If you thought Rowdy Tellez would be Seattle's everyday first baseman when the team signed him to a minor league deal in February — and do it while being a serviceable slugger — you can say "I told you so."
Radio silence. It's okay, we can be pleasantly surprised together.
The M's signing Tellez wasn't met with cheers from the fan base, but that didn't have much to do with Tellez himself; it was more in response to the team basically otherwise neglecting to sign an MLB-caliber first baseman for the entire offseason.
Almost by necessity, Tellez has become that option for Seattle. Tellez is ninth among MLB first basemen with 8 home runs, possesses an OPS of .744, an OPS+ of 116 and has a hard hit rate of 44 percent. Since April 16th, he has a WRC+ of 158. He's mashing balls — when he can hit them, of course, as he's also struck out 28 times in 108 plate appearances.
Seattle's first base situation would be bleak without Rowdy Tellez
Tellez hasn't been a world-beater for Seattle this season (his WAR of 0.1 is evidence) but he's been, mostly, good enough for a team that has essentially zero other options at the position.
Donovan Solano was the team's other offseason signing, but he has an OPS+ of minus-8. Tyler Locklear is the organization's top-ranked first base prospect, but he showed in his short stint last year that he's not quite ready for big league ball. So it's been Tellez most days, and it's been good enough most days, which in turn has been a pretty big boost to Seattle's improved offense.
The power has been great from Tellez this season; but he has been prone to go cold in past seasons, and if that happens in 2025, the Mariners could quickly go back to pretty sparse production from first base. Still, a minor league contract in February has paid dividends for a Mariners team that needed all the offensive help possible after a frustrating 2024.
Mariners offense has completely turned around in 2025
The roster is essentially the same as last season. The numbers are not. Seattle is No. 10 in OPS this year after being No. 22 last year. They're striking out far less, getting on base more and there seems to be much more cohesion in the lineup than in 2024.