There's no reason for this slumping veteran to still be on Mariners roster

We're at a point now where it's becoming clear that the Seattle Mariners' offensive resurgence is not just a flash in the pan case combined with smoke and mirrors. At the time of writing they are ranked seventh in the majors in OPS and tied for seventh in scoring, with nearly one quarter of the 2025 season completed.

What's more, the Mariners have achieved this offensive success without Víctor Robles for all but 10 games, as well as with Julio Rodríguez still not truly warmed up. There is one position letting the lineup down, though. First base is producing a .551 OPS, which is worst on the team and second-worst in the majors as a whole.

More specifically, Donovan Solano has proved to be a disaster at first base after being signed to a one-year, $3.5 million deal back in January. Yes, Rowdy Tellez hasn't been particularly good either, but at least he's showing signs of life and rebounded after having a batting average below .100 and a .341 OPS in mid-April.

Donovan Solano having one of the worst starts in Mariners history

It really is becoming tougher to justify keeping Solano on the Mariners' roster, with him off to one of the coldest starts in franchise history. Entering the weekend series against the Toronto Blue Jays, his .327 OPS was tied with Miguel Olivo for the second-lowest through the team's first 36 games of a season with at least 50 plate appearances. (Only Leonys Martín was worse, with a .302 OPS in 2017.)

There have been plenty of examples over the years of players suffering offensive slumps when they sign for the Mariners and have to play half of their games at T-Mobile Park. However, the slump from Solano has been of epic proportions and points to more than just having to contend with the challenges which come in Seattle, particularly during the early months of the season.

As of right now the 37-year-old is projected to have the poorest slash line and OPS of his 12 seasons in the majors. Throw in a - 0.5 WAR and -3 OPS+, and you do have to wonder why he's still on the Mariners roster, with there seemingly being no indication he's going to improve enough to provide any type of benefit to the team.

Long overdue to give Tyler Locklear his chance at first base

We even wrote recently about how the situation at first base was practically begging for Tyler Locklear to be given a sustained shot at the position. Locklear is off to a strong start in Triple-A Tacoma and is deserving of a chance to solve the Mariners' first base woes.

Plus, it's not as if the Mariners haven't already seen evidence that it's worth a gamble, following the tremendous success of Ben Williamson at third base. One of the only reasons which makes sense for still holding Locklear back, is because they just don't want to platoon him with Tellez.

The question is how much longer can the Mariners continue to trot Solano out there at first base, with the genuine risk that he's being a detriment to the team's success as a whole? The reality is that he's already worn out his welcome and it's time to move on from him, regardless of if the organization still doesn't feel quite ready to give Locklear another dose of Major League action.

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