Mariners fans entered the season with something of a sour outlook on the 2025 season. That's understandable, given an offseason in which the front office was clearly handcuffed by payroll limitations and a paper-thin trade market for big league hitters. Armed with a only a reported $15-16MM to patch over multiple needs in the infield, there wasn't a lot out there for president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto and general manager Justin Hollander to realistically pursue.
Seattle wound up rolling the dice on a handful of cost-effective infield options. Jorge Polanco returned on a one-year deal with a conditional player option. Donovan Solano snagged a $3.5MM guarantee. Rowdy Tellez signed a minor league deal and made the team after a big spring showing (.298/.320/.574 in 50 plate appearances).
Frustration was understandable. The Mariners had made a big splash at the prior deadline, reeling in Randy Arozarena from the Rays, but fans hoping for a similarly bold strike in the offseason after another narrow playoff miss were left wanting.
That frustration likely faded for many as the Mariners raced out to a blistering start. On May 7, they sat with a 22-14 record, leading the American League West by a three-game margin and sporting a +31 run differential. One might imagine that the Mariners were again being carried by their brilliant rotation, but that wasn't the case -- at least not entirely. George Kirby has still yet to throw a pitch in 2025 as he recovers from some shoulder inflammation. Logan Gilbert hit the injured list on April 25 and remains there. Bryan Woo has been brilliant. Luis Castillo has been good. Gilbert was his typically excellent self prior to his flexor injury. But the Mariners' starting pitching, as a whole, has been a middle-of-the-pack unit.
Instead, Seattle's hot start was largely attributable to a surprisingly potent offense. Through that previously mentioned May 7 date, M's hitters were slashing .247/.340/.415, resulting in a 122 wRC+ that ranked third in the majors. They were fourth in home runs, seventh in runs scored, 12th in batting average, second in on-base percentage and ninth in slugging percentage.
In the week-plus since that time, the Mariners have lost five of six games and posted a collective .206/.259/.326 batting line (70 wRC+). Typically, there's little sense panicking over a week of poor results, but there was already reason to be a bit skeptical of Seattle's sudden offensive prowess. Good as Cal Raleigh is, he's not going to continue at a 50-homer pace. Polanco isn't going to keep his OPS north of 1.000. J.P. Crawford isn't sustaining a .410 OBP, nor will Leo Rivas keep hitting .341. Those timely early-season hot streaks buoyed the Seattle offense but can't all be sustained.
The Mariners seemingly recognize that some new blood is needed; they claimed Leody Taveras off waivers from the division-rival Rangers and took on about $3.7MM in salary to do so. That was an understandable move with both Victor Robles and Luke Raley on the injured list for the foreseeable future, but it shouldn't be the only one the Mariners consider.
Let's run through a few easy ways to bolster a lineup that is facing even more pressure than usual now that Bryce Miller has joined rotation-mates Kirby and Gilbert on the injured list...
Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription
- Access weekly subscriber-only articles by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, and Anthony Franco.
- Join exclusive weekly live chats with Anthony.
- Remove ads and support our writers.
- Access GM-caliber tools like our MLB Contract Tracker
Looking forward to the Vedder Cup at Petco between Friars and Sailors this weekend!
The Padres were apparently NOT looking forward to competing for the Vedder Cup.
Id argue that they have the best closer in baseball right now, and could/should try to trade him for some offense.
The rest of the bullpen is nothing special.
Be tough to replace him with current bullpen.
What?!? Got the power arm in the pen all championship teams NEED and yer like:trade’em!!
Terrible take, beyond laughable
He won’t have very many leads to hold down the stretch if they can’t score runs. I’m one that respects everyone’s opinion, you have never seen me in 15 years on the site tell anyone that their comment is laughable but ok. When you have a RP worth 2.0 WAR by the middle of May, that is your opportunity to trade for a major impact bat. Munoz value will never be higher than it is right now in this moment. You’re one of those guys that uses laughing emoji’s aren’t you? The Mariners can keep doing what they’re doing and continue to miss the post season, I don’t care I’m a Phillies fan I have something to root for every year.
If you did shop Munoz right now as a 2.0 WAR RP, as you propose, you would need another club to trade with willing to ship back equal value at this time.
Besides the 4 dumpster fires at the bottom of the standings, who is waving the white trade flag for a 2.0 WAR RP?
Its going to take till mid-summer to acquire a fill-in-the-blank player for Munoz.
The Angels are only 5.5 back of the wild card so 90% of the league think they can rally to make it to October.
