3 moves that could make the Mariners AL West favorites

With the first big domino falling, Ohtani to the Dodgers, their division rival followed suit signing the KBO star JUng Hoo Lee to a 6-year deal worth $113 million. Now the rest of the offseason should really get underway, hopefully, the Mariners get that memo.

With few moves being made by the rest of the MLB outside of the NL West, the Mariners could surprise fans and get a jump on the rest of the class. They have some payroll to work with after clearing Eugenio Suarez, Marco Gonzales, and Evan White's contracts off the books. Ironically, I think we will see the largest free agent contract handed out in the Jerry Dipoto era this offseason. However, that isn't hard to beat considering it was a 1-year, $7 million agreement with AJ Pollock last offseason.

According to Spotrac, the Mariners are just under $114 million with the way their current roster sits. After these 3 moves, and assuming they traded Dylan Moore and his $3.1 million this year, this would put the Mariners total payroll around $143 million. This is basically where they ended last year regarding their payroll. Yes, they will still need to add, but you will have taken care of some of the biggest needs on the team, all while retaining your young pitching staff, something Dipoto seems reluctant to trade away.