Predicting the Mariners Opening Day Infield

SHORTSTOP

No big and exciting changes to the infield yet as J.P. Crawford looks to be the starter at shortstop next year. It wouldn’t be totally shocking if General Manager Jerry Dipoto traded Crawford this winter after the shortstop has shown that he can hang in the Major Leagues, but with a dearth of middle infield prospects at the upper levels of the farm and Crawford still being young and fitting the timeline of the rebuild, the team will want to really see what they have in him.

Plus the free agent options that could be fits are limited unless you want to watch Tim Beckham be the shortstop again once his suspension ends or are a big fan of Jose Iglesias.

SECOND BASE

Second base is where things start to get interesting. It’s clear that the Mariners wanted to trade incumbent second baseman Dee Gordon at the trade deadline, but his injury wiped out that opportunity. The team will look to move him again this winter and for the sake of this exercise, they will be successful in those attempts.

The team is said to like prospect Shed Long  (is he a super utility man or an everyday starter at second?), but Long has battled his own injury issues this year and hasn’t gotten to really show management what he can do at the Major League level. Seattle will want a veteran stop gap, similar to what they did with Beckham this year, until Long or someone else steps up to win the job.

As mentioned on the site earlier, Jonathan Schoop isn’t that exciting of a player, but does provide some right handed pop which could come in handy and could be another player that the team brings in on a one year deal that they look to flip at the deadline if he produces. Depending on the other moves the team makes (like trading Domingo Santana), adding some right handed power to the lineup wouldn’t be a bad thing.

FIRST BASE

Here is where the fun starts. The team needs to find a first baseman. Fan favorite Daniel Vogelbach is not the answer and is at best the full-time designated hitter. While it might not sit well with other contributors on this site, I’d trade Vogey this off-season as I’d like to see the roster constructed without a bat-only player that has shown weaknesses against left-handed pitching (small sample size) taking up a valuable roster spot.

Ryon Healy is likely to be non-tendered and prospect Evan White isn’t ready yet and might be better suited for a role that would allow him to also play the corner outfield spots. The Mariners are going to have to be aggressive in the off-season and they can’t wait until the winter of 2020 to start making bold moves.

One such move could be calling the Colorado Rockies and seeing what it would take to pry Ryan McMahon away from them (maybe in a package deal with Jon Gray, but that’s a post for another day). McMahon is only 24 and has played third, second, and first base this year for the Rockies. While he might not be the prototypical slugging first basemen type (he does have 17 home runs as of now), he does offer position versatility that would benefit the Mariners (he could slide to second or third depending on how others perform, trades, development of prospects like White, etc) and at only 24 he fits the timeline to be a contributor not just next year, but into the future for Seattle.

The cost, especially if paired with Gray, won’t be cheap, but depending on what Colorado decides to do in the off-season the Mariners could fill some of their needs in the outfield, or even including someone like Gordon as well to cover the hole in the infield that was created by trading McMahon.