After their brutal loss at the hands of the Blue Jays, the Seattle Mariners should consider all options on the table this off-season.
At their core, the team will bring back Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh, their superstar players who combined for 14.1 bWAR this season. Every year those two players are on the roster, it’s World Series or bust going forward for the M’s. The team that wasted Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, Randy Johnson, Alex Rodriguez, Ichiro Suzuki and Felix Hernandez cannot waste the careers of two more superstars. They must do everything in their power to win a title with Raleigh and Rodriguez.
That means making hard decisions to improve the team.
Could Dan Wilson be replaced? Wilson was a cool story, but ultimately made questionable decisions throughout the postseason that cost his team in the end. It should be considered.
What about the free agents? Should the team pay Josh Naylor and Jorge Polanco to return? Probably, the two veterans played with more fight than nearly anyone else on the team in the postseason. They would be expensive, however. What does that mean for the budget? Perhaps the team should consider trading Randy Arozarena, who will be owed nearly $20 million next year. Arozarena did very little for the team in August, September, and October, and fell apart completely in the playoffs. He has one year left before he’ll be a free agent; perhaps the Mariners should cut their losses and trade him now while he still might have some value.
J.P. Crawford, the club’s long-term shortstop, has one year left as well, and while it’s hard to imagine he gets traded, the Mariners should consider moving him off shortstop next year. His defense has gotten worse, and so has his bat.
What about the team’s incredible rotation? Luis Castillo, Logan Gilbert, and George Kirby all had awful starts in the playoffs, and there is a real argument to trade one or two of their former ace pitchers. Castillo is the most expensive, and a trade would free up the money to resign Naylor, or sign a big bat like Kyle Tucker or Pete Alonso. Gilber and Kirby, meanwhile, would likely be able to bring back a haul of younger prospects or a legit all-star level bat.
For a team whose rotation let them down in the playoffs, it might be time to double down on offense. Toronto beat Seattle simply by swinging the bat better, and the Mariners might want to take notes this offseason.
Seattle needs to do whatever it takes, and while the decisions will not be easy to make, they need to be made.
