The Mariners pulled back to .500 this afternoon, blanking the Twins to get to 48-48. They’re still in fourth place in the AL West, 9 1/2 games behind the division-leading Rangers. They’re five games out of the final Wild Card spot pending Houston’s night contest in Oakland.
With the club hovering around average all season, the front office finds itself in a borderline position approaching the August 1 trade deadline. President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto suggested the team was taking a flexible approach in a chat with Mike Salk this morning during his weekly appearance on 710 AM ESPN in Seattle.
Dipoto conceded the M’s have “not really separated ourselves in a meaningful way to be aggressive on the buying end.” While he left open the potential for short-term additions, he noted they’ll use the next 11 days to evaluate if it’s “better to make a push for the ’23 season or to better situate ourselves for ’24.”
In any event, it doesn’t seem the Mariners are preparing to play at the top of the rental market. “Last year, we were very aggressive in the trade market for what I would call the big fish and we were able to land Luis Castillo,” Dipoto said. “This year, we’re probably not going to be in that market. We’re going to be more in the margins market, trying to find a way that we can get a little bit better in ’23 and better situate ourselves for ’24.”
It’s possible that could involve moving a shorter-term veteran off the MLB roster in a deal for controllable talent. Asked by Salk whether selling is off the table, Dipoto replied, “No, and it never has been. … We are always one foot in the camp of buyer and one foot in the camp of seller, believing that the best way to approach any trade deadline is with the mindset of ’how do we make the Mariners better?’”
That’s not an uncommon approach for executives whose teams are on the periphery of contention. The Red Sox and Brewers attempted (unsuccessfully) to thread that needle last summer, dealing veterans with dwindling control windows while bringing back more controllable upper level talent. As Dipoto pointed out, the Mariners have found themselves in a similar position — most notably in 2021, when Seattle traded impending free agent reliever Kendall Graveman to the Astros for infielder Abraham Toro while Houston was narrowly ahead of the Mariners in the standings.
While Dipoto’s comments leave open the possibility of parting with veteran players, they’re not about to kick off a rebuild. The baseball operations leader expressed confidence in a core centered around the likes of Julio Rodríguez, George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, J.P. Crawford, Bryan Woo and Castillo.
Dipoto attributed the club’s middling performance in large part to a lack of depth, particularly in the lineup. “We’re about an average major league offense by most advanced metrics. We need to find a way to be better than average,” he said. “In order to do that, we can tap into a lot of different avenues. Some of it is going to come from our system; some of it is going to come from outside. It has to, and maybe that starts now.”
It’s hard to argue with that characterization. Seattle entered play Thursday ranked 18th in runs. They’re 25th with a .310 on-base percentage and 24th with a .388 slugging mark, though that’s partially a product of a tough home hitting environment. By measure of wRC+, which accounts for ballpark, the M’s have been one percentage point worse than a league average offense.
Conceding that “we don’t have a next wave of bats at Triple-A ready to come and push us over that edge,” Dipoto suggested that building out the lineup depth will be a priority. He took responsibility for the club’s current struggles in that regard. While Dipoto predictably didn’t single out any players, none of Seattle’s top three offseason acquisitions has performed up to expectations.
Teoscar Hernández is hitting .243/.296/.428 across 399 plate appearances. That’s serviceable but certainly not what the M’s had in mind when they sent reliever Erik Swanson and pitching prospect Adam Macko to Toronto in November. Hernández had been an impact bat for the Blue Jays from 2020-22, combining for a .283/.333/.519 line.
Kolten Wong and AJ Pollock, on the other hand, haven’t found any success in 2023. The former is hitting .158/.240/.211 in 58 games after an offseason trade that sent Jesse Winker to Milwaukee. He has lost the starting second base job to José Caballero as a result. Pollock is hitting .169/.222/.315 since signing a $7MM free agent contract to add some right-handed pop to the outfield.
Seattle won’t be able to drum up much interest in either of the latter two players. If they seriously consider moving short-term veterans, though, Hernández should still be on the radar for clubs looking for offensive help. The M’s wouldn’t recoup the kind of value they surrendered to get him, of course, but his pre-2023 track record could make him an appealing change-of-scenery target.
