Predicting the Mariners Opening Day Infield

DETROIT, MICHIGAN - AUGUST 15: J.P. Crawford #3 and Dee Gordon #9 of the Seattle Mariners celebrate a 7-2 win over the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on August 15, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
DETROIT, MICHIGAN - AUGUST 15: J.P. Crawford #3 and Dee Gordon #9 of the Seattle Mariners celebrate a 7-2 win over the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on August 15, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
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With the season winding down it’s time to start looking ahead to Opening Day 2020. Today’s post focuses on the Mariners’ Opening day infield after covering the outfield in an earlier post.

When I looked at the outfield I only projected players that were currently in the organization; however, this time I’ll expand and also consider options for the infield that would need to be acquired via free agency or trade.

Lets start with the hot corner.

THIRD BASE

Two months ago it seemed that filling the infield’s third base position would be quite challenging for the Mariners, but things have changed a bit as Kyle Seager has been on a tear lately and looks destined to be the third baseman on Opening Day next year.

At one point it looked like Seager would be the starter by default (his contract and poison pill make him difficult to trade), but now that he seems to have rediscovered his stroke the past month or so Seager has actually earned the spot heading into next year.

For a team that will still be “re-tooling” to start the season, having Seager’s presence in the lineup and clubhouse could be a good thing (assuming he produces) as the team continues to bring up young players.

DETROIT, MICHIGAN – AUGUST 14: J.P. Crawford #3 of the Seattle Mariners celebrates his fourth inning home run with teammates while playing the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on August 14, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
DETROIT, MICHIGAN – AUGUST 14: J.P. Crawford #3 of the Seattle Mariners celebrates his fourth inning home run with teammates while playing the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on August 14, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

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.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – JULY 06: Jonathan Schoop #16 of the Minnesota Twins celebrates scoring a run against the Texas Rangers during the eighth inning of the game on July 6, 2019 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Twins defeated the Rangers 7-4. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – JULY 06: Jonathan Schoop #16 of the Minnesota Twins celebrates scoring a run against the Texas Rangers during the eighth inning of the game on July 6, 2019 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Twins defeated the Rangers 7-4. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

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.

DENVER, CO – AUGUST 17: Ryan McMahon #24 of the Colorado Rockies follows the flight of a seventh inning solo home run against the Miami Marlins at Coors Field on August 17, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO – AUGUST 17: Ryan McMahon #24 of the Colorado Rockies follows the flight of a seventh inning solo home run against the Miami Marlins at Coors Field on August 17, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) /

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.

dark. Next. Mariners Top 40 Prospects re-rank: 35-31

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.

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