3 relievers the Mariners should sign (or trade for), 2 they should avoid

We have hyper-focused on the struggles that plagued this Mariners offense in 2023, and rightfully so — it was atrocious. We saw the few major additions completely flop while guys like Julio Rodriguez and JP Crawford regressed significantly. What was expected to be a vastly improved unit, turned into a major disappointment and something that held back one of the best seasons from a pitching staff we have seen in quite a while.

The bullpen, however, was supposed to be one of the best in the league, and for the most part, they were. Unfortunately, they lost Matt Brash before the year even started. They also lost their biggest addition to the bullpen, Gregory Santos, early on, as he threw only 7 1/3 innings for the Mariners in 2024. The team leaned heavily on Andres Muñoz and a group of unproven arms, further emphasizing the need to improve the unit.

With quite a few options both on the free agent and trade markets, we take a look at a few arms that Dipoto should make it a point to acquire, and a couple that he needs to steer clear of.

3 relievers Jerry Dipoto needs to target for Mariners this offseason

Calvin Faucher

Faucher was a name that was brought up during this years trade deadline quite a bit. With the Marlins punting in 2024, they moved on from impending free agent Tanner Scott, and many thought Faucher could be on the move as well. Considering the lack of need for a closer on a 100-loss team, it made sense. However, they held on to the hard-throwing righty, but they could still look to move him this offseason and embrace the rebuild.

Faucher is an intriguing reliever, albeit, one that still generates a ton of swings and misses. He relies on a fairly even split between a sinker and cutter that are both solid pitches, while his curveball has elite spin (average 2918 rpm). His stuff could play well in Seattle, and the Mariners could possibly even help him unlock another gear.

Camilo Doval

Doval is one of the more entertaining arms to watch throw. He has a loose, whippy arm that has some of the best velocity in the game. His Baseball Savant page is full of red, generating 96th percentile fastball velo, 96th percentile xBA, and 95% whiff rate. He also generated an 86th percentile breaking run value, so why did he struggle so much?

A quick look at his pitch breakdown points to some massive regression and struggles with the cutter and sinker. In 2023, his cutter induced a .175 average with a .213 slugging percentage and 88 mph exit velocity. That spiked up to a .284 average and .552 slugging percentage in 2024. The sinker was similar, forcing Doval to throw the slider over 51% of the time. This may be a situation where the Mariners get his fastball back on track, and if they do, Doval is about as good as they get in the back of a bullpen.

The Giants have a new leader with Buster Posey taking over the front office, and we would expect them to try and build a competing roster. However, if they aren't confident in his ability to bounce back, or if Dipoto is looking to add a potentially elite high-leverage option for cheap ($2.9 million estimated 2025 salary), Doval is the perfect arm to look to acquire.

Yimi Garcia

Dipoto was pretty aggressive at the 2024 trade deadline, making a few big additions to the offense and adding a very good reliever in Yimi Garcia. Unfortunately for both sides, Garcia threw just nine innings for Seattle before his season was over.

The 34-year-old dealt with elbow inflammation and couldn't shake it before they decided to shut him down for the year. The reason the Mariners acquired him was due to his run with Toronto. In 30 innings, Garcia had just a 2.70 ERA with elite walk (2.4 BB/9) and strikeout (12.6 K/9) rates. These weren't particularly outlier numbers either as the righty posted similar numbers in 2023.

Due to Garcia's age, a one-year deal is almost certain, and considering the nature of the injury, this should be a relatively low-cost move for Dipoto. The Mariners gave up a decent prospect, Jonatan Clase, to get Garcia, and they should look to extract as much value out of him as possible, bringing him back in 2025.

2 relief pitchers the Mariners need to avoid this offseason

Matt Moore

We were all for the Mariners signing Matt Moore last year. He was a lefty that had seemingly reinvented himself, becoming a reliable and possibly elite-level lefty.

His 1.95 ERA in 2022 with the Texas Rangers, along with his 10.1 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9 proved that Moore had put some things together. He followed that up with another solid 2023 season, throwing 52 2/3 innings with another solid 2.56 ERA. He improved the strikeout numbers (10.3 K/9) thanks in part to an improved changeup.

These are all the reasons why Moore would have fit the Mariners bullpen perfectly. However, that changeup's effectiveness decreased significantly. The whiff rate went from 30.5% down to 19% and opponents slugged .507 against it. The fastball was the only usable pitch and at just 92.7 MPH, it's hard to maintain that effectiveness. The Mariners need help in their bullpen, but they need to steer clear of the 35-year-old this time around.

Michael Soroka

As the Mariners look to add another option to their bullpen, they are likely to resort to reclamation projects, or veterans looking for a perfect bounce-back situation. There are a few nice options on the free agent market that could provide some valuable innings, just not this one.

Once a 21-year-old Rookie of the Year runner-up, Soroka looked like he was poised to be one of the better, young starting pitchers in the game. Soroka's 2019 season saw him put up a 2.68 ERA over 174 2/3 innings.

Unfortunately, just three games into the 2020 season, he blew out his achilles and was out for the year. A few surgeries to clean up the injury were unsuccessful, and he missed all of 2021 and 2022 before throwing just 32 1/3 innings in 2023.

Soroka was traded to the White Sox where he would make a move to the bullpen after struggling once again as a starter. He finished the year throwing 79 2/3 innings with a 4.74 ERA and solid 9.5 K/9 (but with improved numbers as a reliever).

Soroka is still young, but with the injury history and lack of certainty around his ability to work out of the bullpen, Dipoto would be wise to let another team take the chance on the 27-year-old reliever.