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3 recently released players the Mariners should take a look at signing
The Mariners need help offensively. Could they take a flyer on one of these 3 recently released players to improve their team?
The Mariners will be looking for roster upgrades over the next month or so. Currently, the Mariners sit on top of the American League West division by 6.5 games as of June 15. I am not breaking any news by saying this, but they have done this on the backs of the pitchers and some timely hitting. The biggest problem the Mariners have currently is offensive consistency.
The Mariners rank 28th in batting average (.220), 27th in on-base percentage (.298), 24th in slugging percentage (.366), and 24th in OPS (.664). They rank 30th in strikeouts, 17 more than the 29th-ranked Oakland Athletics. On the positive side, they rank 10th in walks and are tied for 6th in home runs with the Philidelphia Phillies, which blew my mind. The Mariners are tied in home runs with a team that has Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, and others. Go figure.
The tricky part is finding the holes in the offense. You're not replacing Julio Rodriguez, Cal Raleigh, or J.P. Crawford. Their spots are set in stone, even with their struggles this season. Ty France is currently injured, but according to GM Justin Hollander, he will not miss much more time than the 10 days he will be on the Injured List. His bat had been getting hot prior to the injury. Josh Rojas, Dylan Moore, and Luke Raley are likely going to stay put because they have been performing.
Earlier this week, Chris O'Day wrote about 4 Mariners who likely will not be on the team after the trade deadline. He mentioned that one of Mitch Haniger or Mitch Garver will likely not be on the team come the trade deadline, which should surprise nobody. Garver has been heating up as of late, and Haniger has struggled both at the plate and in the field. Garver has been working as a catcher as well as a designated hitter, so he may be more valuable at this point to the roster.
The roster spots of Seby Zavala, Dominic Canzone, Mitch Haniger, Jorge Polanco, and others could be taken by another player, either a prospect call-up, waiver claim, or trade. In a perfect world, all of these guys would start to put up stats like the back of their baseball cards. But this is not a team that can wait out 3-5 players to figure it out, this is a team with World Series aspirations. The time to perform is now.
With all of that being said, here are 3 players who were all released or designated for assignment that are availablke for next to nothing for the Mariners. Are they perfect fitd? No. But two of them are former All-Stars and one of them hit .300 or better each of the last two seasons. Maybe one of them will find a home here in Seattle.
Daniel Vogelbach, 1B/DH
I know what you're thinking. The Mariners would be insane to bring back Vogey. And you maybe right, but remember what Vogelbach is good at: Hitting home runs and walking. 2024 has been a struggle for Vogelbach, but he is walking at a higher than league average rate (11.4%). He is even striking out at a below league verage rate! His strikeout percentage this year is 21.5% while the league average is 22.4%.
Vogel-back-back-back and gone! @Mariners slugger Daniel Vogelbach sends this one out for his first @MLB home run 🎉
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 14, 2018
No. 11 on the #Mariners Top 30: https://t.co/eocityUEuR pic.twitter.com/RVzdzxCA4H
He has only hit one home run this season, but he also has only 70 at bats. He signed with the Toronto Blue Jays during the offseason, and was designated for assignment earlier this morning. He could be a DH platoon partner with either Mitch Haniger or Mitch Garver, and could spell Ty France at FIrst Base if needed once and a while. While it would be fun to see Vogelbach hit bombs above the Hit It Here Cafe again, I doubt the Mariners would be interested in bringing him back again.
Harold Ramirez, 1B/OF/DH
Harold Ramirez is an interesting player. He is not a power hitter, he doesn't take a walk, and he is terrible at defense. He sounds like a Mariner already! Ramirez was a contender for the batting title in 2022 and 2023, where he hit .300 and .313 respectively. His full slash line in 2023 was .313/.353/.460/.813 with an OPS+ of 125. This year, however, he is hitting .268/.284/.305/.589 with an OPS+ of 72. Ramirez is still just 29 years old, could a change of scenery be in order, or has he fallen off a cliff?
Harold Ramirez - Tampa Bay Rays (3) pic.twitter.com/GsWbehALe6
— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) April 9, 2023
While the batting average is not bad at all at .268, it is what's called an "empty batting average". He is getting his singles and that is it. He has 44 hits this season, with just 3 doubles, zero triples and just one home run. in 2023, Ramirez hit 12 home runs, 19 doubles and two triples. His savant page will make you want to turn away, but I think there is still some 2022 and 2023 hidden in that bat. I would be interested if the Mariners signed him to a minor league deal and see what happens. Only question would be if Harold Ramirez would be interested in that or not.
Jose Abreu, 1B
If you would have told me at the beginning of the year that Jose Abreu would have been released by the Houston Astros in June, I would have called you crazy. Sure, he is not the same player who won the MVP Award in 2020, but he was still a solid bat and brought a veteran pressance to the clubhouse. The Astros are still on the hook for roughly $30M through next season, so why were they willing to move on now?
Abreu has been terrible this year, and that is putting it lightly. His slash line for 2024 is .124/.167/.195/.361 with an OPS+ of 4. No, that was not a typo. His OPS+ is 4. That means he has been 96% worse than a league average player. His decline has been well documented. His OPS+ in 2023 was 87, and it was 134 in 2022. Abreu is now 37 years old, so that may explain the sharp drop off.
José Abreu with a rope. pic.twitter.com/PmPxWACTg4
— MLB (@MLB) June 26, 2023
I am not saying the Mariners can fix Abreu, but maybe he could catch lightning in a bottle and start the revenge tour. Maybe he can share the Houston Astros secret sauce and show these guys how to win. I doubt the Mariners go and sign Abreu at this point, unless they see something I don't. The only red on his Baseball savant page is his bat speed, which is in the 73rd percentile. He has been about as bad as a player can be, and hopefully he can get it right somewhere, but that place is probably not with the Mariners.
As always, Go Mariners!