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Seattle Mariners could be .500 team with these 5 moves

By Colby Patnode

CLEVELAND, OHIO - MAY 04: Francisco Lindor #12 of the Cleveland Indians taunts Edwin Encarnacion #10 of the Seattle Mariners after Encarnacion was called out at first on review to end the top of the sixth inning at Progressive Field on May 04, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OHIO - MAY 04: Francisco Lindor #12 of the Cleveland Indians taunts Edwin Encarnacion #10 of the Seattle Mariners after Encarnacion was called out at first on review to end the top of the sixth inning at Progressive Field on May 04, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /
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3. Sign Marcell Ozuna to a 4-year, $68 million contract

WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 14: Marcell Ozuna #23 of the St. Louis Cardinals attempts to make the catch on an RBI double by Anthony Rendon #6 of the Washington Nationals in the third inning of game three of the National League Championship Series at Nationals Park on October 14, 2019, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 14: Marcell Ozuna #23 of the St. Louis Cardinals attempts to make the catch on an RBI double by Anthony Rendon #6 of the Washington Nationals in the third inning of game three of the National League Championship Series at Nationals Park on October 14, 2019, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

So in a scenario where Seattle is trying to win in 2020, trading Mitch Haniger doesn’t make a lot of sense. He’s a good bet to get you 3-5 wins and trading him leaves open another outfield spot. If Seattle wanted to compete in 2020, they’d need to add an OF, and frankly a really good one too.

As of right now, the starting OF would be Haniger in RF, Mallex Smith in CF, and Kyle Lewis in LF. Can you see the issue? Smith is coming off a bad season at the plate and Lewis needs time in AAA to work on his contact issues. It isn’t an outfield that screams “above-average”.

Now, add Marcell Ozuna to left field and slot him anywhere between 2-6 in the lineup, and you’re starting to get somewhere. The 29-year-old LF is a pretty safe player who will provide league-average OBP, above-average power, and good contact skills to be a 110 wRC+ to go with good defense in LF.

He is likely to sit somewhere in the 2.5 WAR range, but Steamer projects him a 3.1 fWAR in 2020 and those 3 wins are critical for us to reach our goal. Adding 3 wins would get us around the 77 win mark, but also takes a good chunk out of our remaining $35 million budget, giving us roughly $17 million to find us 4-5 wins to reach our goal.

But Ozuna hit’s the ball really hard and is still young enough to provide his solid return for the length of the contract. There aren’t a ton of 3 win players running around that don’t cost $20 million per year or cost a small handful of useful prospects and Ozuna fills our biggest need.

Now, to find those last few wins to reach our goal.

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