On the heels of the club’s elimination from postseason contention last night, Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh spoke with reporters (including MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer), as he reflected on the 2023 season. In doing so, he delivered a clear call to action for the club’s front office headed into the offseason.
“We’ve got to commit to winning… to going and getting those players. You see other teams going out, going for it, getting big-time pitchers, getting big-time hitters. We have to do that to keep up.” Raleigh said, before expressing frustration with the organization’s decision to deal closer Paul Sewald ahead of the trade deadline. “We lost a few close games, later in the game, and we could’ve used him.” Among Seattle’s 23 losses after shipping out Sewald, the Mariners led or were tied headed in the late innings in ten of them.
Raleigh went on to compare the Mariners’ approach to that of the Rangers, who clinched their first postseason berth since 2016 thanks to Seattle’s loss last night. “They’ve added more than anybody else, and you saw where it got them this year,” Raleigh said, “There’s more than one way to skin a cat, that’s for sure. But going out and getting those big names… would help this clubhouse, would help this team.” While Raleigh acknowledged the strength of Seattle’s homegrown core, he reiterated that “sometimes, you have to go out and you have to buy. That’s just the name of the game, and we’ll see what happens this offseason. Hopefully, we can add some players and become a better team.”
Looking ahead to 2024, the Mariners should be in good position to make additions. Per RosterResource, the club has just under $107MM on the books for 2024, with a payroll of just over $119MM for luxury tax purposes, while that doesn’t include arbitration-level contracts for players like first baseman Ty France, it should still give a Mariners club that spent an estimated $152MM with a luxury tax payroll of just over $196MM plenty of room to make additions, should they choose to do so. [UPDATE: Raleigh partially walked back his statement in an apology today, saying that while he wants to win, “I just want to apologize to my teammates, my coaches, fans. It wasn’t a time to talk about what-ifs in that scenario.”]
More from around the AL West…
- The Astros paired with the Houston Rockets to acquire AT&T SportsNet Southwest, from Warner Bros. Discovery on Friday, as noted by MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart. The regional sports network, which is set to be rebranded as Space City Home Network, will air Astros games in time for the 2024 campaign. The team’s current channels and TV broadcasting team will remain in place. The move brings to a conclusion uncertainty regarding Houston’s broadcast situation for the 2024 campaign, as Warner Bros. Discovery announced earlier this year that they planned on exiting the RSN business.
- Sam Blum of The Athletic recently took a look at the state of the Angels organization, interviewing various current and former team personnel, including players. The report provides insight into the club’s player development apparatus, which clearly appears to be lagging behind the standards set by other big market organizations. As Blum notes, the Angels are among the increasingly small group of teams that does not yet have a dedicated lab for either pitching or hitting, while the club’s major league spring training facility has been shut down for the past three springs, forcing big league spring training into the club’s minor league facility. Despite the club playing in one of America’s largest markets, one former coach told Blum that the club operates as “a typical small-market team.” The Angels, of course, have not made the playoffs in 2014 and figure to lose two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, who won the AL MVP award in 2021, and figures to do so again in 2023.
BREAKING: Cal Raleigh headlines a blockbuster deal between Seattle and Houston.
Seems fitting considering Baker doesn’t believe in Diaz enough to start him in games that he could actually make a difference in.
Castillo on the mound against the Rangers buttsauce bullpen and the Mariners let out a loud wet fart..
Heaney was a starter most of this season and his career.
Jerry tried but Suarez, Hernandez and Wong didn’t perform! Too many strikeouts and very few clutch hitters! The Mariners have struggled filling the second base position since the Cano trade! Offense has been lackluster the past three seasons! Team batting average is near the bottom of the league year in and year out! If it wasn’t for the tremendous starting and relief pitching this team would stink! Too many easy outs in the lineup. Need proven MLB hitters at 3rd, 2nd,1st, right field and DH…Crawford,Raleigh and Julio are the only clutch hitters we have!
Suarez had a down year for Homers but was brilliant defensively and in other offensive categories except for strikeouts. Teoscar provided exactly what they wanted. The down year from Ty France (offensively), subpar production from 2B and DH made the offense sink.