According to you, by that time Munozs value will be significantly less so you can obviously see staying the course with a cheap cost controlled 2.0 WAR RP is the right & only plan for him.
And as far as your Phillies go you’d better savor the flavor this year and pray to the baseball gods they win it all.
This time next year they will be an aging older expensive club with very little in reserve to call up or money to spend.
Only thing you’ll be rooting for is the #1 pick, stuffing the suggestion box with “WIFFLE ball homers should count” and wondering why the bronze bombers out front dont reply to your “wtf happened” questions.
凸-_-凸
Doubtful. Here’s a trade proposal for Munoz to my favorite dumpster fire.
Phillies acquire:
Andres Munoz CL
Dylan Moore SS/CF
Mariners acquire:
Johan Rojas CF
Otto Kemp 3B/1B (#18)
Gabriel Rincones Jr. RF (#10)
Devin Saltiban 2B (#6)
Mick Abel RHP (#7)
Mariners have one of the worst ranked farm systems in baseball. Rojas plays CF, J-Rod moves to RF permanently. They get a shot in the arm to their farm system with 3 of the Phils top 10 prospects, and another in the top 20 (who has a 1.100 OPS at AAA). Abel, who’s from the Northwest, slides into the 5th starters spot until Kirby is activated. They shed about $10 million, replace Moore with Kemp on the 26 and potentially find their 2B of the future. Phillies finally get a bonafide closer, allowing Avarado and Romano to work the 7th, Kerkering/Strahm for the 7th. Plus a GG defender at any position – to put behind our pitching staff (vs. LHP). Could they get more than that somewhere else? Probably.
Alavardo/Romano 8th*
Clearly your idea of trading Muñoz to get a bat is 100% influenced by the notion that you’d love your Phillies to get him! Haha Not a chance in @#%& SEA is trading Muñoz, esp on THAT contract.
You seem to forget that despite the Mariners having 3 SP’s on the IL- their OD Starter and two Pitchers who’d be SP2’s on most teams (Kirby and Miller.) As well as their lead off hitter and arguably their 3rd best hitter from last year – Luke Raley ……They are still in 1st place!!
I can see how some might think a Muñoz trade for offense might be a creative solution to try to get a bat. It’s a ridiculous idea and it will of course never happen in this reality, but it’s at least a creative fantasy.
As ridiculous as the Muñoz trade idea is, it’s still not as out of touch as the idea that the Mariners “have one of the worst ranked farm systems in MLB!!”
Did that sentence get typed in 2017? The M’s are the ONLY team in MLB with 9 prospects in the Top 100. That’s 9 Top 100 in Baseball America as well as MLB Pipeline. They are arguably THE best Farm System right now. At least a consensus Top 5
Where did you get that complete lie that they have one of the worst farm systems in baseball? They rank in the top 10 in nearly every system rankings, with plenty of top 5 rankings. 9 players in the top 100. A Google search for that is very easy. Stop talking out of your behind.
Clearly you’re a troll. This is demonstrably stupid.
No further comments warranted.
He’s a troll, no one can be this stupid.
Contenders are the only teams that would want Munoz right now, and they WILL NOT part with MLB offense that we would need.
This is an insane thought, and thank God you aren’t the GM!
We have the TOP Farm System in MLB with 8-9 prospects in the top 100 depending on which report you look at!
The teams that would trade MLB offense are not the contenders, that would want to get salary relief AND land more decent prospects.
Seattle has a good trading history with Dbacks, and Dbacks are gonna be hard pressed to make the playoffs this year’! I would love Suarez back at 3b. He’s in a contract year and was a club house leader with so much enthusiasm. If Dbacks sell 1B Naylor could be another they shop in his contract year that would improve Seattles lineup
This is wildly inaccurate. They have one of the strongest currently. Where did you find your source saying the opposite?
Naylor is the bat they need to be going after. Fits a position of need and is a contact hitter. He’d fit the lineup nicely. It’s likely irrelevant though. The D-Backs are good and won’t be trading him. Regardless of how much I loved Suarez when he was here and how good he was in the clubhouse, I wouldn’t give up anything of value for him at this age and at this point in his career. Don’t care how good he’d be for half a year, if at all.
Mariners have one of the top 5 farm systems in baseball. Julio is either the 2nd or 3rd most valuable defensive center fielder in the majors.
Seattle has already learned the lesson that trading your closer for offense is a great way to barely miss the playoffs (twice).
Seattle’s offense has been playing over its head, but the pitching was clearly underperforming. As each normalizes, the team is still favored to win the division.
Your assertion they’re anywhere near ready to compete for a title is laughable.
