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FanSided

Seattle Mariners: FanSided Mock Off-Season Day Three

By Colby Patnode

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 29: As confetti rains down, fans make their way into the stadium before a game on opening day between the Cleveland Indians and the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field on March 29, 2018 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 29: As confetti rains down, fans make their way into the stadium before a game on opening day between the Cleveland Indians and the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field on March 29, 2018 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images) /
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Sign Joakim Soria, 2 years $12 million

CHICAGO, IL – APRIL 25: Joakim Soria #48 of the Chicago White Sox pitches against the Seattle Mariners at Guaranteed Rate Field on April 25, 2018, in Chicago, Illinois. The Mariners defeated the Whtie Sox 4-3. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL – APRIL 25: Joakim Soria #48 of the Chicago White Sox pitches against the Seattle Mariners at Guaranteed Rate Field on April 25, 2018, in Chicago, Illinois. The Mariners defeated the Whtie Sox 4-3. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

Quick! Which pitcher led all of baseball in the lowest average exit velocity in 2018? Edwin Diaz? Andrew Miller? Aroldis Chapman? Jacob deGrom? Nope. It was actually Joakim Soria. Yes, the 34-year-old reliever was the hardest reliever to square up in 2018.

Soria had a fantastic 2018 season, posting a 2.44 FIP, a 5:1 K/BB ratio, and a 1.8 fWAR in just 60.2 innings pitched. Interestingly, Soria evolved from a ground ball heavy pitcher in 2017 to a flyball-heavy pitcher in 2018. Even at his age, Soria is still missing bats and doing so with excellent command.

Soria relies on his 93-mph fastball and changeup to get batters out, and he incredibly effective at it. There is nothing “sexy” about Soria’s stuff, but he continues to get guys out without getting blasted in the process.

Soria rarely surrenders home runs, posting a minuscule 6.2% HR/FB rate. He dominates RHH and is still solid against LHH as well. He is a perfect compliment to Alex Colome and Edwin Diaz (who we were unable to trade in this sim) and can close if needed.

In short, Soria is a really good pitcher who somebody will get tremendous value on this off-season. So, at least for this sim, it may as well be us who benefits.

dark. Next. Day 1 of Off-Season Simulation

Well, there you have. The complete list of moves we made on Day 3 of our sim. In the coming days, we will provide a complete rundown of all our moves, including payroll figures and some deals that almost came to fruition but didn’t quite make it. We hope you enjoyed this series, and look forward to continuing our coverage of the Mariners with a bit more realism going forward!

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