3 Underrated bats the Mariners should target

Donovan Solano - 1 year $5-$7 million

The first, and perhaps my personal favorite, under the radar free agent for the Mariners is Donovan Solano. Solano spent 2023 with the Minnesota Twins. He slashed .282/.369/.391 in 134 games played. He provided an 8.9% BB%, a 22.2% K% and an impressive 116 wRC+. Solano is not a power guy, but a career .280 hitter with impressive on base skills, and an average 112 wRC+ since 2019, he would add a lot of depth to this Mariners team.

Dylan Moore, Sam Haggerty and Jose Caballero accounted for 553 plate appearances in 2023, combining to hit .223. That is a huge chunk of at-bats that are waisted with below average hitters. There is no reason that Solano can't take away a vast majority of those at-bats and provide the offense with a little more depth. I think that the biggest reason Solano is a personal favorite of mine is that he would push at least 2 of those 3 guys to be AAA guys that are only needed if an injury happened. No way should those 3 account for basically an everyday player, number of at-bats.

In 2023, Solano played a majority of the time at first base, giving you a decent bat to backup or spell Ty France. But he also has spent time at 2B as well as 3B. Something that must happen next year is getting Geno down to about 150 games played and only about 130-140 in the field. Solano can fill in at third, or second and move Rojas to third. He is not an elite defender or probably even average, but he won't hurt you playing 20 or 30 games between 2nd and 3rd.

Solano won't get more than a 1-year deal, but I think something in the $5-$7-million-dollar range would get him to Seattle. That is slightly more than that of Dylan Moore, and while he isn't as good as Moore defensively, he would provide a lot more value offensively than Jose Caballero or Sam Haggerty and more consistency than Dylan Moore.

Brandon Belt - 1 year $13-$15 million

Where Solano is my personal favorite, Brandon Belt is by far the most impactful player on this list. In 2023, Belt was worth 2.3 wins according to fangraphs. He had a real bounce back year after a disappointing 2022, slashing, .254/.369/.490 with 19 home runs. He draws walks at an elite rate, 15.1% BB%, even though his strikeout is pretty high, 35% K%. He would add a very valuable bat to the middle of the lineup, most likely spending a majority of the time at DH, while give you insurance if Ty France doesn't perform again.

Adding a bat like Brandon Belt would be a really solid bat to add to the middle of the order. Again, hopefully he is the 2nd or 3rd biggest bat they acquire this offseason, but he would help lengthen this lineup tremendously. Mike Ford, AJ Pollock, and a trio of La Stella, Trammell, and Hummel combined for nearly 500 plate appearances. You can see a theme here that the Mariners gave way too many at-bats to guys that should not have had those at-bats. Replacing those 500 plate appearances with a bat like Belt would improve this team so much!

The Mariners were rumored to be one of the finalists for Brandon Belt last offseason before he signed with the Blue Jays. I expect Dipoto to be involved in the Brandon Belt sweepstakes this year as well. Belt is a west coast guy and maybe coming back and playing in the PNW will be a wish for Belt after his first season back east. Belt signed a 1 year $9.3 million dollar deal with the Blue Jays coming off a poor 2022 season. Belt will most certainly take a 1 year deal and command a raise. I think the Mariners could pull him away from the Blue Jays with something in the $13-$15-million-dollar range.

Robbie Grossman - 1 year $2-$4 million

Robbie Grossman is a pretty underrated player in my opinion. He is not a 3- or 4-win player by any means, but he is a guy that as a 4th OF, platoon player, occasional DH, is a very valuable player. Since 2016, he has only posted 2 below average seasons from a wRC+ standpoint. He has a career 12.8% walk rate and a 22.2% strike out rate. For a team that struck out the 2nd most in all of baseball, Robbie Grossman is a very "CTZ" guy. This offense has a lot of power, but also has a lot of high strikeout guys in their lineup and adding a guy like Grossman as a 4th outfielder, bench guy to sort of replace a Sam Haggerty, Taylor Trammel or Cade Marlowe, really raises the floor of this team.

Grossman signed a 1 year, $2 million dollar deal with the Texas Rangers last offseason, and he didn't really light the world on fire, so I feel like a pretty similar deal is in the cards for the switch-hitting outfielder. I think a 1-year deal worth anywhere between $2 and $4 million is all it would take to really deepen this team and give your lineup and bench more certainty than that of a Sam Haggerty, Taylor Trammel, or Cade Marlowe.