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Will the Offseason Moves Help the Mariners Win Against the Rangers?

The Mariners play 13 games a season against each AL West team. This series examines how the offseason shifts affect the contests between the Mariners and their rivals in the AL West, in this case, the Rangers.

Texas Rangers v Seattle Mariners
Texas Rangers v Seattle Mariners | Steph Chambers/GettyImages
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Mariners vs Rangers: Position Players / Batters

The Mariners made more changes in their starting infield and outfield position than did the Rangers. Unless the Mariners do something unexpected, I expect these players will remain the same: Cal Raleigh at catcher, Ty France at 1B, J. Crawford at shortstop, and J. Rodriguez at CF. The team has swapped J. Palanco for Cabby on 2B; Urias for G. Suarez on 3B; L. Raley for J. Kelenic in LF; Mitch Haniger for Teo Hernandez in RF; and Mitch Garver for Mike Ford as DH.

Lineup

The only question mark for the Rangers' is what will happen with Aroldis Garcia. He and the Rangers could not reach a salary agreement in arbitration. Texas' overall batting average was higher than the Mariners in 2023 but Baseball-Reference.com predicts the Rangers' average to be closer to the Mariners in 2024. When one player is listed, you see his 2023 and projected 2024 BAs. When two are listed, you see the first name's 2023 player's BA and the 2024 player's projected BA.

SEA

Batting arm

'23 BA

'24 proj. BA

TEX

Batting arm

'23 BA

'24 BA

Cal Raleigh (C)

S/R

.232

.228

J. Heim (C)

S/R

.258

.243

Ty France (1B)

R/R

.25

.268

N. Lowe (1B)

L/R

.262

.275

J, Caballero/J. Palanco (2B)

L/R / S/R

.221

.254

M. Semien (2B)

R/R

.276

.261

E. Suarez / L. Urias (3B)

R/R/ R/R

.232

.243

J. Jung (3B)

R/R

.266

.263

J. Crawford (SS)

L/R

.266

.261

C. Seager (SS)

L/R

.327

.285

J. Kelenic / L. Raley (LF)

L/R / L/R

.253

.243

E. Carter

L/R /L/R

.306

.274

J. Rodriguez (CF)

R/R

.275

.285

L. Taveras (CF)

S/R

.266

.259

T. Hernandez/M. Haniger (RF)

R/R / R/R

.258

.239

A. Garcia (RF) / T. Jankowski

R/R /L/R

.245

.241

T. Murphy/ M. Garver

L/R /R?R

.290

.249

E. Duran

R/R

.276

.268

Average

2.53

2.52

Average

.276

.263

Substitute and Utility Players

The 40-man roster for the Rangers has more pitchers than the Mariners. Those without batting averages are on the 40-man roster but have not reached MLB yet.

SEA

Batting Arm

2023 BA

Proj. 2024 BA

TEX

Batting Arm

2023 BA

Proj, 2024 BA

Canzone

LHB

.220

.240

Huff

RHB

.256

.254

Moore

RHB

.207

.218

Ornelas

RHB

.143

.253

Rojas

LHB

.245

.261

Knizner

RHB

.241

.229

Haggerty

SH

.253

.245

Foscue

RHB

Marlowe

LHB

.239

.252

Harris

LHB

Trammell

LHB

.130

.214

Smith

LHB

.185

.218

Zavala

RHB

.171

.227

DeLoach

LHB

Hunt

RHB

Clase

SH

Taylor

RHB

.267

.245

Avg.

.21

.237

.206

.239

We can expect some of the players in this category to break into the major leagues for the first time! I find it interesting that the averages are so close and that the Mariners have more players listed in this category.

While the Rangers beat the Mariners nine times in 2023, I predict that they will win seven games against Seattle in 2024, though I hope that Texas wins fewer. In our last battle with the Rangers, the Mariners won three out of four games. Interestingly, the Mariners also won four more AL West games in 2023 than did the Rangers.

After Spring Training in 2023, I predicted that the AL West would be competitive. I was correct. The Rangers won the World Series but the Astros won the Division and the Mariners beat the Rangers in Division games.

I look forward to seeing what the 2024 season brings to the AL West!

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