Mariners: 3 Players Who Won’t Be Back Next Season

Tom Murphy is well-regarded by Mariners pitchers for his deep understanding of the organization’s overall pitching approach and ability to develop a strong rapport with the pitching staff, but other deficiencies in his game have created a cloudy future for him in Seattle.

Murphy fell outside of the top 30 catchers in MLB this season with a 4.3 defensive (DEF) rating, according to Fangraphs, while rookie Cal Raleigh posted an impressive 5.9 DEF rating in just 43 games. Offensively, Murphy’s .202/.304/.350 slash line and OPS+ of 84 (where 100 is league average) doesn’t help his case.

Murphy is arbitration-eligible next season and would be expected to make $1.75 million; if the Mariners don’t find a willing trade partner for Murphy this offseason, I don’t believe they will tender him that contract. Whether Seattle develops Luis Torrens’s catching abilities (which I believe they should prioritize), or tap into the free agent market/trade market for catchers, Seattle will be better off finding a platoon-mate for Cal Raleigh behind the plate elsewhere.

Jake Bauers will fall victim to a “too many cooks in the kitchen” scenario in Seattle this offseason, as the Mariners are stacked in the outfield with Kyle Lewis, Jarred Kelenic, Mitch Haniger, Taylor Trammell, Jake Fraley, and potentially Julio Rodriguez all expected to see playing time next season.

Bauers, a 26-year-old outfielder/first baseman acquired from the Cleveland Indians in the early part of the season, primarily served as a left-handed pinch-hitter and late-inning defensive replacement during the course of his Mariners tenure. While his defense was impressive, his .220/.297/.275 slash line at the plate doesn’t merit him a roster spot moving forward.

However, Bauers’s status as a former top-100 prospect and his relative youth could make him a relatively attractive trade piece this offseason. If the Mariners were to shop Bauers on the trade market, he could return at least a decent minor league catcher who could replace Carter Bins, a promising young catcher traded at the trade deadline for starting pitcher Tyler Anderson.

With Bauers under pure team control for one more season, Seattle doesn’t need to release him if they don’t want to offer him anything more than the MLB minimum of $570,500. So, we could see him at AAA Tacoma to begin the season, but it’s unlikely he will appear in Seattle.

Over the course of three seasons with the Mariners (2019-2021), Yusei Kikuchi has gone 15-24, with a 4.97 ERA and 1.403 WHIP. This offseason, Seattle has the option to extend a 4-year, $66 million contract to Kikuchi, but it’s almost certain that won’t happen; Kikuchi’s career numbers, plus his removal from the starting rotation at the end of this season, seem to spell a loss of faith in Kikuchi from Mariners management.

The kicker with Kikuchi’s contract, though, is that he is eligible to pick up a 1-year, $13 million contract to play in Seattle again next season. While that may seem like an obvious decision for Kikuchi, there are a couple of factors at play that could sway him not to pick up the option:

For one, Kikuchi could believe in his abilities so much that he would be willing to forgo the one-year contract with the Mariners, and choose to elect free agency; he was, after all, Seattle’s lone All-Star selection this season. Pitching is always a need throughout MLB, so another team could be interested in taking a gamble on him and giving him a multi-year deal.

Second – the possibility always remains that Kikuchi will choose to head back to Japan and play in the NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball). Masahiro Tanka (formerly of the Yankees), is the highest paid player in NPB, making $8.28 million per year; if Kikuchi signed on in Japan, he could ink a multi-year deal that could set him up better than signing a one-year deal in Seattle.

Ultimately, I don’t believe Kikuchi will be in Seattle next season, because even if he does end up picking up his player option, the Mariners will likely put out feelers for him on the trade market. Kikuchi does not factor into Seattle’s plans for next season, so even if they need to eat some of his contract money, they will jump at the chance to save money for potential free agent spending while also opening up a roster spot.