Seattle Mariners to Make Veteran Presence a Priority in Offseason
One of the more under-the-radar offseason events concluded on Thursday with the last day of MLB General Manager meetings in San Antonio.
GM and Winter Meetings in December are when executives meet face-to-face and discuss potential rule changes and other points of business pertaining to the major leagues.
It's also a chance for executives to talk to each other and agents about available players and get the ball rolling on offseason moves.
Seattle Mariners general manager Justin Hollander and President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto were both present at GM Meetings.
Hollander commented during the meetings that the team is prioritizing infield help in free agency. First, second and third baseman are all on the wish list for Seattle in the offseason.
But if the Mariners have it their way, one of those positions in 2025 will include an established veteran.
The Seattle Times' Adam Jude published an article on Friday that explored what Seattle's options could be at first base. One of those options included 16-year veteran and recent Mariner Justin Turner.
Turner played 48 games for Seattle after the team acquired him in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays on July 29. He hit .264 with five home runs and 24 RBIs in the limited sample size.
Justin Turner, welcome to Seattle.
— Daniel Kramer (@DKramer_) August 3, 2024
A grand slam in his Mariners debut here at T-Mobile Park. pic.twitter.com/uObfcuHRH2
Dipoto praised Turner's veteran presence in an impromptu end-of-season media scrum on Sept. 28. Jude included Dipoto's comments regarding Turner and his experience in his Friday article:
“In addition to being what we thought we were getting with Justin Turner — a veteran who had been on winning teams with a good clubhouse presence and a professional approach at the plate, multiply that times however much you’d like, that’s actually what we got. He’s like a hitting coach in a player’s uniform who understands situations and conveys that to the other guys on the field. That’s been a big gap for us, and I think that’s a priority for us in the offseason, maintaining that type of leadership in our clubhouse.”
Turner is a free agent and has said he'd like to return to Seattle. If a reunion with the soon-to-be 40 year-old ends up falling through, the Mariners could find that experienced first baseman in the form of free agent Carlos Santana.
Santana played 79 games with the Mariners during their 2022 playoff run. He batted just .192 but also hit 15 home runs and had 39 RBIs. In his first year with the Minnesota Twins, Santana had a .238 average with 23 home runs and 71 RBIs and won his first Gold Glove award.
Having that veteran, player-coach archetype in the clubhouse is clearly a priority for Dipoto and the front office. Santana and Turner are both also likely to be relatively cheap, which fits in with Seattle's free agent approach of not spending big.
Seattle is yet to make any additions to the major league club outside of the organization. And there's a strong chance that first move is a reunion rather than an introduction.
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