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A 2024 Mariners off-season plan from a fan's perspective
My perfect Mariners off-season starts with them raising their payroll. After the trade of Geno they sit roughly at $127 million via spotrac.com, I would like to see that number at $180-$190 million by the end of the offseason. That gives Jerry roughly $53-$63 million to work with.
I am not even going to entertain the idea of the Mariners signing Shohei Ohtani, I just don't think that is something they are going to entertain and it would probably take up all of the budget for their off-season. The Mariners have more holes to fill and adding Ohtani isn't going to make the Mariners a World Series team, they need more than that.
So in this article I am going to look at guys that I have seen that are available in free agency and via trade that the Mariners have been linked to.
Sign Yoshinobu Yamamoto for 9YR/$200M
Yamamoto is the best player coming out of the NPB league in Japan and is now able to negotiate with MLB teams. Yamamoto is only 25 years old and has already won 3 Cy Young equivalent awards in the NPB. In his seven seasons in Japan, he has a 1.72 ERA, a .915 WHIP, a 9.2 SO/9, and 2 BB/9. He is someone who has been an inning eater in Japan, pitching an average of 185 innings a season over the last three seasons. That is good for roughly 7 1/3 innings per a start. Yamamoto is someone I favor over Snell because he is younger, pitches deeper into games, and doesn't walk people at the rate Snell does.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s teammates didn't celebrate with him after a no-hitter pic.twitter.com/00FtdcoDwm
— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) September 19, 2023
Mariners Payroll with Yamamoto: $152 million
Trade Bryan Woo or Bryce Miller plus prospects for Yandy Diaz
Sign Lourdes Gurriel for 4 years $52 million
Yandy Diaz makes a lot of sense for the Mariners as they try to become a more contact-hitting team while limiting strikeouts. Yandy Diaz was a 5.2 WAR player in 2023. A 15.7 K% and a 10.8 BB% are all above the MLB average. The other thing about Yandy is that he wouldn't be a 1-year rental like Juan Soto. Yandy is currently owed $8 million in 2024, $10 million in 2025, with a $12 million club option in 2026. This guy is on the top of my wish list for the Mariners to acquire this offseason.
Mariners need a left fielder and Gurriel would fill that spot for them. He is a guy that has 17.4 K% which is well below average, again, the Mariners are trying to limit that. The only knock I have on him is that he doesn't walk that much and his OBP in 2023 was only .309 this was below his average so I am not too worried about that. Gurriel had 24 home runs and 82 RBIs in 2023, he is someone that would add some power while also making contact at a higher rate.
Mariners payroll with Diaz: $160 million
Mariners payroll with Gurriel: $173 million
Sign Justin Turner for 2 years $26 million
The Mariners recently traded fan favorite Geno Suarez to the Diamondbacks and I don't think Luis Urias is the answer at third. Turner showed no signs of regression in his one season for the Red Sox. Turner had a slash line of .276/.345/.455 with 23 home runs, 96 RBIs, and a 17.6 K% which is below league average. Turner would also bring leadership to the clubhouse which was lost with Geno and Sewald going to Arizona.
Mariners payroll with Turner: $186 million
With those additions to the Mariners, what would the team shape up to look like? Let's take a look at both the new lineup and the new rotation, both of which are vastly improved to what was on the field last season. Also, it's worth noting that while $186M seems like a lot, that would've ranked 13th in 2023, just $21M above league average.
2024 Mariners Projected Lineup
1. Yandy Diaz - DH
2. JP Crawford - SS
3. Julio Rodriguez - CF
4. Cal Raleigh - C
5. Justin Turner - 3B
6. Lourdes Gurriel Jr - LF
7. Jarred Kelenic - RF
8. Ty France - 1B
9. Josh Rojas/Luis Urias - 2B
2024 Mariners Projected Rotation
1. Yoshinobu Yamamoto
2. Luis Castillo
3. George Kirby
4. Logan Gilbert
5. Bryan Woo
+ Marco Gonzales/Robbie Ray
I am not sure any of these moves will happen but I tried to be the most realistic in what I could see the Mariners doing this off-season.