The Mariners are the latest team to show interest in free agent reliever Joakim Soria, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi tweets. Seattle joins the Twins, Blue Jays, and all four of the Mariners’ AL West rivals as teams linked to Soria’s market at some point during the offseason.
Naturally, the entire AL West got a good look at Soria when he pitched for the Athletics in 2019-20, and the amount of interest isn’t surprising considering how Soria has continued to deliver results as he approaches his age-37 season. Soria posted a 2.82 ERA over 22 1/3 innings in 2020 and did a very good job of keeping the ball in the park (one home run allowed) and limiting hard contact (particularly in terms of barrel percentage). On the flip side, Soria’s 25K% was middle of the pack, his 10.4 BB% ranked only in the 31st percentile, and his 4.36 SIERA painted a much less impressive picture than his ERA.
Still, even with some expected regression baked in, Soria’s track record of durability is solid enough that a team can expect him to be a positive addition to a bullpen. Soria worked in a setup role in Oakland and would likely assume similar duties on his next team — though it has been some time since his heyday as a closer with the Royals, Soria could also be called upon for the occasional save opportunity if need be.
The bullpen has been more or less the primary focus of the Mariners’ offseason thus far, as the M’s have acquired Rafael Montero from the Rangers, signed Keynan Middleton, and re-signed Kendall Graveman. Adding Soria would add an even more experienced and durable relief arm to the mix, perhaps a wise investment considering that Montero, Middleton, and Graveman have all undergone Tommy John surgery within the last three years.
You misspelled Blue Jays
You didn’t end your sentence with a period.
lolzmets – You didn’t understand the humor in his comment.
They don’t even write articles about the Jays being interested, it’s just assumed now.
You “misspelled” misspelled
Those numbers were posted in a pretty solid offensive league. Dodgers, Astros, Padres, even the Angels had some thump.
I’m Leary of pitching numbers from the Central.
To be fair, Oakland does have a very pitcher friendly park.
Could be a wise investment for the Phillies, who are desperate for bullpen depth. Not the highest ceiling, but that type of acquisition hasn’t exactly worked out lately. He’s a steady contributor that keeps the ball in the park and could nab the set up role behind Bradley
If Joakim Soria goes to the Mariners, I can add to my collection of jerseys. I was kinda of hoping for a KC reunion.
Half of the comments are non-baseball in nature which just indicates that Soria isn’t a difference maker on the field and the Mariners don’t have a compelling offseason story. Not just due to their being a small market team (SD got lots of interesting comments bc there is a substantive ongoing baseball story) , but they really aren’t a dynamic team. Similar to the Baltimore, Miami, Arizona etc. This low level of baseball related engagement is very much why the MLBTR Staff does and should continue to write about the teams that are relevant irrespective of there being coastal or big market teams
Don’t get me wrong, humor, satire and irony are all interesting and welcome, but only as accents to the core baseball substrate.
The “story” is certainly about Soria and less about the Mariners adding pieces to their bullpen to make a deep playoff run.
So, Rgrddy, what are the teams that you deem relevant that MLBTR should only write about?
Soria is a TJS recipient as well.
#SoriaNotSoria
What a joke! Dipoto has lost his marbles!
How do you figure?
I guess he could try and sign guys that would block the top prospects? Not sure what you are looking for him to do…
Sign him, Dipoto! Given how horrible the Mariners bullpen was in 2020, and given how close the M’s came to making the post-season last year, I think it makes sense to stock up on decent relievers. While the team may not be that likely to contend for a divisional title in 2021, a good, healthy bullpen is still a must. Soria is likely to be average, maybe slightly better, but he has proven to be durable whereas some of the M’s other relievers have proven not so much. He would be a good get for the Mariners.
When you look out 2-3 years, the roster members are mostly on the 40 man already.
C – Raleigh/Torrens.
1b – White
2b – Moore (most open spot).
SS – Crawford/Marte
3b – France/Marte
LF – Lewis
CF – Kelenic
RF – Rodriguez
DH – Marte
SP – Gonzales, Hancock, Gilbert, Sheffield, Dunn, Kirby, Campbell, Williamson.
With this FA class, bullpen pieces and a rotation-piece reunion piece such as either Paxton or Walker make the most sense.
Paxton is an easy pass. Walker would be ok
I’d rather not spend the money for Soria at this point. Paxton or Walker would be fine, but Paxton is going to cost over $12 million.
If we’re going to buy one more RP from the top 3rd of the remaining FA pool, someone that’s more recognizable than Chris Flexen. There’s no reason we can’t add that FA RP (Soria) and Walker. Dipoto has yet to spend much money at all.
I’m not a fan of spending for relievers, and they came off of a 0.450 win pct season.
