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5 Seattle Mariners needs to fulfill during the offseason

By Ryota Nishino

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - SEPTEMBER 21: J.P. Crawford and Kyle Lewis of the Seattle Mariners a win against the Astros at T-Mobile Park. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - SEPTEMBER 21: J.P. Crawford and Kyle Lewis of the Seattle Mariners a win against the Astros at T-Mobile Park. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
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Jerry Dipoto and Scott Servais of the Seattle Mariners have a conversation during pre-game BP.
SEATTLE, WA – AUGUST 02: GM Jerry Dipoto and manager Scott Servais of the Seattle Mariners talk behind the batting cage prior to the game against the Red Sox. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images) /

The Seattle Mariners are set to break out of the rebuilding process in 2021, but there is still work to do in the offseason in five areas

During the shortened 2020 regular season, the Seattle Mariners gave many young players an opportunity to test their skills at the big league level. The Mariners are on the brink of being a winning team and 2020 showed many promising performances.

There are five main areas that could use some improvement in the Mariners roster based on how the team performed in 2020, and with some of the expected call ups.

#1 Relievers: Jerry Dipoto needs to go grocery shopping for bullpen pitchers

Kendall Graveman of the Mariners throws a pitch.
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – AUGUST 02: Kendall Graveman of the Seattle Mariners pitches against the Oakland Athletics during their game at T-Mobile Park. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /

The bullpen as a whole in 2020 was not good at all and that was sort of expected during this rebuild process. There were many young arms in the pen and Mariners manager Scott Servais will be expecting a handful of them to step up in 2021.

Jerry Dipoto already made his first move a couple of days ago when he re-signed Kendall Graveman to a one-year deal. I am expecting him to play a role in the bullpen as opposed to the starting rotation. The Mariners also claimed Domingo Tapia from the Red Sox who might prove to be useful.

Among the 2020 Mariners reliever, the hard-throwing 25-year-old Yohan Ramirez was one of the lone bright spots. Ramirez posted a 2.61 ERA in 20.2 innings pitched. Joey Gerber, Brandon Brennan, and Anthony Misiewicz also performed decently, but not nearly good enough for a winning team.

The Mariners should look to sign at least two great relievers this offseason to lead this group of young arms. There are lots of relievers on the free-agent market this offseason and Dipoto must be licking his chops.

Also at the moment, we do not have a seasoned closer after Yoshihisa Hirano became a free agent. Luckily, many of the free-agent options are relievers with closing history or background.

Here are some notable free-agent relievers:

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