MLB Analyst Offers Favorable Assessment on Seattle Mariners Core Players
The Seattle Mariners have the potential to make major steps into being contenders in the offseason, depending on the moves they make.
Mariners President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto has already said that the first base, second base and third base are the main positions of need.
Seattle missed out on the playoffs for the 22nd time in 23 years and its playoff fate was decided in the final week of the season for the fourth straight year. This has made some fans incredibly impatient and and desperate for a move to address one of the aforementioned holes in the roster.
The Mariners have been connected in several rumors to free agents like Christian Walker, Pete Alonso and Hyeseong Kim. But so far there's been nothing to materialize from those reports.
Despite the lack of transactions, at least one MLB analyst seems to believe that Seattle has the core group of players needed to be a competitive team.
Yahoo Sports MLB writer Jordan Shusterman went on Seattle Sports on Tuesday and shared his opinion that the most important players for Seattle's competitive hopes are already on the team:
"They are right there. They did still win a lot of games last year. They were only one of the first teams out of the postseason. And that's not something worth celebrating, necessarily. But it is still something worth understanding when you project forward and realize, 'OK this is a good team.' This is not like Pittsburgh where you look at the lineup, and you go 'Oh my god, this is light years away from being competitive.' You do have the core pieces in place. We've just been waiting to see them make the right, next move. The most important players on the team are already on the team. And it's more fun for us to speculate on the guys they can bring in. And it's not that the team should not be trying to meaningfully improve through external upgrades. ... But I think when you look at the players in place, that's the answer."
"The most important players (on the #Mariners) are ALREADY on the team."
— Seattle Sports (@SeattleSports) December 18, 2024
Senior MLB Analyst Jordan Shusterman (@j_shusterman_) of @YahooSports joined @michaelbumpus5 & @StacyRost to discuss the latest on the M's.
Full video 📺: https://t.co/0xxgoIrP8M pic.twitter.com/A1w8y6TQzm
There is some credence to what Shusterman said. The Mariners gave a long-term deal to Julio Rodriguez after his rookie season and that contract is already a steal based on his production in his first three years. The organization also boasts the best starting rotation in baseball, and four of the five starters are young and cheap.
Seattle also has one of the best catchers in the majors in Cal Raleigh.
The Mariners offense also has a strong chance to be better in 2025 with a more streamlined hitting program between new hitting coach Kevin Seitzer and Senior Director of Hitting Strategy Edgar Martinez.
But there are still the aforementioned holes in the roster. And for Seattle to take advantage of the great core it has, there has to be a good supporting cast around it.
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