Seattle Mariners GM Reaffirms Club is Unlikely to Trade Starting Pitchers
The Seattle Mariners front office could be in a do-or-die situation this offseason.
Mariners President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto was quietly extended through 2025 during a 2024 season that saw the team miss the playoffs for the 22nd time in 23 years. It was the fourth straight year the club's postseason future was decided in the final week of the regular season.
Fans are getting impatient for Seattle to take a step forward and be a perennial playoff contender. It's been 23 years since the team has won an American League West title, and they've had to watch the division rival Angels, Astros and Rangers win championships in the interim.
So it's a good thing the Mariners apparently have no plans to change the strongest part of their team.
In an end-of-season news conference on Sept. 29, Seattle President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto called the idea of moving one of their starting pitchers "plan z" on the list of ways the club intends to improve.
And recent comments from Mariners General Manager Justin Hollander reaffirmed that.
In an article published by MLB.com's Daniel Kramer, Hollander clarified that there would be few situations the team would consider sending off one of its starters:
“If you remove something for your club and you add something of equal value, you haven't really moved the ball forward. We're looking to move the ball forward.
... It's tough to imagine scenarios with moving our young pitching, that we move our ball forward and not just rearrange things. And we're not really looking to rearrange, we're looking to get better.”
Bryce Miller's 2Ks in the 7th. pic.twitter.com/X8eIsxFA8z
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 24, 2024
Seattle's rotation was the only one in the majors last season with four pitchers that started 30 or more games.
There's still ways for the Mariners to improve via trade or free agency without spending big or sending over massive trade packages, both things the organization hasn't been prone to do recently.
But there's very big name options available that meet those criteria. And it will be interesting to see what road Seattle explores as the offseason progresses.
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