Hernández is playing this season on a $14MM arbitration salary. He’ll be a free agent at season’s end. A couple months ago, he looked like a lock to receive and reject a qualifying offer. That’s no longer an obvious decision, at least raising the possibility of Seattle getting no compensation if they hold him past the deadline and he departs in free agency.
Seattle’s only other impending free agent is backup catcher Tom Murphy. He’s affordable ($1.625MM arb salary) and mashing at a .275/.330/.539 clip in a limited role. As a rental backup catcher, he wouldn’t bring back a major return, but the M’s shouldn’t have a problem finding a trade partner if they were to put him on the market.
Reliever Paul Sewald could be Seattle’s most appealing realistic trade chip. The righty owns a 3.03 ERA with a massive 37.7% strikeout rate over 38 2/3 innings. He has been excellent in all three of his seasons in the Pacific Northwest.
Sewald is eligible for arbitration for one more year, so the Mariners would hold firm to a huge asking price if they made him available at all. Dealing him would probably be their best chance to get an upper level bat with an extended window of team control, assuming they’re not interested in dealing any of their prized young starting pitching.
dipoto will make a bunch of unnecessary trades
That’s better than not making any necessary trades at all.
Is it?
Nope. DTR always makes the most asinine comments. Truly brain dead.
First I agree with you about DTR generally. But even a broken clock is right two times a day.
Taken literally you can make unneeded trades that are neither good nor bad, but rarely do well with no trades at all.
I read that one time and understood it perfectly. Then read it 3 more times and confused myself.
It’s basically better to throw something against the wall than throw nothing? That’s what I got. And I don’t agree. Degrom is saying it because his team is in first for once.
Unnecessary doesn’t imply bad. Say Texas has Moore and Pérez and could get something. They should deal them and get something. The same goes for Ohtani, Hader, Giolito, and Snell. A contender could still deal from an area of surplus to pad an area of weakness. I am assuming that these “unnecessary” deals would still be dealing from an area of strength, and those would have some chance of paying off.
I’m predicting that Pollack + $ gets sent to LA for a low level prospect at the deadline.
AJP has no value. I don’t know that any team would pay a $ over the league minimum for him at this point. Certainly no prospect is coming back.
If anything, a Geno trade to the Dodgers is more likely. One more year of control with a team option is more likely to get back something than Pollock
Dodgers would get Carlson, Canha or even Grichuk ahead of Polluck.
Geno is not going anywhere. Do you remember the Kendall Graveman trade? This would go over worse.
I’m not so sure about that. There’s a huge difference: This team isn’t in contention. I would guess that the players are anticipating a shake-up.
I’d like to see the O’s inquire about Brash or Munoz. We could certainly send Connor Norby + back. That’d give the M’s a real 2B prospect for the foreseeable future.
Munoz has got to be one of the most valuable BP arms in the league with his extension. Especially with his super affordable team options where all three have no buyout.
You are right. That’s not enough—I didn’t consider that. I’d have interest in Brash if Seattle wanted a deal around one of the 2B prospects Baltimore has available:
Either Ortiz or Norby is clearly blocked. Westburg is up on the big league squad now but I don’t think he’s completely untouchable either.
BAL needs to clear out some of these prospects or a Ramon Urias at some point here. Just too many guys for too few slots.
There’s guys like Kyle Stowers in the upper minors who have no path to playing time but are crushing the ball in AAA. Don’t know that the M’s will be the team. The O’s typically go for the undervalued relievers and fix them but there’s clearly chips to play with.
Seattle lacks any real ML ready hitting prospects. There’s quite a few here to potentially make a match for someone.
I could see Brash being moved for one of those guys. Mariners are my second team since I live close, so Im reluctant because I think brash is turning a corner. But, mariners need some one for the keystone.
Edit:one of those guys..plus others of course.
Munoz is going nowhere, and being built as the M’s Closer of the future…
I am sure the walkout song and merch is already in production…
Sewald is the piece to go based on his production (and age adding to SEA willingness to send him off).
They don’t need anymore middle infield prospects. The M’s have 4 2B prospects. Cole Young, Colt Emerson, Tai Peete, and Felnin Celestin. Jose Caballero who has been one of out biggest surprises also plays a good 2B. What the M’s need are “IMPACT” bats. It doesn’t matter which position it comes from, because they could use an offensive boost at every single position on the diamond.