The offense isn’t the issue most of the time. The pitching is what has hurt us so I don’t see how trading the best piece from the worst unit on the team improves the team
Well he’s worth 2 WAR at 25% through the season. Do you think he will finish the year with a 0.00 ERA and 8.0 WAR? Of course not, it’s impossible to keep up this pace. So regression will happen, was just suggesting selling at an extreme high on a relief pitcher. It may be the only asset on the 40 man roster right now that could get that return, without trading a regular starting position player or SP. They definitely don’t have the prospect depth to add a bat.
There’s a lot wrong with everything you’re suggesting.
Buddy’s right. The bullpen is the weakness of the team. Muñoz is one of three relievers that can miss bats and the offense hasn’t been a problem. They need to add relievers. They could especially use another arm for late innings. Moving your closer, who’s under control on a team-friendly deal makes little sense.
They have 9 prospects in the Pipeline top-100. BA is high on Seattle’s farm as well. They absolutely have prospect depth for trades. But they may not even need to add bats.
They should have Raley and Robles back well before the deadline, and one of their top prospects, Cole Young, is destroying AAA. If he’s able to handle second, they’ll be able to use Moore for a offensive boost at third, or even at first vs. LHPs.
Moving a closer like Muñoz is a move you’d expect from a team in shambles looking to rebuild. Contenders don’t move a key piece like that.
Clearly you are misinformed.
We have 9 players in the top 100 prospects.
Again, terrible take. Are you trolling????
Watch Big Dumper drop 50 bombs.
With Dipoto there it’s always going to be something.
He overcommits to one area of the team that’s doing well. He doesn’t understand that the good ML teams exploit opponents weaknesses.
Filling holes doesn’t work. Building a diverse team that the manger can win games with in multiple ways is what the quality FO departments do.
–
Typical MLBTR article that looks at stats of a ML team, brings up areas the stats are weak in, and states they have to shore those areas up. Paint by numbers. Might work in rotisserie league, not MLB.
When are you going to start your own website instead of bitching about FREEEEEEE mlbtr material?
This is an odd criticism. No team is going to hit on all of their picks and signings, so there will always be holes in an organization to fill. This team does seem reluctant to trade/release players they have emotional attachment to, and don’t have much money to sign free agents. That does limit their ability to fill holes.
Also, I’m not sure what you expect in an article. Strong opinions about a team with a few stats to support it like the mid-20th century sports columnist used to do? Wildly unrealistic trade scenarios like fan blogs? A study into the psychological makeup of a roster without any actual access to the players or coaches?
Same old story, really. They should be in win-now mode with the pitching staff they have (while they still have it). They simply refuse to bring in a few big bats that have been needed for several years now. They don’t want to pay up for the top tier offensive additions that they so obviously need in order to be a true WS contender. They still have a very good farm system, so perhaps they’ll get aggressive at the trade deadline. Assuming they are still in the race by then.
Seattle is currently tied for second in the American League with an OPS+ of 116 and 11th in the league with an ERA+ of 97.
The Mariner needs are obvious.
Great comments about calling up Young and Locklear right now so we can have ~50 games to see what they can do in the majors before the trade deadline. If they aren’t doing good, we can somewhat safely option them back to AAA and find a replacement on the market.
O’Hearn would be a nice addition if Rowdy starts to struggle because I’m still not sold on him. JP’s resurgence has been very huge tho, where calling up Young right now isn’t dire.
Rowdy starts to struggle? He is already there. Not many people are sold on him. Great against Blue Jay’s. Good story…wish him the best but I don’t see it happening.
O’Hearn is garbage, get real
I’d stay far far away from O’Hearn. I wouldn’t touch him with a 10 foot poop covered broken stick. He’s a prime candidate to come here and forget how to hit also. He wouldn’t move the needle at all. Replacement level player.
This is one of the worst articles I’ve yet to see in MLBR. Seattle is 3rd in OPS on the road, and 24th at home, with a 115 difference.
While you can always use an extra bat, the hitting is not the issue. The ballpark is. Everyone in the baseball world knows that Seattle penalizes offense.
And with 3 starters on the IL, they need pitching much more than hitting.
They have a loaded farm. They should trade some of their prospects for good players.
