3 Goals to a Successful Off-Season for the Seattle Mariners

3. Raise the Floor

Admittedly, a vague final goal for the off-season, but raising the floor of the 2020 roster is necessary to ensure that the next off-season is not “make or break” for the team. This Mariners roster won 68 games, but the floor was likely closer to 60 wins, while the ceiling was likely fewer than 75.

One of the Mariners’ goal this off-season should be to make their floor at 68 wins, the ceiling as close to .500 as possible, and a win total somewhere in the 75 win range. But how do they do this?

Well, they’ll actually get some help in that department without adding a single player. A full season of Haniger, the second season and projected growth of Yusei Kikuchi, and full seasons from mid-season newcomers like Austin Nola and Shed Long can push the floor higher.

Adding the quality starting arm to the middle of the rotation would also raise the floor, as would investing in a few veteran bullpen arms. Now here is where things get tricky. The veteran bullpen arms don’t mean the Dellin Betances‘ of the world. We are looking for guys closer to Hunter Strickland.

But adding a quality arm like Brad Brach, Will Harris, Collin McHugh, Hector Rondon, or Sergio Romo can help bring stability to the 7th inning on, as well as a nice trade chip or two in July when arms like Sam Delaplane, Wyatt Mills, and Raymond Kerr may be ready to roll.

So there you have it. 3 realistic goals the Mariners can achieve to have a successful off-season. Like I said earlier, nothing sexy here. Just solid baseball moves that get Seattle closer to their 2021 goal without committing big money or prospect capital to get to 81 wins instead of 75 in 2020.