Dodgers-Yankees World Series represents past (and future) Mariners misses

Everyone knows that hindsight is 20/20, but with the current talent in this year's World Series, it can be hard not to ruminate on what could have been. The matchup between two of the biggest spenders in the sport may not be perfectly translatable to a lowly small/mid-market team such as the Seattle Mariners, but that doesn't mean the organization didn't potentially miss out retaining some of the current top performers that used to be theirs.

There is no better example of this than Teoscar Hernández. In 2023, he was traded to Seattle in exchange for reliever Erik Swanson and top pitching prospect Adam Macko in an attempt to bolster a sagging outfield. On paper, the trade seemed like a good move, especially since Hernandez had averaged a 122 OPS+ over 2,400 plate appearances with the Blue Jays.

Unfortunately, like so many others that have arrived in the PNW, he left his big bat with his old team. He slashed an unremarkable .258/.305/.435, marking the lowest slugging percentage for any of the full seasons in his career and struck out 211 times, just three fewer than AL leader and teammate Eugenio Suárez.

This past offseason, he signed a lucrative one-year deal with the Dodgers for $23.5 million, a price tag that seemed high given his recent numbers but Los Angeles managed to bring his hitting back to life. His 137 OPS+ in 2024 is the highest for any full season in his career and his 33 home runs is also a single-season best. Over his 62 plate appearances in this year's postseason, he has a .743 OPS with three home runs and 10 RBI.

His mysterious one-year regression may have been an issue with the general hitting environment in T-Mobile Park, something that he himself cited as a main cause of his slump, but could it be possible that 2023 was simply a down year? Could Hernández have been as effective of a bat for Seattle?

A more under-the-radar piece that serves as another "what-if" for the Mariners is Yankees reliever Luke Weaver. After being released by the Reds, he signed with Seattle in late August 2023 but was designated for assignment after a forgettable 13 1/3 innings for the team. He was claimed by the Yankees who managed to get a 2.89 ERA and 0.93 WHIP from him over 84 regular season innings this year. In the playoffs, he has thrown 12 2/3 innings to the tune of a 2.13 ERA and has been one of their most important relievers.

With several key bullpen pieces injured and missing major time in 2024, Weaver could have joined Andrés Muñoz as a late-inning fireman.

A closer analysis of the current free agents that have signed with the team is where the biggest schism can be found between the Mariners and these World Series contenders. Aaron Judge ($360 million), Gerrit Cole ($324 million), Shohei Ohtani ($700 million), and Mookie Betts ($365 million) are just a few of the many nine-figure contracts Seattle would simply refuse to pay for. The way things currently stand, signing just one of these players could potentially sink the budget.

Looking ahead to the newest crop of available talent to hit the market doesn't do much to increase the hopes of fans. The biggest unrestricted free agent still playing is undoubtedly Juan Soto and he may be in line to sign the largest-ever contract for a regular position player. Not nearly as expensive but still pricey are the likes of Hernández, Gleyber Torres, and Jack Flaherty who are sure to have a handful of eager suitors come winter. The front office might turn their offseason attention to a different team in New York for new blood, but in the event that doesn't work out, fans can still enjoy the current World Series as a glimpse into what could've been.