2 players from last year's Mariners team who will be missed, and 2 who won't be

Last season was undoubtedly a rollar coaster ride for Seattle Mariners fans, as the team put them through the gamut of emotions. From a 10-game lead in the AL West to finishing one game out of a wild card position (okay, technically two because of head-to-head tiebreakers), it ended up being a case of what could have been in the Pacific Northwest.

Of course there were plenty of players receiving differing levels of love and hate through the 2024 season, particularly those who exceeded or failed to live up to expectations. Along these lines, we look at two Mariners from last year who will be missed, as well as two others that fans are glad to see the back of.

2 Mariners players from 2024 who will be missed by fans in 2025

Justin Turner

No one is under any illusion that the Mariners' productivity at the plate has to improve this season in order to help their chances of returning to the playoffs after a two-year absence. The lineup was among the very worst in 2024, with the most strikeouts and second-lowest team batting average contributing towards a 21st rank in scoring.

There is some hope though that the lineup will be better overall, based on how they performed after Dan Wilson took over as manager and brought a certain Edgar Martínez back to help with the hitting strategy. At the same time, the Mariners will be missing a key cog from that renaissance under Wilson and Martínez.

We are talking about Justin Turner, who the Mariners acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays at the trade deadline. While he may no longer by at the level when we saw him make a couple of All-Star appearances, the combination of his hitting ability, work ethic and leadership proved invaluable in Seattle.

Despite moving from a hitter-friendly ball park to arguably the ultimate challange for batters in the Majors, Turner's slash line and OPS were better in Seattle compared to Toronto. He was especially dangerous during the month of September, as evidenced by his .295/.396/.449 slash line and .845 OPS in 24 games.

There was plenty of hope among the Mariners faithful that the 40-year-old would return this season, with reported interest on both sides to get a new deal done. However, even though he remains a free agent at the time of writing, all indications are that he is one-and-done in the Pacific Northwest, which is a shame for everyone concerned.

Austin Voth

The Mariners need to see better overall from their bullpen in 2025, as by the end of last season they were running on fumes. As such, even allowing for the limited funds being made available to the front office, it must be tough for fans to know that Austin Voth will not be back.

As we wrote about recently, Voth had a bounce-back year in 2024 and proved to be a valuable component of the Mariners' bullpen. Just for a start there were the career-high 68 appearances he made, which were second-most among all M's pitchers, while his 61 combined innings were also the second-most of his seven years in the Majors.

It goes well beyond this for the 32-year-old, though, as his .204 opponents batting average and 1.049 WHIP were both career-bests. Additionally, his 24.6% strikeout rate, 7.3% walk rate and 4.12 FIP were all the second-best of his time in the Majors.

Going back to the financial factor, this must only increase the frustration among Mariners fans. Voth earned $1.25 million last year and, as per Daniel Kramer of MLB.com, was in line to make $2.2 million in 2025, with the M's instead deciding to non-tender him.

A pay raise of just under $1 million really doesn't sound like too much in the world of Major League Baseball, but instead Voth became a free agent. The righty has since signed a deal with the Chiba Lotte Marines to play in Japan, but you have to wonder how much he could have continued to help in Seattle this coming season.

2 players from last year's Mariners who won't be missed

Luis Urías

In a season of plenty of disappointments with the Mariners — harsh or not — we are compelled to include Luis Urías. After arriving during last offseason via a trade with the Boston Red Sox, much was expected from the 27-year-old.

The scouting reports surrounding Urías complimented his outstanding hitting ability, defensive acumen and overall excellent upside. It all seemed to come together in 2021 with the Milwaukee Brewers, but since then he had taken a few steps back in his progress, which resulted in his subsequent trades to Boston and then Seattle.

The Mariners clearly still saw the potential in the Mexico native to be a quality player in the Majors, and the hope/expectation was that he would at the very least be part of a platoon at third base, if not outright own the position. Instead, he showed up at spring training in less-than-stellar shape and had a poor start to the 2024 season.

As a result, Urías was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma where, in fairness, after a slow start, he began to heat up and eventually returned to the Mariners at the end of August. He then continued to produce at a prolific level when called upon during September with an exceptional .500/.600/1.000 slash line and 1.600 OPS in 12 at-bats.

Despite his excellent conclusion to the 2024 season, he still finished with a career-low .191 batting average in 94 at-bats contributing towards a .696 OPS over the course of 41 games with the Mariners. After being removed from the 40-man roster and clearing waivers, he decided to elect for free agency rather than accepting an assignment to the minors, and he's still looking for a job.

Yimi García

As the 2024 season progressed, the Mariners' bullpen began to wear down, not helped by Matt Brash being out for the year and Gregory Santos being limited to 7 1/3 overall innings due to injury issues. With the club challenging for a playoff spot, help was desperately needed.

Enter Yimi García, who the Mariners traded for just before the deadline, in exchange for Jonatan Clase and Jacob Sharp. García was having one of the best seasons of his 10 years in the Majors with a 2.70 ERA, 2.67 FIP and stellar 0.800 WHIP in 30 combined innings for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Moving to the more pitcher-friendly confines of T-Mobile Park was expected to only help enhance the righty's productivity. However, in classic "nothing ever seems to go right for the Mariners" style, pretty much the exact opposite happened.

Things started off well enough, with García allowing no runs in his first four appearances for the Mariners, which all lasted an inning apiece. However, it all then began to fall apart, and after 10 games (nine combined innings) in Seattle he had a 6.00 ERA and 7.28 FIP, which both projected to be career-worsts over the course of a season.

Making the situation even worse, the 34-year-old was put on the 10-day injured list with right elbow inflammation, with him subsequently moved to the 60-day injured list and ending his season. Once he hit free agency, he signed a two-year, $15 million deal to return to the Blue Jays, but can't say many fans are too upset with that.

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