Free agent rankings by position for the Mariners in advance of the Winter Meetings

It's been a while, and Mariners fans have been waiting for this moment. Well, all fans in general, but I don't really care about any of the other ones. Just the ones that root for the M's. The Winter Meetings are here, essentially, as all the baseball big wigs are heading to Gaylord Opryland Convention Center in Nashville to really kick off the offseason.

Side Note, if you haven't been there, that place is enormous. Like, it's hard to fathom how big it is. If you have the opportunity, you should definitely check it out.

In other sports, when Free Agency opens up, it's like a wildfire. Signings happen fast and often, and the majority of them are done within a couple of days. Baseball is different, and it's what makes me love it. Signings happen slower, trickling through the timeline, all the way from the end of the World Series to the time that pitchers and catchers report in February. It's why I love this time of year. It's worth remembering, and stating again, that Seattle doesn't always spend money.

Okay, Seattle never spends money on hitting. I'll try and mix realism with hopefulness here.

With that being said, the majority of events do happen around the Winter Meetings. With all those decision makers in one place, it's a good time for them to bang out a whole month's worth of work before going on holiday. Since it's so close, let's look at the biggest positions of need for the Mariners, and some of the players that they could target there.

Mariners position of need #5: First Base

I think I am one of the biggest defenders/believers in Ty France on our site, but I need to include it here because of how many fans seem to have turned against him already. I still believe that France is going to turn it back to his .300 hitting ways, especially after already showing up at driveline.

However, if they decide to make a change, who could they go for? Well, here are some of the names that we have talked about on the site already, and I'm going to focus on the ones that I believe are more realistic. Let's leave some positivity here though, and I'll go low-cost, solid, and high-end options I like at each spot.

Someone like Garrett Cooper could be a low-cost platoon-type guy, moving around and playing some different spots while gathering 350 AB. You know, exactly what the Mariners seem to like. The same could be said for Brandon Belt, but with a bit of a higher ceiling there.

Let's go Justin Turner here. He plays third but can play first as well, especially in the twilight years of his career. He can still hit quite well at the plate and would be a high end UTIL in the sense they could play him at 3B, 1B, and DH him to continually move guys around the field.

Finally, what about Rhys Hoskins? He has been really solid for the Phillies before blowing out his knee on that weird grounder play last preseason and could give the Mariners the punch they need in the lineup with Teo/Geno gone.

Mariners position of need #4: Designated Hitter

I know that they need a DH, and desperately so. We saw how, well, gross it was at the start of 2023, and it's been a rotating door of sadness for quite a while. Mike Ford performed admirably here for a while, but it still wasn't good enough in the grand scheme of things for a team that says they want to compete. However, it's a position that can be used as a "day off" spot for your team, but you still need good enough MLB level players to fill in.

What about Joey Wendle? He is exactly in the mold of a handful of other UTIL guys on the team, but could possibly fill the role of a clubhouse leader since all reports have him as a great dude in there. He's got multiple 2+ WAR seasons under his belt, is coming off a down year, and could play all over, even focusing on hitting as a DH.

Next up is someone I've liked for 15 years, but had to despise at the same time... even if I secretly couldn't bring myself to do it. I want Michael Brantley on this team, still. He didn't play much last year, but I believe that he still has a year or two of good hitting left. Grab Brantley, never worry about your DH spot, and let him hit .275/.365/.435 there. Hey, look at that... exactly an 800 OPS. Perfect.

Finally, I have to go with JD Martinez here. The dude can hit, and it's all he has done in his career. He has 112 2B over the last three seasons to go along with 77 HR and 264 RBI while slashing .278/.338/.509. If he can give you on OPS+ of 120 while hitting 30 2B, 20 HR, and slashing .270/.335/.480? Yeah, take that in a heartbeat.

Mariners position of need #3: Third Base

This still makes me mad. I defend the process, cause I do want to believe that Dipoto and Hollinger are operating in a difficult set of circumstances handed down by Stanton. That they are dealing with a finite amount of money, and aren't able to spend to the levels that a team of this market and that brings in as much profit as they do should be spending.

Just look at the Urias trade and the Geno trade. Urias has a good ceiling, but if he doesn't hit it, you added an okay UTIL player and a risky bullpen piece in place of a growing bullpen piece, your clubhouse leader, and to save $7M. Not okay.

However, it could work out if they do spend that money to sign a 3B. Then it all makes sense.

Urias is actually the low cost option here since it already happened. I'll leave it at that for now.

It becomes weird here, as I don't believe that it would be smart what it would take to get Matt Chapman. The Mariners need a bat, not the defense, so it doesn't fit the needs of the team. It's why I'm leaving the focus on Jeimer Candelario. I think he would be a great signing for the Mariners, and I know that a lot of the other great people here at Sodo think the same thing.

Mariners position of need #1: Corner Outfield

Far and away, this is the biggest need for the Mariners. Right now, you have Julio Rodriguez in center, and are more secure there than you are at any other position, arguably in baseball. You have Jarred Kelenic to play a corner spot, but the gap between his ceiling and floor is still so wide you want other legit options in case the worst happens.

It's why I don't think the Mariners need just one here, but two. Not to bench Kelenic, but to play splits for now, give rest, and fill that DH spot at the same time with someone who isn't just "a guy", but can legit hit the ball.

They could go low-end, focusing on defense and savings. Michael A Taylor and Harrison Bader or some sort of combination like that. Your defense would be insane, when healthy, but that lineup would be hard to look at a lot of the time. It's something that would be a lot more fun to use in a video game than it would in real life.

Move to middle of the road, and I think you look at like a Robbie Grossman, Tommy Pham, Andrew McCutchen, Adam Duvall set of players. Duvall might be a step ahead of all those guys, but you get the point. They're players who would make you think "oh nice, we got that guy, he should fit the bottom of the lineup really nice".

I want more though. Obviously, Ohtani is the wish, but he can't really play defense, would likely DH, and I'm not getting my hopes up that Seattle dishes out $55M a year for him. Thee is also Bellinger, but with the years associated with him, I don't see Seattle doing that either. To go from 1YR/$7M to 10 YR/200+M? Yeah, it isn't happening.

Instead, I look at Lourdes Gurriel Jr and Jorge Soler here. Could you imagine a quarter of Julio, Soler, Gurriel, and Kelenic? That would make me really happy, seems realistic, and wouldn't be insanely expensive. You would only be adding... $30M a year between the two of them? That would put the Mariners right around league average on payroll, and push to about their highest in team history back in 2018 when they spent $162M.

The Winter Meetings are here, and I just want the Mariners to finally do something on offense in free agency. Let's go Mariners!