The 2018 Sodo Mojo Off-Season Plan

 After much collaboration and planning between the Sodo Mojo staff, and outside contributors, we proudly submit our 2017 off-season plan for the home town Seattle Mariners.

Before we begin, we must establish our budget for the off-season. On October 12th, Mariners owner John Stanton confirmed on The Brock and Salk Show that the payroll will not go down, and it will at least stay steady, and could grow for the right players. So how much do they have to spend?

Well, for starters, the Mariners have roughly $103 million tied up to 6 players. They are: Robinson Cano, Felix Hernandez, Kyle Seager, Nelson Cruz, Mike Leake, and Jean Segura. The Mariners also have 7 players eligible for Arbitration.

Of these 7, only Drew Smyly seems unlikely to be tendered a contract. The remaining 6 (Mike Zunino, David Phelps, Erasmo Ramirez, Nick Vincent, James Paxton, and Shae Simmons) are projected to earn a total of $22.7 million. For simplicity sake, let say the Mariners have $125 million tied up to 12 players.

The Mariners also have a group of youngsters, each of whom will earn just over $550,000. They are: Mitch Hainger, Ben Gamel, Guillermo Heredia, Ariel Miranda, James Pazos, Marco Gonzales, Andrew Moore, and Taylor Motter. Those 8 will add roughly $4-$5 million to the payroll. That gives the Mariners a payroll of $130 million.

The final payroll figure for 2017 hovered around $170 million. Based on Stanton’s recent comments, our panelist were given an initial budget of $180 million, meaning they have $50 million to spend on 5-7 roster spots.

Our current projected roster leaves us with some obvious holes to fill. The Mariners will most certainly need a first baseman and an outfielder.  They have a few spots in the pitching staff to fill, and perhaps a backup catcher. Below, our panelist have come up with a solution to said problems, and we now present, our 2018 off-season plan.