How blockbuster trade with Cardinals could supercharge Mariners' lineup

In 2024, the Mariners fell just short of a playoff berth after winning a respectable 85 games. It was a season of ups and downs and saw longtime manager Scott Servais replaced by Dan Wilson late in the season. The main culprit for the team's issues? The offensive production.

As a team, Seattle posted a .687 OPS (22nd in MLB) and the team's best qualified hitter was Luke Raley (128 OPS+). Things got so bad that Edgar Martínez returned as the team's hitting coach, and broader conversations were had about the dampening effects of the city's "marine layer."

Last year was a different story. Seattle's climate didn't change, but the Mariners' team OPS jumped to .740 (10th in MLB) thanks to a surge in individual offensive production from several players, namely Cal Raleigh who posted a ridiculous 169 OPS+. With the front office investing in a star-studded cast, 2026 is shaping up to be another outstanding offensive year.

Brendan Donovan is the bastion of offensive consistency the Mariners have been looking for

Even Seattle's best players sometimes receive criticism for being inconsistent at the plate. Julio Rodríguez infamously takes a few months before heating up, Randy Arozarena finished the second half with a whimper, and Víctor Robles failed to capture the magic in his second year with the team.

Meanwhile, Brendan Donovan has maintained a similar level of production throughout his four years in the big leagues. His OPS+ has never dipped below 114 and his single-season slash lines are remarkably close to his career figures of .282/.361/.411.

He doesn't quite have the peak of a Cal Raleigh or a Julio Rodríguez in August, but the team doesn't need more of that. Like Josh Naylor, Donovan will hopefully add stability and move the lineup away from being feast-or-famine and towards being deeper and more well-rounded.

To some, a player like Donovan doesn't move the needle enough to "supercharge" a lineup but for Seattle, he's one piece of a bigger picture. For the Mariners' front office, building a more balanced lineup seems like the main overarching theme this offseason. The acquisition of a platoon bat in Rob Refsnyder and bullpen depth in Jose A. Ferrer are similar small but meaningful additions that add advantages on the margins.

Since they're still somewhat limited by payroll, the team opted to make the most out of what they had. Instead of placing all of their chips on one big free agent, they opted to hedge their bets with many good players, creating positive results in the aggregate.

The art of intelligent roster construction seems to have fallen by the wayside in favor of big money spending by teams like the Dodgers, Yankees, and Blue Jays. But in the sport of baseball, there's always room for a scrappy team like the Mariners to compete.