Last offseason showed that most teams were looking for proven young major league talent not prospects. Many writers here pointed out that only the White Sox, Marlins, & Rockies would even consider prospects, largely because the playoff structure has teams believing they have a shot. They also said the Rockies shouldn’t even be counted on as they are so unpredictable with their franchise building strategy. Baltimore was mentioned as a trade partner but they were only interested in the 4 starting pitchers that Seattle wasn’t willing to consider. (2 of which are currently on the IL so it was smart to keep them with so little depth)
The Mariners are stuck because they don’t want to overpay for free agent hitters to get them to come to the worst offensive hitting park in all of MLB. Hitters don’t want to sign here & risk having their stats tank. Signing their own guys is the only real chance they have like Cal & Julio. (Coupled with developing their youngsters & waiting for them to be ready)
Even if their park were a neutral hitting destination, ownership appears reluctant to risk big free agent deals because of the very real likelihood of having to pay for the severe decline years on the back end of so many of said contracts. Very few franchises have to fiscal stomach to absorb those.
So now it’s the Seattle stadium, not Coors Field? Get real. The team matters on the field, the stadium is an excuse.
Everyone plays at the stadium, so everyone should be able to handle it.
Partly the stadium yes. They play 81 games there. More than any other team. But that’s not the only issue with their offense. And yes it’s the opposite effect of Coors. Colorado plays 81 games there, and it’s obvious the problem is not just the stadium.
Cora the Destroya
The team matters on the field, the stadium is an excuse.
==========================
So your take here is that players should perform equally well in every stadium? That Fenway and Coors don’t enhance the hitters’ stats and that Safeco doesn’t reduce their stats.
No, I’m saying that everyone should adapt to whatever place they play at. If they can’t do that, it’s about their ability, not where they are playing at.
But the team OPS doesn’t change the fact that Solano and Williamson aren’t hitting well and there is no cost to giving Locklear and Young an opportunity to replace them as the article suggests.
If Seattle has the opportunity to add a couple of young, cost controlled, long term solutions to the lineup while still trying to contend, they should do just that. Giving the young guys a chance with plenty of time left before the deadline is sensible. It gives them options.
The title of the article may have been a little over dramatic, but the ideas presented within were solid enough.
There’s no reason to get rid of Williamson. Solano still getting at bat is wild to me. He shouldn’t even be on the team anymore. He’s only on the team out of necessity. I guarantee Locklear can give us the same production that Solano has. He’s an empty spot in the order when he’s in. He doesn’t even have an RBI yet this year.
Also….theyve traded their closer a few times since 2021 season and when they’ve done that they finished 1 game out of the playoffs each time.
I get the “maximize value” argument but clearly there is some data (albeit a small sample size”) that trading the best BP piece during a season does not help with playoff chances.
Seattle entered Friday’s games tied for second in the American League with an OPS+ of 115.
It’s disingenuous for MLBTR to isolate on the six-game slump and its wRC+ of 70.
Totally. They aren’t even running with a fully healthy roster (and no one ever truly does) but ate going to get some very needed pitching reinforcements (Kirby & Gilbert)
They’re not in panic mode and not even close.
That’s what I wrote above. Their OPS+ is #7 out of 30. Their ERA+ is #22 out 30.
Raleigh, JRod, Moore, Azo, Raley, and Polanco all have career OPS+ in excess of 100.
OTOH, they have a very pedestrian BP, even with a closer with a 0.00 ERA. They have 3 SPs, and the 3 #6-7-8 have a combined ERA of 5.40.
The pitching will improve, and the hitting will decline a little, but I don’t see a reason to do anything at this point. Maybe replace Williamson.
Maybe Dan Wilson can bring on his old teammates Edgar and Bone to join Ichiro as a hydralike hitting coach.
Edgar is already there…has been quite a while as senior hitting coach. Boone is with Rangers as coach.
@hawk thanks, I didn’t know about Edgar. The third guy I meant was Jay “Bone” Buhner.
‘What the hell did you trade Jay Buhner for?’:
Love Jay…he is to busy selling trucks. Owns dealerships. Guy was a great Mariner!
One of these Mariner trades.
He clearly said Bone. And I don’t know why you would want him as your hitting coach. Dude didn’t hit for average. What’s he gonna tell players? Shave your head and then go up and swing for the fences?
As a lifelong M’s fan and long time mlbtr subscriber this article is very… clickbaity? Blah M’s should’ve off season this blah M’s past off season acquisitions that. Claiming Taveras has nothing to do with needing new blood. It’s a response to injuries to an outfield of a team that can compete in a weak division. May 16th and an article like this may be fair for a big market team with expectations that is struggling but the M’s are in first place (Granted 1 game). This is informative but more for an article with a headline like “Mariners shaky 1st place could be supported by surprising mlb ready minor league players”. Anyway just my thoughts.
This seems like a really reasonable response to me.