Suarez had fewer HR but had 9 more RBIs this year over last. Think he hit .333 in high leverage. Strikes out way too much. Go to Driveline with Ty and JP. Eugenio is great in the locker room
Agree. And I initially thought they did enough. Guilty
We started winning in July. Rojas ended up hitting .272/.321/.400 for us. Huge upgrade over Wong
We started winning in July. Rojas ended up hitting .272/.321/.400 for us. Huge upgrade over Wong. Think we played Cabby too much
It would have been nice to get into the playoffs but with the way the Mariners were playing, I couldn’t see them going very far even if they got in. Hopefully M’s ownership finally opens up the wallet. This nickle and dime crap is getting old. They might have to get creative though since none of the free agent hitters are particularly exciting outside of Bellinger.
They absolutely will have to get creative.
Last offseason, when it was clear Jerry & Justin didn’t have the resources for a significant free agent, I wondered if they might move a pitcher like Kirby for someone like Carroll (when Az was known to be willing to move one of their outfielders), The logic: Both players projected similarly, had the same amount of control, and Seattle could more easily replace a pitcher.
That wasn’t to be, and I don’t know if Seattle would consider moving Kirby or Gilbert, and they probably shouldn’t. But Miller for a bat? One of the young infield draft picks for a veteran, perhaps with a significant salary?
There are a number of ways for them to be creative. But at the end of the day, they’ll have to increase payroll or deplete the farm, which would in turn shorten their window.
Lowe for Gilbert or Kirby? Carroll is overpaid for a player with his service time atm and overhyped too, but I personally think his trade value should have gone down.
What!?
What Carroll are you talking about? There’s no one by that name on the M’s that I can recall. You can’t possibly be referring to Corbin?
Caroll’s performance definitely improves his value, and he isn’t getting traded now for anyone, but the surplus value has dropped a lot due to him getting arbitration money in his pre-arb years. He was off limits before, as another person mentioned and likely wouldn’t have ever been dealt for a Seattle starter.
Stevil, I think you’re just using Carroll as an example, but fwiw Carroll and, I believe, Thomas were off limits. Varsho, McCarthy and Dom Fletcher were on the trading block from the Dbacks perspective.
He likely was off-limits. Kirby may have been as well. But we didn’t know much at the time and the point was that Seattle may need to move an arm for a bat. More specifically, a trade featuring impact players being exchanged.
i thought acquiring Kolten Wong for Jesse Winker and Abraham Toro was a great trade for the M’s. It turned into a dud for both sides.
Acquiring Teoscar Hernandez for Erik Swanson and a low MiLB player has worked out well for both teams.
AJ Pollock was not a good idea even when they signed him in January.
All the bullpen help worked out. Gabe Speier was a waiver claim, Justin Topa came via trade with the Brewers ( I think that trade will one day haunt them). Trent Thornton was acquired when the Jays were desperate for a SS. Eduard Bazardo came from the O’s for an unimpressive MiLB pitcher.
From all your comments, it seems like you loved every move the M’s made this season. Why did their record get worse then?
Its obvious. The Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros are better teams but, IMO, the loss of Robbie Ray is the biggest reason the M’s didn’t make the post season.
The Mariners had the Astros number this year. First time we won the season series in awhile. The issue was the Rangers whooped on the Mariners all season. Regardless I’m not worried the future is bright. We lost one of our highest paid players in Robbie Ray to start the season. More importantly we have easily one of if not the best starting rotations in all of baseball. With all of them signed to the team for the next 5 years.
Though I was as thrilled as the next guy to see Seattle take the season series from Houston, it’s worth noting they were banged up early. They got healthy and proved to be the best in the division.
Castillo is signed through 2027, Gilbert is controllable through 2027, and Ray can opt-out after next season. That might be unlikely right now, but if he finishes the season strong, he just might test the market.
Seattle’s rotation is still in great shape moving forward, but I wouldn’t rule out the addition of another starter. Marco’s questionable and they may use a young arm to land an impact bat.
One other glaring deficiency is team strikeouts. Most notable is Geno and Teo who have over 210 Ks each. The M’s are 2nd in team strikeouts, 20th in team hits and 13th in team walks. They’re not making contact.
They did a little better with hits and walks in the second half, but the whiffs kept coming. So much for controlling the zone.
Seattle needs another overhaul, but I’m not sure they’ll be able to do it with what will likely be an extremely competitive trade market.
I have my reservations about Teo’s performance. While he did exhibit a notable hot streak, his consistency seemed to wane down the stretch. His propensity for strikeouts is undeniable; simply throw him a breaking ball on the outside, and he’s prone to swinging right over it, which is quite characteristic of Teo.
Now, as a free agent, he’s poised to secure a substantial contract. In exchange, the Blue Jays have acquired a promising prospect and a controllable backend reliever.
