Post Winker/Suarez Trade, here’s what the Mariners lineup looks like

Part of the reason I love baseball is that no matter how much you prepare or think up, there is always something that is going to catch you off guard. Jerry Dipoto continues to do this while running the Mariners, and he did it again in trading for Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez from the Reds.

We broke down the trade a bit yesterday, and I wanted to spend some time looking at what it meant for the Mariners lineup with the two new hitters. All offseason, fans have been pining for the likes of Kris Bryant and Seiya Suzuki. Shoot, we have been here as well. Dipoto surprised us by knocking out both needs in one fell swoop.

The Mariners have added two legit bats (hopefully) to their lineup for 2022.

What’s it mean to the lineup? Well, here is what it could look like. This is just my order, but it’s likely going to be these guys in some fashion.

1. JP Crawford – SS
2. Adam Frazier – 2B
3. Ty France – 1B
4. Mitch Haniger – RF
5. Jesse Winker – LF
6. Kyle Lewis – DH
7. Eugenio Suarez – 3B
8. Jarred Kelenic – CF
9. Cal Raleigh – C

Then, you’ll have Luis Torrens, Dylan Moore, Tom Murphy, and Abraham Toro coming off the bench. We now have the replacement for Seager at 3B with Suarez, and a legit MASHER in Winker.

I do think that, currently, we are going to see a lot of movement and rotation throughout the lineup. Toro is going to spell Frazier and Suarez at third. Moore will continue to play all over the place (If that bat can just hit .235, he becomes so much more valuable). Torrens will get a little bit of time at 1B, and a fair amount at DH.

DH is an interesting spot because I think the team is going to use it as a rest day for the fielders while making sure that they can keep their bats in the lineup. We should fully expect to see Haniger, Lewis, Torrens, and Winker all get their looks there. I already mentioned that it will be good for them to keep the legs fresh and the bat in the lineup, but it also keeps them from having to play defense, which Winker and Haniger aren’t particularly proficient at.

I don’t think Dipoto is done, and we are likely going to see something else happen within the next week or two that impacts the MLB lineup for the Mariners. For now, the team is in a much better spot and looks poised to use this much-improved lineup to push for a playoff spot come the end of September.