Are there places the M’s can improve? Very clearly. God only knows why Solano is still on the roster, man is he cooked.
But the offense has been the carrying strength so far, and while nobody expects Polanco to be quite this hot the rest of the year, or Rivas to maintain an OBP that starts with a 4, I see a lot of good things.
JP looks real to me, and Julio seems to be heating up, too. We’ve got some pieces on offense, I wouldn’t mind some more, but we’re not hopeless there.
Let’s get Logan and Kirby back (and Miller), please. I miss my uberrotation!
Here’s an idea: no more ABs for Solano
Mariners hitters have wRC+ of 105 at home and 127 on the road.
The main problem is, as usual, the severe ballpark and geography issues. Believe it or not, gravity is stronger there than most places.
They should bring the fences in to compensate.
I thought the title of this articles was a joke at first, as the Mariners offense has been surprisingly fine this year.
Seattle’s success has arguably come because they shook things up once already.
Their third baseman is their DH (in a platoon, oddly enough), their first baseman became their right fielder (before succumbing to injury himself). Their infield defense was a huge question that was largely addressed by a prospect with limited experience in the upper-minors, a waiver claim, and an injury that gave the original favorite for second base the role he lost after a poor spring showing–and he, Moore, has been one of their best hitters.
Seattle was also getting production from the bottom-third of the order, though that’s changed in large because Crawford’s now leading off. It’s worth noting that, with exception to Rivas who is in a bench role and doesn’t play often, none of Seattle’s hitters have had (nor currently have) unsustainable BABIPs. Only Crawford and Rivas are north of .319.
These more recent losses to Toronto and NY are nothing to really panic over. It’s fair to argue that Raleigh and Polanco aren’t going to terrorize pitchers they way they have season-long, but the consistency of Crawford and Arozarena and now even Julio, offsets a lot of concerns.
Seattle has two glaring needs right now:
1. To get healthy.
2. Bullpen help
And I believe they will shake things up a little once they get Robles and Raley back. It would probably be wise to put Raley back at first as Robles returns to right. If Cole Young continues to dominate triple-A, which he has since 3 May (nearly had a cycle last night, albeit in hitter-friendly Albuquerque), he’ll be up before too long which would allow Moore to take some PAs at third–if not a more regular presence there if his defense at the hot corner isn’t a huge concern.
If they get Raley back sometime in June, and Robles in early July which is expected, they’ll have time to reassess their offense before the deadline. If there’s a change before then, I would imagine that it will involve Young.
But the bullpen is 23rd in K%, 18th in runs (ranked from least to most), and 20th in FIP.
The rotation without Kirby, Gilbert, and Miller is obviously a huge problem. Though they’ll likely get Kirby back soon and hopefully Gilbert before too long, finding another starter wouldn’t hurt.
I would personally prioritize pitching before hitting right now, but given it’s mid-May, and internal options have largely been exhausted, it’s hard to see anything significant happening.
The Mets can help you, McNeil,Singleton, Megill and $20 mil for Woo
Why would the Mariners trade their ace? They already have two starters out.
The Cardinals could afford to part with Eric Fedde and call up Michael McGreevy. They could also attach Nolan Gorman if the M’s were interested in trying to fix him. Fedde is affordable, though the Cardinals could also afford to pay the remainder of his salary if the prospect return was right.
I think trading from the Minor league depth for Ryan O’hearn . Should not cost too much
How about a trade centered around Devers for Woo?
Mariners got the playoffs in the bag. What they need is in their high minors right now.
Harry Ford
Cole young
Locklear
Are ready to come up
Jurrangelo, Garcia could have a shot at a playoff roster spot in the bullpen.
Stay young and athletic and let the injured heal up and come back hungry in the second half
GOMs!
There are no guarantees in baseball.
Seattle had a 10-game lead in the AL West on 18 June last year and blew it a month later.
There is no need for Ford right now, Locklear is still learning to reduce the Ks while searching for the power that went AWOL, Cijntje in in High-A learning how to repeat his deliveries. He’s not likely even making it to Tacoma this year.
Young is the one hitting prospect that could help. On the pitching side, perhaps Hobbs and Morales in the second half.
Seattle may not need much offensive help, but there’s a real need for relief help and not many internal options.
Hopefully they’ll find what they need sooner rather than later, but it’s still mid-May. Big(er) trades rarely happen this early.
“Good as Cal Raleigh is” is NOT PROPER ENGLISH. You can’t just leave “as” out to begin the sentence. It’s not optional! Grammar is not optional when you’re being paid to write.