Utterly shocked if they aren’t heavy on Ohtani
Prepare to be shocked.
Nothing would shock me in reality. But I’ve placed both SF and Seattle as prioritizing Ohtani.
The Mariners will offer Ohtani 5 yr, $150M and say “they tried.”
No idea. I just think he’s all over both the Seattle and SF plans.
For any Mariner fan that defended the offseason moves, pay close attention. Here you have one of the team’s leaders telling you what they think.
Regarding the Sewald trade, it wasn’t an attempt to contend. They were selling; thinking ahead. I liked the return, but hated the cost. It wasn’t black & white. Still isn’t. But make no mistake about it, the poor offseason is the root of everything. Had they had better players, they may not have sold Sewald and just one extra win could have changed their fate.
Seattle now has some tough decisions looming: Where to upgrade, how, and with what kind of budget restrictions.
I guess Cal Raleigh didn’t notice the Mariners acquired Josh Rojas and Dominic Canzone. Isn’t that right about the time the M’s began to win?
No, they started winning in July, but they were still a good 5 games or so back as the deadline approached and the teams competing for the postseason were making moves to get better.
Rojas wasn’t having a good season up to that point, Canzone was unproven, and Bliss was just getting his feet wet in AAA.
That was a move for 2024. Rojas got help and turned his season around, which helped, and Canzone contributed as a role player. But it was Julio, Geno, Teo, Cal, JP, etc. that really turned things around for a while.
Rojas and Canzone helped lengthen the lineup. However the value or impact of those 2 PT players is a fraction of the cost of losing Sewald.
As the article points out: 10 losses (at the very least) came in the 8th-10th inn via the “re-structured” back end of the BP.
For context- keep in mind, this is after the same FO traded K Graveman a veteran and team leader on a young team, an important late inn RPer. Worse yet on the morning after an emotional come from behind win over their (hated) Division rival Astros- the players found out their FO traded Gravey to those rivals, HOU!!!
Based on what metric did the loss of Sewald hurt more than the gain of Rojas?
Rojas was worth 1.2 wins for the M’s. Sewald was -0.2 wins for the D’backs.
Yes, the Mariners’ bullpen faltered without Sewald down the stretch. However, it almost certainly would have still faltered with Sewald and his down=the=stretch 5 BB/9 and 1.5 HR/9. And it also wouldn’t have had Rojas’ to tag-team with Caballero at 2B
You can’t look at WAR, or any other single stat, and simply say it was a success or failure. That doesn’t take into consideration human elements or situational circumstances.
Rojas was great for Seattle. Was he a huge upgrade over Cabby/Moore/Haggerty in more of a full-time role?
Probably not.
But again, it was more about Canzone and Bliss for the future.
I had someone try to pull an “I TOLD YA SO!’ following the Sewald trade, because I had stated that Seattle wouldn’t trade Sewald if they were legitimately contending.
Well, they weren’t. They sold high on Sewald, taking a struggling player at the time and two unproven future pieces. I think they were hopeful that a return to form by Rojas (which happened) and a breakout from Canzone (didn’t happen) might make things interesting, but surely they knew the BP was going to be shaky. They already had issues with Muñoz and Brash in high-leverage situations in July and they were struggling to find decent mid-innings relievers after injuries and poor performance led to a revolving door.
Something that gets me is that many people still believe Seattle didn’t have a closer. Sewald had 20 or 21 saves with Seattle in 4 months. Muñoz and Brash combined for 17….over the entire season.
They’ll definitely need a closer and it helps that finding relievers and attracting pitchers in general is a strength, but how many Paul Sewalds are out there? As I told someone in a previous post a while back, replacing a middle-innings reliever is one thing, finding a pitcher who can close out games is another.
Okay, great, the M’s acquired two average players for a star closer. Like the article says, of the 23 games they lost after trading him, they were ahead in 10 of those games. Our bullpen got significantly worse once Sewald was dealt.
As I have written before, the Angels need to hire a good team President and have him completely clean house and bring in his own people.
Arte should do nothing more than sign checks.
Arte needs to sell the team.
Kuhl, and Carpino (U of A alumni like Arte) are the laughingstock of the sport..
They are in way over their heads.
Please, Please baby jesus force Arte to sell the team to Joe Lacob!
Arte Moron Moreno should read the book dummies for baseball owners
I don’t think Arte Moreno is interested in owning a successful team being ran by others.
Absolutely shocked that Sam Blum would write a column critical of the Angels.
