Seattle Mariners GM For A Week: How It All Looks For 2015

My week as GM of the Seattle Mariners is over. I laid out a few ideas and offered my suggestions in hopes of improving on the 2014 season. What does it all mean?

Let’s take a look at the final product – what the 2015 Seattle Mariners would look like if these moves were made.

First, let’s look back at the moves that we made in this fictional offseason.

1- Sign Kyle Seager to an extension at 5 years / $58 million, pickup Hisashi Iwakuma‘s option at $7 million, sign Joe Beimel to one-year $1.5 million deal.

2- Sign Cuban OF Yasmany Tomas to a 7-year $105 million deal.

3- Sign Max Scherzer to a ridiculous contract. I said 6 years / $135 million but that probably won’t do it. I will revise it to 7-years at $26 million per year.

4- Sign Michael Cuddyer to a 2-year deal worth $24 million.

So with all of that, the Mariners payroll (plus or minus arbitration cases and other minor free agent signings) would sit at around $147.7 million for 2015. That would have been the 7th-highest payroll in 2014 behind the Giants, Red Sox, Tigers, Phillies, Yankees and Dodgers.

Whether or not that’s a realistic figure that ownership wants to throw out there, remains to be seen. But we know from the lucrative TV deals, the increased attendance and other revenue streams, they “could” raise the payroll that high and still make a hefty profit.

Assuming these moves are made, this would theoretically be the Opening Day starting lineup:

1- CF Austin Jackson
2- SS Chris Taylor
3- 2B Robinson Cano
4- DH Michael Cuddyer
5- 3B Kyle Seager
6- RF Yasmany Tomas
7- 1B Logan Morrison
8- C Mike Zunino
9- LF Dustin Ackley

SP- Felix Hernandez
SP- Max Scherzer
SP- Hisashi Iwakuma
SP- James Paxton
SP- Taijuan Walker / Roenis Elias

A few notes I want to add about this process.

I did not evaluate possible trades that could be made this offseason. There just isn’t enough information out there yet to determine who is going to be made available and who isn’t.

That being said, there are a few options out there that I would entertain.

One of those is a trade with the Atlanta Braves for Evan Gattis. Gattis is young, under club control until 2019 and the Braves have Christian Bethancourt coming and no real place to comfortably place Gattis. Move him to an AL club and make him a DH.