The Seattle Mariners have been one of the most active teams this offseason. With the arrival of new GM Jerry Dipoto and manager Scott Servais, a new philosophy soon followed. A switch of strategy from power hitting to on-base accounted for most of the changes to the team, but the bullpen and starting rotation have had changes as well. Dipoto used any way possible to upgrade the team, from making trades with division rivals to signing new faces to the squad.
Most of the trades Dipoto has made are hard to evaluate at this point. The need for youth on the big league club convinced Dipoto to make moves for young, arbitration eligible players who are looking for a bounce-back year. The November trade with the Texas Rangers involving sending Tom Wilhelmsen, James Jones and Pat Kivlehan for essentially Leonys Martin is a perfect example of building depth while immediately improving the MLB roster.
The trade the Mariners made with the Tampa Bay Rays is a little easier to evaluate. Losing Brad Miller, Logan Morrison and Danny Farquhar might seem like giving up a lot for only a young starter (Nathan Karns), but again the need to get younger convinced the front office that Karns, Boog Powell and C.J. Riefenhauser was a good enough gamble to take. I think it would be hard to say either team won this trade considering it helped both fill needs.
The Mariners have been on both sides of lopsided deals this offseason as well. Giving up Mark Trumbo (even with the $9 million he would have been owed) and Riefenhauser for Steve Clevenger, a backup catcher at best, has to be looked at as a loss. The Wade Miley deal in hindsight looks awful. It seems that Dipoto might have panicked when Hisashi Iwakuma was given the deal from the Los Angeles Dodgers, trading closer of the future Carson Smith and Roenis Elias for Miley. Now that Iwakuma is a Mariner again, the front office has to be kicking themselves for this trade.
Minor league prospects are all it took to acquire Joaquin Benoit and Adam Lind, hands down the best deals the Mariners have made this offseason. The upgrades they bring to the bullpen and first base make it easier to digest the loss of Smith and Trumbo. Depth was not ignored in trades either, as the acquisitions of Luis Sardinas and Evan Scribner should be nice additions to the bench and bullpen respectively.
The free agent signings are really where the Mariners flourished. There were not any big-name signings, but the signings made will help the core of the team immensely. Nori Aoki will be a huge upgrade in the outfield and at the plate, lined up for the leadoff spot in the lineup. Chris Iannetta will bring the veteran presence behind the plate that the Mariners have coveted for years. Steve Cishek adds a nice 1-2 punch to the back of the rotation with Benoit, helping with the bullpen problem that plagued the Mariners last season. The signing of Franklin Gutierrez brings back one of the more undervalued players from the Mariners last season on a cheap contract.
Servais as the new manager has a lot of question marks. He has never been a manager before, but did play as a catcher in the majors for 11 years. Luckily the staff around him is one of the best in baseball. Edgar Martinez was brought back as a hitting coach which is a huge advantage for the bounce-back candidates this season. Tim Bogar, the guy who probably should have gotten the manager job, will be the bench coach. I imagine he will be a top candidate for a manager’s job with another organization next season. Manny Acta has been brought on as the third base coach, so I’m sure his experience managing will be utilized.
There are a lot of questions entering the 2016 season, but the roster does look better this season compared to last. Most of the bounce-back candidates will need to perform at their peak for the Mariners to have a chance at a run in the playoffs this season. Most likely, these moves just help the team for future years while helping compete for the Wild Card spot this season. Considering the Mariners haven’t made the playoffs since 2001, I think the fanbase would be just fine with a Wild Card run this season with playoff hopes for the future.
Grade: B+