I mean, if a team’s own beat reporter has nothing but bad things to say about the team he covers then that probably says all you need to know. Is he supposed to pretend everything is okay in that organization lol
The article provided important insight, although the example used about security guard wages is a stretch and a bit unfair. He needed more there than to use that.,But good to have an investigative report finally. The other writers like on MLB.com are spineless and never critical of the team. Fans need to know and the team needs to be accountable. Sam Blum did that here. Where are the other writers?
I don’t like yes men, and I don’t like reporters who try to make individuals look bad.
It’s a tricky balance. But the later shows a real lack of character. As you noted, Blum always seems to take pettiness to the next level.
His use of 17 current or former players or personnel is informative and valid, although most were anonymous which is not ideal. The lack of investigative reporting on the Angels is a disservice as I mentioned. Moreno was quoted 2 weeks before Spring Training that he had yet to talk with Ohtani about re-signing. Tbat’s a huge story that NONE of the beat or national writers pursued.
I also like Al Conin.
I completely agree with what you wrote. Just saying Blum writing something negative about the Angels’ organization is not a surprise.
Jeff Fletcher writing this would have been a surprise.
Yeah totally agree, and would add MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger as never pushing the club. And Al Conin was one of their best radio broadcasters!
I had tickets to the last game of the season but listened to Conin call his last game instead.
No idea why he was let go. I thought he was great.
I heard Blum is mad because he’s not allowed on AM830 to Roger Lodge. So this is his way at getting back at Arturo.
The rumor is George Lopez is going to take over the microphone next year
“I mean” what exactly? Are you a valley girl?
If you know anything about Sam Blum you would know that he is a petty, little, man child. Angels could be 100=62 and he would write the same drivel.
Arte Moreno
Had his head scanned found out his brain is the size of a refried bean
In fairness, the Mariners were not really in the race at the deadline. A game worse than the Angels, who everyone has mocked for not selling. The only Non-AL Central team that they had a better record than was the Oakland A’s. So they were sitting 9th in a 5 team playoff race. They got hot AFTER the Sewald trade. Maybe the M’s players should play better before the deadline from now on.
The Mariners were 17-9 in July.
But they were indeed behind in the standings, enough that they sold their primary closer for future pieces.
The first three months following a poor offseason proved to be costly.
Yes they were hot in July. But it still just made them a .500 team. Which is even more reason to sell at the deadline. They had a .500 team that had one good month and three really bad ones. Odds favor that team regressing going forward.
They were over .500, so the optics weren’t good. But the key to me was the need to jump over 4 teams just to get a Wild Card or 3 teams to get the division. When you need that much help, you are just fighting a losing battle no matter how hot you get.
Sure you can make a mistake, but these GMs are not EVER going to tell the future with 100% accuracy. And if they can, they need to change professions because their gift is way too valuable to waste on building a baseball team.
I don’t disagree. I’ve been stating as much since the deadline.
I think a lot of fans expected more at the time, but Seattle wasn’t buying. They were sellers.
I’m saying they may not have been sellers if they made a better effort in the off-season.
True, but who really could have seen such a drop off from Kolten Wong? I thought that was going to be an excellent pick up at the time. They didn’t spend a lot in free agency, but they are not exactly a top of market team either. I thought they made a few interesting gambles that just didn’t pay off. It happens.
Lots of people said the Wong deal was underwhelming and not what the M’s needed to actually improve. They were all dismissed by people citing Wong’s 15HRs (career high) in ‘22.
I heard many people say Wong was another Frazier, just a different name. He ended up being worse… for more money.
Raliegh’s point was that they should have been buyers in the offseason and not been sellers at the deadline.
Yeah, but they were guessing. Every possibility ever conceived will be argued by someone on the Internet. People shouldn’t get credit for a lucky guess.
Wong put up around 3.0 WAR in the past 4 full seasons (and was on pace for at least that much in 2020). I maintain, there was no real reason to think he would fall off as far as he did.
Except he’s basically the same player as Frazier. Their entire offensive game is predicated on singles and Seattle has the toughest park to single in due to its small outfield. So no reason to expect him to be worse than Frazier but no reason to expect better either.
And it’s not like Wong didn’t have flags. himself. His defense took a dive in 2022, he couldn’t hit LHPs and he struggled in most pitcher-friendly parks.
Regardless, the ceiling of a 32-year-old soft-hitting second baseman certainly wasn’t the kind of impact player Seattle needed, even if you just looked at the surface numbers.
There were PLENTY of issues, but most dismissed them.
