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3 Mariners bats that must be off the team by the trade deadline
The Mariners offense is dismal, an embarrassment. Here are 3 bats that must be off the team by the deadline if they want to be a playoff team
It's really easy to fall into a depressed state when you think about the Mariners offense. You can sit there and say negative thing after negative thing about them, harping on how bad everything is. I'm not here to say that you would be wrong for doing that, either. It's a fair point and a justifiable one at that.
Just take a look at what they've done this season. They have the worst batting average (.218) in baseball, trailing the White Sox by three points. They're bottom 5 in OBP, sitting sub-300. Then they have the 3rd worst SLG, ahead of two teams who are literally not trying in the Marlins and White Sox.
Yet, here they sit atop the AL West. Have the Mariners been lucky? Possibly. They've had a lot of late-inning heroics and walk-offs, but that is also offset by what seems to be a lot of games where the team doesn't show up for the first 6 innings of play, letting every opposing starting pitcher feel like he's on a rehab start against an A-ball team.
It's why the season, and the postseason, is still salvageable and in play. If the Mariners can fix their offense in time, this turns into a very dangerous team. We all know that Dipoto and Hollander love to make trades, and they're going to need a handful of them to fix this offense. There are plenty of spots to do it, and should leave plenty of doors open for them to look for help at a few positions.
I believe the Mariners need a new second baseman, first baseman, and right fielder. If the team doesn't have a new starter at two of those locations by August 1st, then the deadline was a failure. Which is why I think that if these three bats are a must to have removed from the team.
#1: Ty France
Starting off with one that hurts, because I've been defending him for a long time. Back when he was getting injured often, I always believed that he would be back to that .300 hitter when he came back healthy. He showed for so long and at so many levels that he could do it, so I had little reason to believe he couldn't get back to it.
But... that seems like so long ago. In 2023, he hit only .250/.337/.366. In 2024, we are all wishing he could hit that good. He's posted a miserable .229/.322/.360 while playing bad defense, and is worth 0.3 WAR through 80 games. We can't have a light-hitting first baseman with questionable defense. A crazy good glove or a masher who can only do the one thing and struggles with the other? That's fine... but not both negatives.
The fact that it's only been getting worse compounds the struggles the Mariners have been dealing with at the plate as a team. Since the calendar turned to June, Ty France is hitting .157/.314/.241. He has as many walks as he does hits! That's not a good thing, not at all. Driveline doesn't seem to have done the job, and the Mariners need to make a move at first if they want to contend. Could it be Vladdy? Who knows... but I sure wouldn't say no to that upgrade.
#2: Jorge Polanco
This is the one that... well, to be honest, it pisses me off the most. I defended Polanco when the Mariners acquired him. He only played half a season in 2023, but he still showed good power and a good average through 80 games. He's struggled a bit in 2022, but was magnificent in 2021. Which Polanco would the Mariners see?
As it turned out, none of the above. He went 1-3 with a BB in the finale against the Padres, and that raised his season average to .198! He's hitting a miserable .198/.291/.289 on the season, and is actually -0.4 WAR so far through 57 games.
Look, you want to defend Ty France because he had a hot streak (he hit .278/.352/.474 in May) before the awful streak mentioned earlier, I can see the argument. There is no argument for Polanco though. This is unacceptable for the Mariners to keep putting him out there, especially with a K rate of 33.3% The dude's strikeout rate is higher than his SLG percentage.
Is it going to be a trade? What about giving Rojas and Bliss some run here and getting a third baseman? Rojas has actually been a stud at third, so maybe that isn't the route to take, but something needs to happen so we can get rid of Kolten Wong 2.0.
#3: Mitch Haniger
I hate this. I really do. I've been such a big Mitch Haniger fan since he was traded to the Mariners back when the team acquired him from the Diamondbacks. He's been a big part of this team's rise to success over the last handful of years.
When his free agency came up a few years ago, it made sense that the team let him leave. They couldn't commit to three years for an aging and oft-injured OF. When they re-acquired him from the Giants in the Robbie Ray deal, I was cautiously excited. If Mitch Haniger could be healthy for a full season, one would think that it meant he was feeling good and swinging the bat well. Right?
Wrong.
Haniger is hitting .209/.283/.341 as the teams everyday right fielder. He's just a hair negative at the plate in WAR, but is one of the worst defenders in baseball. Anyone who has watched him out there can think of a handful of plays where you scratch your head in wonder at how he didn't make the play... or how he wasn't even close to the ball.
That's why replacing Haniger is a two-fold solution possibly. You could get rid of one of the worst defenders, and then you improve the lineup. Imagine getting a decent defender out there (Maybe... Ian Happ?) and he doubles as someone who improves the lineup as well. That would be massive to this team, and would be a 3-4 win improvement for the remainder of the season. That's how bad Haniger has been.
If changes aren't made to this team, they just aren't good enough to deserve a shot at the playoffs. None of these three players have shown enough in 2024, and it's too far into the season to continue to sit and wait and hope. As July wears on, the Mariners must make some moves.