5 Mariners players who could be the difference between success and failure in 2024

Mariners Difference Maker #2: Luis Urias

This had to be the one that people were waiting to read about, right? Urias is probably the most polarizing move of the offseason for the Mariners, coming over in the deal for Isaiah Campbell. We won't get into who won that trade (it's too early to tell besides insta-reactions anyway), but instead will look at what we need from Urias, and what it could mean if he plays to the recent floor he has shown.

Let's start there, in fact. Urias was not good last season, and there is no way around that. .194/.337/.299 with a 76 OPS+. That's not a mistyping, his OBP was higher than his SLG, and by a decent margin. For someone who is just a decent defender and a bit above-average, those are cut-worthy numbers. You can't have it, and it's a failure to the team and the fans to keep someone like that around. Especially when they aren't stealing bases.

It's not all doom and gloom, though. If you get a mix of the 2021+2022 seasons, then you are looking at a vastly better player. To the tune of .244/.340/.426 with a 111 OPS+ with 20 HR. Yeah, Urias has power when he is hitting well. If you can get that slash line with 15-20 HR, throw in the K rate of around 21-22% and a BB rate of 11%? That's a great addition at third. Better than Geno last year, even.

You could be looking at a similar glove, a better slash line, less homers to be fair, but literally 100 less strikeouts from Urias. The difference between good Urias and bad Urias could literally be 3-4 wins, as we saw at second base last season with Wong. The Mariners need to be ready to pull the trigger earlier, though, as the Wong experiment cost the Mariners a playoff berth last season.