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3 scenarios for a successful winter meetings for the Mariners

With Jerry Dipoto already making moves as the Winter Meetings begin. What moves does he need to make for it to be considered a successful Winter Meeting?

By Tanner Vogt |
Cleveland Guardians v Seattle Mariners
Cleveland Guardians v Seattle Mariners / Steph Chambers/GettyImages
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As the MLB Winter Meetings begin, the Mariners have created even more salary cap space, but at the same time have created another big hole in a corner outfield spot. The trades of Jarred Kelenic, Eugenio Suarez, and declining to re-sign Tesocar Hernandez have left a lot of questions surrounding this offense. Jerry Dipoto has his work cut out for him ahead of the Winter Meetings and early signs indicate he will be extremely active, rightfully so, there is a lot of work to be done.

With yet another hole created, I wanted to highlight what I think would be considered a successful Winter Meeting this year. Granted, this is only a few days to get stuff done, so I am not expecting everything to be complete here, but I do expect some heavy lifting to be handled. With needs in both corner outfield spots, a DH, and a third baseman being the biggest needs, it is unrealistic to expect these all to be addressed in the next few days, but I have come up with a list of a few combinations of what I would consider a successful Winter Meeting for the Mariners.

Scenario 1: Blockbuster Trade for at least 1 bat

In this scenario, if the Mariners acquired an elite-level bat like a Randy Arozarena, Isaac Paredes, or Juan Soto I would consider this a solid step in the right direction. Obviously, some other significant moves would need to be made, but at least we would be able to tell that the Mariners know what the issues of the roster are and are willing to make the moves necessary to fix it.

I think with the recent news that the Kelenic trade all happened in 1 day, and the Mariners contacted the Braves about it, signals the fact that Jerry Dipoto and company are confident that they are working towards something big. There have been a lot of connections between the Mariners and Tampa Bay Rays and if it came through that the Mariners acquired one or both of, Arozarena, Paredes, and maybe even Tyler Glasnow, I would be happy with how the Winter Meetings went.

Scenario 2: Big Time Free agent signing

As I just stated, the Mariners contacted the Braves about trading Jarred Kelenic and taking on the contracts of Marco Gonzales and Evan White. To me, this means that the Mariners got some information from a player that they really like, that maybe they are closer to getting than they previously thought. Dipoto also stated that they intend to put that to use immediately. Between the Eugenio Suarez trade and this trade, the Mariners have cleared nearly $30 million on the 2024 payroll, so you would think they would be likely to reinvest that right?

I think from a free agency standpoint, the Mariners are closer to getting someone that we were led to believe a week or 2 ago. Reports have surfaced that they are nowhere near able to commit the money that Ohtani wants, and maybe that's the case. We heard the Mariners were very interested in 25-year-old pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and those reports haven't gone away. The Giants have been linked as front runners, but no one has ruled out the Mariners, and their clearing another $29 million over the next 2 years in the Kelenic trade, gives me slightly more hope that they could sign Yamamoto, something I would consider a successful Winter Meeting.

Scenario 3: Trade for a solid bat and sign a solid bat

The final scenario that I think could be classified as a successful Winter Meeting I think is the most unlikely, just because making 2 moves is pretty hard to do in a few days. I think the Mariners are more likely to acquire an elite bat as I previously stated, but if they were able to walk out of there with a solid DH and a solid corner outfield with the intention of still acquiring an elite corner outfielder or third baseman, I think that would be a solid Winter.

The names I would classify in this tier would be the signing of Lourdes Gurriel, Jung-Hoo Lee, Justin Turner, and Jeimer Candelario. On the trade side of things, this category could include possible names like Anthony Santander, Brandon Lowe, Harold Ramirez, or maybe even Max Kepler. I would be happy with how the winter meetings went if the Mariners walked away with Lourdes Gurriel and Anthony Santander as long as they were still intending to be aggressive to get another really good bat during the rest of the offseason.

There is a lot to be done, but there are still a fair amount of paths that the Mariners could take in order to turn this offseason into a success. The real question is, can they?

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