Agreed that they need impact bats but the MI prospects you mention are teenagers who are years away from helping the mlb club if they get there at all. Caballero has been a nice surprise but idk if there’s enough track record there yet to say that he’s the guy to count on at 2b for the foreseeable future. They could probably use some closer to mlb ready talent at MI rn as well.
Did you really just name two guys that we just drafted out of high school less than 2 weeks ago and a 17 year old international prospect? Cmon man. They’re all years away. Young is still a couple away too.
Sewald for an offensive return makes 1,000% sense… Even if this team strikes a match and heats up this year, they’d be fine in the bullpen.
Totally agree!
LET’S GO!
Not all ballparks are created equal. T mobile park, like Target field, has something of a funnel shape to the outfield: the only power alley is straight up the middle. The Mariners are second to only the Twins this season in strikeout rates.
Higher pitch velocities mean hitters have to literally muscle out a hit. Hit placement is becoming a lost art. Small outfields then reduce extra bases and runs. The obsession with home runs and the wow factor doesn’t really fit with the advanced metrics obsession. Something has to give.
Maybe they should make bases larger and speed up play and ban the shift
The right center field wall at Fenway is 420ft and the park is an extra base haven. Comerica park was recently the same distance to dead center and an extreme pitchers’ park.
Since they brought in the left field fence at Comerica, adding the bullpens there, Comerica has been pretty much a league average ball park. It just seems pitcher friendly because the Tigers have no hitting.
@dankyank- you have to factor more than just distance. Seattle’s mix of temperature, wind, breeze, and air mass creates a marine layer. This makes it much harder to hit home runs in spring or on chilly nights and also makes balls hang in the air longer, reducing extra base hits into gaps. That’s the major reason T-Mo has pitcher-friendly park factors.
I’m more concerned about who you give up then on the return. since more than likely pitching is what other teams are going to want, unless you get creative with positional platers as well.
Who would that be? but also the return might seem minimal at best not enough to change much of any outcome. Last year the team was for whatever reason were hitting better, so what happen this year?: Maybe their malas will wear off. personally I feel the teams energy made the difference, so far I haven’t seen it they may need to experiment with the chemistry some with moving players around more however limiting that might be.
It would be fascinating to see the Reds & Mariners just reverse course on the trade they made last year for Castillo, which seems to be rare a win win trade for both sides so far…. Mariners get back the prospects they gave up who are another year along & balling…. The Reds get back there Ace Castillo (they desperately need) & his new contact….
Obviously it’s unlikely but would be funny as heck & very interesting…
I wish!
“Reds and Mariners just reverse course”….Very interesting, intriguing proposal and it’s not as crazy as it sounds, since both teams are in completely different situations than when they did that deal.
Except that Castillo is set to make over $96 million over the next few years and we know how Castellini hates paying players not named Joey Votto
If my team had only 1 playoff appearance in the last 20 years I wouldn’t be so quick to approve of a sell off of talent.
Bryce Miller for Tommy Edman would be fun. Not a buy or sell just a swap of talent.
Dude, just stop posting about this. Multiple threads now. As per your handle, you are too biased to appropriately evaluate cards players. Edman is not that valuable and Miller is much more.
Look at the unbiased trade simulator. It’s not that far off.
Cardinals look like they might not be sellers. But they have an infielder to trade one way or another.
It is far enough off to say that it would be an overpay and the Cardinals would have to give up more.
Lol, MIller is good, not great. He has gotten TORCHED by good hitting teams this year. You can google it yourself if you don’t believe me. You can keep Miller for all I care.
Forgot to change the handle back?
What?
Ahhh the “what” reply which has dodged so many people getting caught in history.. like I mean never kinda history. Like it’s a dead giveaway when you reply with what you hauled tacos to log out and back in. Like who did you think you were throwing off with “what”. Did that answer “what” for you? Some peoples kids lol
Take the tin foil hat off you idiot. I don’t have multiple accounts. I saw the comment and am smart enough to understand that’s what he was trying to say. I don’t have 2 accounts.
Good gosh man. Get outside. Go enjoy life. You are insane.
The King of Cards is an idiot. He’s trolling you and everyone else. Miller for Edman is ridiculous and he knows it.
Sewald and Murphy have been huge clubhouse guys.
If they intend to contend in 2024, they should keep Sewald and extend Murphy.
