Seattle Mariners: 3 biggest weaknesses going into the 2021 season

The Seattle Mariners have had quite the offseason after finishing 27-33 in the shortened 2020 season. It started peacefully, as players like Dee Gordon and Yoshisha Hirano were not brought back on new deals, and then Seattle made a slew of intriguing signings like Chris Flexen, Ken Giles, Keynan Middleton, and James Paxton.

Their offseason was quiet, too quiet. All of a sudden, the bombshell of the Kevin Mather news struck the Mariners’ world, and then even the baseball world as a whole. Within a few days that included zero signings or trades, this winter became the most memorable Mariners offseason that the franchise has ever had.

With all of that aside, let’s look at the team’s weaknesses from last season. The biggest one was the bullpen, as the Mariners had the third-worst bullpen ERA in the majors at 5.92, and if it were not for historically bad Phillies and Rockies ERA’s it would have been the worst.

So to combat that, Jerry Dipoto went on a mission signing Ken Giles and Keynan Middleton as well as trading for Rafael Montero. Is that enough to get the bullpen off of this list? The Mariners also had the third-worst OPS in the MLB and did not make any major league signings to address it. But, does that mean hitting makes it onto this list? Well sort of.

So, without further adieu, let’s get to it and see what Seattle has to improve upon next season.

What are the Mariners’ 3 biggest weaknesses going into the 2021 season?