Coming off a miserable season, the Seattle Mariners figure to be very active this winter under new general manager Jerry Dipoto.
The Seattle Mariners entered the 2015 season with high expectations and seemed poised to finally break a 14-year playoff drought that is now the longest in the Majors.
After finishing one game short of a postseason berth in 2014, the Mariners added Nelson Cruz at their biggest position of weakness, along with a few other solid role players. However, some of the young talent Seattle had been counting on struggled, while a few veterans posted numbers well below their career norms.
The Mariners never put up a winning record in any single month, finishing at 76-86, good for fourth place in the AL West. That led Seattle to fire general manager Jack Zduriencik after seven years in charge and bring in former Los Angeles Angels GM Jerry Dipoto.
Dipoto indicated that the Mariners needed to add players who were better suited to play in spacious Safeco Field, something Seattle has not done well under its two previous GMs. He wasted no time in starting the overhaul process, as Seattle traded shortstop Brad Miller, first baseman Logan Morrison and reliever Danny Farquhar to the Tampa Bay Rays for starting pitcher Nate Karns and two minor leaguers last week. .
The Mariners also brought back Franklin Gutierrez on a one-year deal yesterday according to the Seattle Times, which seems like a wise move after he recovered from various health issues to post a .974 OPS in 189 plate appearances per FanGraphs.com. Seattle has also started rebuilding an awful bullpen on Thursday morning, acquiring veteran Joaquin Benoit from the San Diego Padres for a pair of low minor leaguers according to CBS Sports.
Other than that, Seattle will make decisions about free agents Hisashi Iwakuma, Joe Beimel and Logan Kensing. The Mariners clearly have a few weaknesses, but won’t be losing much this offseason and could give it another run in 2016 with the core of Felix Hernandez, Robinson Cano, Cruz and Kyle Seager.
Improving enough to compete in the AL West is going to be difficult, as the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers both look strong for next season. While Dipoto could still blow it up, Seattle should have a few targets in mind if it is still in win-now mode this offseason.
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