That said, there is a ton of work to do.
Couldn’t agree more. My only fear is we resign them both and Dipoto says, “we spent our money”
It’s not up to Dipoto how much money is spent, it’s up to Stanton. You think Dipoto wouldn’t love to add Ohtani if Stanton signed off on giving him $600M+ to do so?
Of course it is. Have you ever heard Stanton say “we’ve spent all the money we can” though? I haven’t. I HAVE heard Jerry say it though.
Kind of weird that your takeaway from my comment was that I believe Dipoto sets the payroll.
“We’re going to be more in the margins market” = ownership doesn’t want to add any more salary.
Can’t blame them too much considering what Jerry did with the additional money spent.
Kolten Wong, Aj Pollack, & Teo Hernandez is a lot of money for nothing…..
…but you can get chick’s for free…
Hernandez’ numbers are actually on par with where they should be. Wong and Pollock have been terrible though. If the M’s can find a taker for any of them they’d be very lucky
Whose at fault?
Sounds like they are out of the Ohtani trade market while preparing for the 2024 FA bidding for him. They’ll look to trade away an SP and 2024 salary.
The M’s lineup has more strikeouts than the pitching staff. DiPoto could start there.
Julio Rodriguez face planting in his sophomore season will probably correct itself next year and maybe this year. They need better production out of the left side of the Infield. Trade Miller to St Louis for Goldschmidt if St Louis ever stops overvaluing their “assets”, trade someone for a blocked middle infielder in Baltimore.
Goldschmidt’s probably not approving a trade to a team that’s not any better than the one he is currently on.
The M’s have 6 middle Infielders in their top 30 prospects so adding another one is probably not a priority.
Lots of players suffer the sophomore jinx, hopefully Julio spends less time making commercials and more time working on his hitting next winter
Teams that are trying to win don’t worry about who is on their top prospect list. Many of those infielders you mention are years away. Some teams play to win today.
The M’s once included David Arias as the player to be named later in a trade for Dave Hollins, who played 28 games for the M’s. As most everyone here knows, Arias changed his last name to Ortiz and ended up in the Hall of Fame. He was in more than one way ‘the player to be named later’
Lets be fair, Ortiz was a-barely-holding-on-to-a-roster-spot player on the Twins until they finally cut him lose. But for the grace of god and Pedro Martinez did he end up in Boston, and only after an injury to Jeremy Giambi did he actually get a chance. Lets not act like the Twins stole one or the Mariners gave one away
dont forget Lowe and Veritek for a bag of crap on fire(slocum)
M’s are K’ing way to much!! Historic level. 4 players are on pace for 170 k’s.
Teo and Geno should be moved and replaced with player that K less.
Teo,Pollack and Woo to Yankees for Torres and DJ.
Torres is the prize for Sea.
The yanks are trotting journeman OF and Bader just got hurt. AJ -change of scenery.
Torres and DJ- more contact type hitters. Torres 1 more year of control and DJ -3 years. Yes, DJ is getting old.
THe diff in K’s are about cut in half. .
Boy, three trades that went nowhere no wonder things are what they are. The three that they brought in need to go, package them with some pitching get at least a couple of bats. I don’t care where you find them just do it. You can start with facebook market place, maybe start with yard sale with plenty of pictures. Yeah that should do it.
I’m here to save the day. This team needs a chemistry change. If you have problems hitting the ball then you need to out quick them on the bases. The whole idea is to create stress on the base paths. Sure you need to get on base first, the hitters are going to have to be more discipline their going to have to wear that under there cap. Of course changes in personal are going to be needed which there does exist some challenges with flexibility issues, but if you want to save the day your simply going to have to be both more pliable, and creative that which has been in short supply lately.. May I suggest you start with bringing up players such as Mathias, Scheiner, Haggerty, that would be a start. Deloach, and Trammel or not. This trade deadline could together become somehow a reboot if you play your cards right. Now don’t screw it up.
Thank You very much, and you’re welcome.
Pollack and Wong have zero value on the market and on the roster. DiPoto doesn’t have the appetite to DFA either or both which is the only option beyond just riding them out for the rest of the year. He takes too long to admit certain players are busts (Toro). Just trade Hernandez to the highest bidder and see how the season plays out. M’s aren’t in a position to do much more than that.