Winter Meetings Wrap Up: Checking where the Mariners stand

The Winter Meetings have wrapped up. The GMs and Front Office people from around the league are done (at least, in the aspect of getting together in one place), and we are about to see a quiet period. Then again, with people like Dipoto and Hollander in the front office for the Mariners, it’s never quiet in the world of baseball.

There really wasn’t anything big that the Mariners did. All of their moves have come before the Meetings started. I think a lot of us were hoping that someone like Brandon Nimmo would sign with the Mariners, or that they would make a big splash and trade for another massive impact piece.

The Winter Meetings are over and the Mariners had a quiet one

We haven’t seen that happen though, and honestly, it shouldn’t be that surprising. Whenever we talk about Dipoto and crew, what do we mention? That he is working behind the scenes, does stuff on his own schedule, and we hardly expect the moves that end up happening.

Coming to the end of the Winter Meetings to see that the Mariners biggest move was signing Casey Sadler back to a contract, albeit for the minors? Yeah, that sounds about right.

Also, I’m really happy Sadler is back.

There is someone that I’m sad to see officially gone though, and that’s Mitch Haniger. If you’ve been following Sodo Mojo for a while, you know that I’m a huge fan of his. I Stan for Haniger. He’s gone after signing a deal with the Giants, and we wish him the best of luck.

All the big moves for the Mariners happened before the Winter Meetings, and there were plenty of them. It’s important to remember that since so many people want to say “Why aren’t the Mariners doing anything?!” without thinking about the big picture.

Kolten Wong. Teoscar Hernandez. Luis Castillo Extension.

Those are three huge moves. Think about how you would feel if just two of those happened in the winter meetings. You’d be ecstatic. It’s not like the end of the Winter Meetings means that nothing will happen either. If I’m wrong, and the Mariners don’t add another starting-level MLB-level player to their roster, please call me out.

I still think it’s going to happen. Chris Flexen goes out for a player swap or to re-tool the system a bit. Bryan Reynolds makes his way here. Shoot, maybe even Arozarena. Masataka Yoshida or Kodai Senga could end up here. Something big is still going to happen. I can feel it in the air.

For now, though, the Winter Meetings are over, and the Mariners are headed home from San Diego for the holidays. You know, when things get quiet. Then, out of nowhere, we find out on December 28th that the Mariners have traded for an All-Star.