MLB Insider: The Mariners have a prime opportunity and are blowing it

The Seattle Mariners have a prime opportunity staring them straight in the face, and they are blowing it.

In 2024, the Mariners had the best pitching staff in baseball. The rotation had a combined 3.38 ERA, led by George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, Luis Castillo, Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo. But a historically bad offense prompted midseason coaching changes, and evenrually caused the Mariners to miss the postseason despite the rotation's greatness.

Now, despite the rotation's dominance, Mariners ownership refuses to expand payroll to upgrade the offense.

To upgrade the offense, the Mariners are listening to inquiries regarding starting pitcher Luis Castillo, and are open to the idea of trading the star right-hander. The Mariners trading from their greatest strength to improve their biggest weakness — especially when their payroll ranked No. 16 in baseball in 2024 – is utter insanity. It should not happen. Ever.

If the Mariners kept the rotation intact and bolstered the offense through trades and free agency, they would be one of the most dangerous teams in baseball — not just the American League. All of baseball.

The Mariners have ample opportunities to do so, especially as first baseman Pete Alonso and infielder Alex Bregman linger on the market. Both players have drawn interest from many contending teams this winter, but not once have the Mariners been linked in reports to either star player.

Alonso specifically would be a strong fit for the Mariners, even in a pitcher-friendly ballpark. At 30 years old, he is one of the premier power-hitting first basemen in baseball, hitting at least 34 home runs in each of his last five full seasons (including 53 homers in 2019 and 46 in 2024). He has drawn interest from the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants, among other teams, but a gap exists in negotiations between Alonso and New York, where he's played for six seasons.

Because of that gap, there’s an opportunity for the Mariners to pry Alonso away from New York. The same can be said for Bregman, whose market is uncertain outside of the Detroit Tigers after the Christian Walker signing took the Houston Astros out of the running for his services.

But unless ownership changes its financial restrictions, Alonso or Bregman won’t end up in Seattle — unless it’s as an opponent. And if that’s the case, then Mariners fans can expect the same theme as last year: a lot of promise, but even more disappointment.

And it never had to be this way.