still a team with a path to the playoffs, paved with consistent starting pitching and (Dipoto hopes) an offense that has already started to hit its stride.
But that path is peppered with enough (pot)holes to snap a suspension.
It’s a path that didn’t need to be nearly so precarious.
But here we are – with a statistically regressing Polanco asked to play a new position, with a platoon at first base and a competition at second, with enough ifs to swiftly smother a season, with the hope that a 34-game sample size can be multiplied by five.
With two weeks until the same position players report.
With an understandably frustrated fan base.
With defensible dismay from a few more than a few.