#5 Veteran outfielder: The Mariners will have a young group of outfielders but a veteran outfielder is needed
The Mariners outfield will be good in 2021 with lots of young players. Kyle Lewis is the likely candidate to win Rookie of the Year after winning AL Outstanding Rookie recently and will lead the outfield core for years to come. Kelenic and Trammell are on their way to playing in 2021. Mitch Haniger will hopefully be fully healthy and find his All-Star form. Jake Fraley is also looking to make a mark in the big leagues.
Although I just listed five potential starting outfielders, three of them have yet to play an entire season in the big leagues and there are many question marks that come with it. Haniger has not played since 2019 and there will be plenty of questions about how he will perform in 2021.
The Mariners lineup needs another consistent outfielder that they can trust to go along with Lewis and Kelenic. The Mariners also need more hitting compared to defense in this situation because the current outfielders are good on defense. Another thing to keep in mind is that three of the five Mariners are lefties and are not the best against left-handed pitching. Right-handed hitting outfielders would be ideal.
These players are available on the free-agent market:
- George Springer
- Nick Castellanos
- Ryan Braun
- Yoenis Cespedes
- Nick Markakis
- Michael Brantley
Among the five Seattle Mariners’ needs, the bullpen, second base, and DH are the most important in my mind. The goal would be to fulfill all five areas but that would cost a lot of money which I do not think the Mariners will be capable of pulling off.
I surely hope Dipoto can sign a couple of big-time relief pitchers, a star like D.J. LeMahieu, or J.D. Martinez. That would change the Mariners’ playoff outlook completely in 2021 if that were to happen.