Ranking the five best acquisitions the Mariners have made so far this off-season

Jerry Dipoto and Justin Hollander have been active this winter, adding and subtracting from the Mariners roster. Here are their five best moves so far.
Oakland Athletics v Seattle Mariners
Oakland Athletics v Seattle Mariners / Steph Chambers/GettyImages
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Dealing with the difficult circumstances of a smaller budget and less money to make big additions to the roster, Jerry Dipoto and Justin Hollander have had to get creative with their Front Office decisions. They ended up trading away Jarred Kelenic, Eugenio Suarez, Robbie Ray, Marco Gonzales, and Evan White, while also letting Teoscar Hernandez go in free agency after one year in Seattle.

Those subtractions cleared a ton of money off the Mariners payroll, making room for a potentially big acquisition in the future. While also saving the franchise money while they figure out issues with their Regional Sports Network (RSN). Fans have every reason to gripe about these decisions and why they had to be made. However, despite the acrimony surrounding the moves, the front office is aiming to do the best with "the cards they were dealt".

The Mariners missed out on the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes and were not even in the discussion for a Juan Soto trade. These two high-profile off-season targets were acquired by the Yankees and Dodgers (two big market teams). However, like most of the teams who are dealing with RSN issues (and there are many this off-season), the M's are doing what they can to improve the roster.

One of the main goals for the Mariners front office this off-season was to cut down on the number of strikeouts the team had in 2023. By letting go of Jarred Kelenic, Eugenio Suarez, and Teoscar Hernandez the Mariners trimmed 557 strikeouts from their roster. The Mariners had the second-most strikeouts of any team in baseball with 1603 strikeouts in 2023. After these cuts to the roster, the Mariners lineup should have fewer punchouts in 2024 than they did in 2023.

Cutting down on strikeouts was just one of many goals the Mariners front office wanted to accomplish this off-season. With the moves they made this off-season, they have not only checked off that goal but have also found intriguing pieces which will set them up well for 2024 and beyond. Here is a look at the five best acquisitions the Mariners have made so far this off-season: