FanSided

Mariners lack of offense means more than you think

By William Stone |
May 18, 2017; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Mariners center fielder Jarrod Dyson (1) hits a single against the Chicago White Sox during the fifth inning at Safeco Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
May 18, 2017; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Mariners center fielder Jarrod Dyson (1) hits a single against the Chicago White Sox during the fifth inning at Safeco Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
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The Mariners have scored 9 runs in their last 8 games. They’ve been shut out in two of them. In those 8 games they are an unsurprising 1-7, but their record is the least of their worries.

Now if you are under the impression that there is still hope for 2017, this is probably not the article for you. I am grateful to have you as a fan of the Mariners, I resonate with you a lot closer than it may seem from this article.

For the sake of this piece though, we are going to operate under the belief that 2017 is shot and the Mariners need to focus on winning in the future than winning now.

You may be wondering why, if 2017 is shot, the inability to score runs is actually a serious problem.

Next: The Mariners are awful; a timeline of what went wrong

Well, the Mariners are *likely* going to be sellers during this trade season. They will need to offload as much as they can in their pursuit to open a future window. So the problem is: If players aren’t performing, they’re worth way less.

Here, we’ll look at a couple players who the Mariners could be looking to move and how bad hitting will cripple the Mariners when looking to move them.

May 18, 2017; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Mariners center fielder Jarrod Dyson (1) hits a single against the Chicago White Sox during the fifth inning at Safeco Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
May 18, 2017; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Mariners center fielder Jarrod Dyson (1) hits a single against the Chicago White Sox during the fifth inning at Safeco Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports /

Jarrod Dyson

“Zoombiya” himself is one that can afford a lower batting average and still have solid tradability due to his outstanding defensive play. That said, he’s only hitting .207 on the season and most teams can find comparable defensive ability with more pop.

This is by far his worst hitting season, and that could get the attention of other teams, boosting his stock just a bit. It’ll be interesting to see what the M’s can get for the speed demon, but any more poor hitting will not help his case.

May 16, 2017; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Mariners catcher Carlos Ruiz (52) hits an RBI-fielders choice against the Oakland Athletics during the seventh inning at Safeco Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
May 16, 2017; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Mariners catcher Carlos Ruiz (52) hits an RBI-fielders choice against the Oakland Athletics during the seventh inning at Safeco Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports /

Carlos Ruiz

Ruiz is in a bad spot to begin with. He’s hitting .130 and is doing very little to help the Mariners. He needs to be moved, but Seattle is going to have a hard time finding a willing trade partner. If he can’t take full advantage of each of the few opportunities he gets, then the Mariners are going to be up a creek when it comes time to get him out.

May 24, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Seattle Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager (15) celebrates with first baseman Danny Valencia (26) after scoring a run against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
May 24, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Seattle Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager (15) celebrates with first baseman Danny Valencia (26) after scoring a run against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports /

Kyle Seager

I know, I know, this is not a name y’all probably expected to see on this list. Could Seattle really shop their franchise third baseman who has been the guy in the past and is lined up to be the guy in the future? I think the answer to that is a resounding yes.

Jean Segura has established himself as a rock the Mariners can build on, and Mitch Haniger produced unreal power (prior to his injury), thus making Seager expendable.

Will they actually trade him? Who knows, but his upside is sky high, and the return for him could be huge if he can find his rhythm over the next couple of weeks. Currently he’s sitting at .256, but most teams will pull the trigger on a deal that lands them the 29-year-old third baseman who still has prime years left.

If he doesn’t hit well and makes a subpar 2017 even worse, then the Mariners could be looking at selling very low on him, forcing a tough decision for Dipoto as how to deal with him.

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