New York Yankees Star Linked to Seattle Mariners as Potential Offseason Target
Heading into the offseason, the Seattle Mariners are facing several questions.
The M's went 85-77 this past season, missing the playoffs for the second consecutive year. The M's need to figure out how to better a listless offense, how to support a historic starting pitching core, what the role will be for Edgar Martinez moving forward, how the payroll will look and more.
Positionally, the Mariners have questions at first base, second base and third base. At second base, the discussion centers around whether or not to pick up the $12 million team option on Jorge Polanco.
Polanco, who played through knee problems this year, hit .213 for the M's. There's reason to believe with a full year of health and a full year under his belt at T-Mobile Park that he'd be better in year two, but that's a lot of money for an aging player with health issues.
If the team doesn't elect to bring Polanco back, Kiley McDaniel has speculated that New York Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres could be a fit for the M's.
He wrote the following this week:
Torres is fascinating due to his big prospect status and uneven career, despite some high highs. His 2024 contained a pretty big split -- 83 wRC+ through July 11, 130 wRC+ through the end of the season, with much better walk and strikeout rates in the second half -- but for the season, his offense, defense and baserunning figures were below league average. Since he's still 27 years old, I assume he'll sign a big one-year deal to potentially hit next winter's market off of a bounce-back season. Torres fits the type of player the Mariners often target, even though I have no reporting to back that up.
Once a former top prospect in the game, Torres was the center piece of the deal that sent Aroldis Chapman to the Cubs in 2016. McDaniel is certainly right, he may be able to be had on a one-year deal, and the Mariners might be interested, but would T-Mobile Park really be the place he wants to rebuild his value?
Torres hit .257 this year with 15 homers. McDaniel has him projected around $10 million for one year.
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