Mlbfan- a 0.450 win pct with 3 first year rookies in the rotation and 6 rookies in the lineup is not a bad season. The M’s had the AL’s worst BP in 2020. They have a payroll of $67M this yr and 41M next yr. Desperate times call for desperate measures!
Cambio I agree with what you wrote except I would swap Rodriguez and Kelenic. Julio has the speed edge and I believe Kelenic the arm. A lot though depends on how they adjust to a big league park.
I am also a bit surprised they have not signed Walker. Maybe they have a get offer give us a chance to match agreement. Not sure that is legal if so not sure why.
Dipoto has stated he intends to compete for the playoffs in ’21. All indicators this offseason have shown that to be true. He’s quietly putting together a formidable bullpen.
Care to find that quote for everybody? I can’t recall Dipoto giving a specific about 2021 being the contention year. Even if he did —and I don’t remember him doing so— that was pre-COVID with a bunch of top prospects losing a full season of at bats.
In short: there’s not a single member of the Mariners front office that honestly expects to compete in 2021.
mlb.com/news/jerry-dipoto-2021-mariners-can-conten…
Took me 2 seconds to GOOGLE it.
Dipoto has said he thinks the M’s will be competitive in 2021 on multiple occasions. You can find more than 1 quote if you look for any Dipoto interviews that focus on the growth of his young players after the 2020 season.
JD can be vague and very non-commital during his podcasts and interviews. He’s very careful in the way he uses the word contend. He’s very careful when talking about the rebuild in general. You can tell he’s talking about trying to go after the wild card in 2021 with 2022 being the year where he sees the M’s fighting for the Division.
Dshires- look for the Tacoma News Tribune article on Sept 29, 2020- google.com/amp/s/amp.thenewstribune.com/sports/mlb…
In short: theres not a single member of the Mariners front office that DOESNT think they can contend in 2021 haha
Seems good for getting bullpen experience,as far as playoffs this year obviously every team is hoping for playoffs but with no “major” move so far I’d say Seattle will fall short and sure future looks “good” but who knows if all of them will be in Seattle in 3 years
The M’s should sign him, he might be old but he’s always been consistent and reliable, he won’t be that expensive.
Solid fit for a rebuilding team. He won’t block any young prospects.
Totally agree Kotta- he’d be a useful signing with plenty of experience. Talk to almost any A’s fan about Soria and you’ll realize how valuable he is in that set-up 7th or 8th inn role.
When JD said he’s still looking to add to the pen I was worried he wouldn’t go after any of the better RP’s that remain in FA. I feared he might continue to dumpster dive but this article gives me some hope, if we don’t sign Soria he’ll still add a decent RP.
Yeah, he’s pretty underrated, nobody is talking about him, he’s no a rebound candidate either so that’s a plus in my book.
He and Hendricks were dope for the A’s in 2020
Yeah, he’s pretty underrated, nobody is talking about him, he’s no a rebound candidate either so that’s a plus in my book.
He and Hendricks were dope for the A’s in 2020
Remember the double header vs A’s where Kyle Lewis made his amazing grab taking away a grand slam from Laureano? I was absolutely shocked Soria had 3 straight walks to set up the Kyle Lewis’s bases loaded walk to win the game. He’s so reliable especially with traffic on the bases. I’d be really happy with a Joakim Soria signing- he’s exactly what that young BP needs
Angels should have already signed Soria, Petit, Hand, and Kirby Yates. Not sure why they are waiting around doing nothing when soo many players that could finally take them to the playoffs are just sitting in free agency.
The Angels aren’t the only team standing with their hands in their pockets that’s probably why Hand Kirby etc and the top free agents Bauer Springer are all still out there
MLB teams are gun-shy on loading up on high paying contracts with all the 2020 COVID losses last year. There’s chatter that we won’t have a full season even this year, but all MLB Brass are looking at all the potential attendance losses. It’s NOT the time to be buying this offseason.
The Mariners really lucked out deciding to rebuild in 2018 and moved all those high paying contracts. The Mariners couldn’t have timed it any better, and they stocked up their Farm System so they are in the top 3-5 Farm Systems now with most their top prospects almost ready in 2021-22. Seattle will be in an amazing financial position now with all these long-term controllable players for cheap….to weather this Covid storm for the next several years. Plus the Mariners do have the luxury of landing 1-2 high paying FA’s with such a low ball payroll now. Money is King in this Covid era at this point, and so is low payrolls for the financial strength of an org! There is gonna be so many teams itching to move their high paying players over the next year, especially if they aren’t in contention come May/June. I can see some pretty sweet avail players avail thru trades this year, without giving up the Farm to get them too!
Just my .02
Dipoto’s background in epidemiology is really paying off, and to think, all those competing GM’s laughed at him when he attended those immunity and operational research conventions. Pfft! The man’s a genius