5 Seattle Mariners needs to fulfill during the offseason

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

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:

• Blake Treinen
• Liam Hendriks
• Kirby Yates
• Ken Giles
• Shane Greene

#2 Second Base: There are a mix of infielders fighting for the starting second base position but I think we can upgrade with an offseason acquisition

Ty France was a pleasant acquisition as part of the trade that sent Austin Nola to the San Diego Padres. Taylor Trammell seems to be the biggest return for the Mariners, but both France and Torrens are solid players that were expendable for the Padres.

France finished the season with a .302 batting average and is not too bad on defense, but I would like to see him as a utility player that platoons with different players based on matchups.

Dylan Moore is another player in the mix and he was a nice surprise in 2020 like France. But again he is so versatile and good on defense that I would like to see him come off the bench or be used as a role player. Moore is also useful because he can be the backup for J.P. Crawford at shortstop.

The departure of Dee Strange-Gordon to free agency leaves the second base competition between these two. Tim Lopes could be considered in this competition as well. But as I was saying, having depth off the bench is so important in this day in age with the use of analytics and constantly switching rosters around for favorable matchups.

Having Moore and France off the bench or as platoon players would be a dream because of how good they are. And the Mariners have an opportunity to sign or trade for a star second baseman or close to star status for 2021.

Although unlikely, D.J. LeMahieu is a free agent and a player that would upgrade our lineup dramatically if we were to sign him. LeMahieu would cost a lot but that is the type of player we need to join the core of young players. At some point, we are going to need to add another star and LeMahieu might be the one.

We have not had an everyday starting second baseman since Robinson Cano and LeMahieu could be that guy. There are a few other second basemen on the free-agent that are not quite at the same tier as LeMahieu:

• Jonathan Villar
• Jonathan Schoop
• Cesar Hernandez

Another option would be to sign shortstops on the free-agent market and convert them to second base. Didi Gregorius, Marcus Semien, and Andrelton Simmons are also available to sign.

There are plenty of options to work with to upgrade our second basemen situation. But at the same time, if Dipoto decides not to go for a top tier second baseman, we could settle with France and Moore.

#3 Power hitters (DH): The Mariners had a revolving door of designated hitters and it might be the year to go and get one

The designated hitter in 2020 seemed to be filled by whichever hitter was hot and not on the field. Scott Servais used Daniel Vogelbach, Jose Marmolejos, Tim Lopes, and others at DH. Just by looking at these names, you can tell we need help. Next season, the designated hitter could be filled by a group of players again.

The Mariners are planning for the arrival of field prospects like Jarred Kelenic, Taylor Trammell, and Cal Raleigh but they will most likely be on the field. This may lead to movement in the lineup pushing Mitch Haniger to DH for example. But, the Mariners would benefit from someone with pop in the lineup every day at DH.

There are several big-time DH’s on the free-agent market that could suit the Mariners:

• Carlos Santana
• Mitch Moreland
• Todd Frazier
• Nelson Cruz
• Marcell Ozuna
• Edwin Encarnacion

Any of these names would be an upgrade for the Mariners lineup. Moreland could be a great first base back up to platoon with Evan White if he struggles as well. Nelson Cruz could be a great fit after his stint in Seattle. He had another outstanding season as a 40-year-old and is a free agent that Dipoto could be interested in.

#4 Starting pitching: Mariners need to strengthen and add depth to the starting rotation

Marco Gonzales and Justus Sheffield shined in 2020 but the rest of the crew was unimpressive. The Mariners are waiting for the arrival of Logan Gilbert in 2021, but the rotation is not set even with him entering the mix.

At the moment, the pitchers competing for a spot in the starting rotation are:

1. Marco Gonzales
2. Justus Sheffield
3. Justin Dunn
4. Yusei Kikuchi
5. Nick Margevicius
6. Ljay Newsome
7. Logan Gilbert

It is good that there is competition for the starting rotation, but I really only see Gonzales, Sheffield, Dunn, and Gilbert to have a set spot in the rotation in 2021. There is one spot to fill, or two if Scott Servais decides to operate a six-man rotation.

Kikuchi has struggled as a Mariner and will be closely looked at in spring training. Margevicius and Newsome are young arms vying for a spot, but they may be moved to the bullpen if another starter is added to the mix.

We learned from the Atlanta Braves that extra pitching depth is necessary to be good. The Atlanta Braves added Cole Hamels and Felix Hernandez at the beginning of 2020 but they still ended up shorthanded in the postseason.

The Dipoto could pursue pitchers like:

• Charlie Morton
• Trevor Bauer
• Masahiro Tanaka
• Marcus Stroman
• James Paxton
• Jon Lester
• Felix Hernandez

There is an abundance of veteran pitchers available on the market that I did not list. Other teams will surely be looking to spend big on pitchers this offseason and the Mariners should compete to sign at least one starting pitcher that would fit into the middle to back end of the rotation.