The Brewer’s radio announcer was on 710 ESPN, and he said that Wong’s defense and speed were way off due to an injury… and he never seemed to rebound when he got healthy.
Plus, Wong hit roughly .400 against 3 of 4 of the worst pitching staffs in 2022, and was well below his career norm numbers versus almost every other team.
Lastly, Wong’s exit velocity has been off his career number the past 2+ years… and the M’s used exit velocity as a reason for going out and getting Teo… so the M’s management KNEW as well.
I agree with you, the Mariners start to the season was pretty poor, BUT, that does not mean that the front office cannot do more to bring in better hitters…..They missed a great opportunity to do so this past year.
I agree.
But I don’t fault the FO for doubting their chances at the deadline.
The real culprit was ownership and their cheap budget.
Yeah, I think you are right, in many regards. Then how much money do they need to make before they invest a larger amount back into the team? I think that will payoff even more in larger crowds, etc. How much more money does a team make from playoff games? .
I don’t know the answer to that. I don’t what the absolute limit might be, not just next season, but the following seasons. There may be restrictions on years offered to free agents as well as on contracts Jerry & Justin can acquire.
What I know is that they’ll have holes in RF and at DH after today and there’s an argument for upgrades at the other corner positions and half of the BP.
I’m not sure what to think of the rotation, because little is known about the recoveries of Ray, Marco, McGee, Dollard, and Hancock.
Good for Cal Raleigh. How could he not be disappointed when the Mariners went into the off season last year after a wonderful run that included a series win in the playoff against the Jays, and when it is clear that the team needs 3=4 bats to really take that next step and the free agent signings are AJ Pollack and Tommy la Stella. A trade for Kolten Wong did not help one bit, in fact it hurt, but trading a good reliever for Teoscar Hernandez was a good move, in my opinion and I believe they must re-sign him ( but that cannot be the best move they make all pre-season) The Mariners continue to be one of the top grossing clubs in MLB but act like they are the Indians, not the A’s, the Indians. It is not just the fan base that deserves more of a financial commitment, it is those players. They have some real great talent, young talent. They have a pitching staff that is amongst the best in baseball, please don’t let it go to waste, Jerry and Ownership please get some bats that make this team complete. Trouble is you missed the opportunity in 2023………. 2024 free agent bats are not in abundance and it will be important to everyone that they go “All-In” on Ohtani, whether they get him or not the perception must be that they care enough to try and do not trade Kirby, Miller, or Gilbert to get bats, that defeats the purpose!
Where do you see the M’s as one of the top grossing teams? I honestly have no idea, but if so that would be very counterintuitive.
SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners were the most profitable team in Major League Baseball (MLB) during the 2022 season, according to a Forbes analysis of the league’s financial information. Mar 23, 2023
Profit =/= gross revenue
They are profitable because they are not spending much money.
Hey Cal, how about if they got a new catcher? How would that make you feel?
We tend to give guys who speak out the title of “leader”. But from the many players I’ve talked to over the years, baseball or football, those guys aren’t always leaders. It’s the guys who keep trying to improve themselves and get in the weight room every day. Those are your leaders. Nothing against Cal – he’s had a terrific season with 30 homers. But it’s kind of a veiled slight against his teammates to say they need help. How about the players they currently have improving?
Big Dumper annoys me
Cal Raleigh is 26 years old. Just because he plays a high-profile sport and is exposed to media and interviews, doesn’t mean immature comments will not come out of his mouth.
Call it immature if you want, but someone had to say it–and it’s the truth.
He didn’t cite specific teammates, but it was pretty clear he was referring to the underwhelming offseason moves.
And if you think he isn’t one of Seattle’s leaders, you really haven’t been paying attention.
There are a number of posts from Seattle’s media that back it up, citing teammates and coaches.
Catchers are always seen as team leaders. Comes with the equipment.
Their moves in the offseason weren’t all bad at the time. Who could have foreseen Kolten Wong just falling apart like he did? The guy was right around 3.0 WAR for each of the past 4 seasons (5 if you project 2020 to a full season).
They lacked impact players. Failing to get impact players and instead banking on a breakout from a struggling young player, a rebound from a player who hadn’t been good for 2-3 years, and two players with flags (and an older, unproven prospect), didn’t exactly scream “we’re serious about contending”.
How do you get rid of Jesse winker somehow?
Seam doesn’t pay much attention. Most that do and have read articles about the M’s outside of Mlbtr know that Raliegh is a team leader.
@thecoop @stevil
I think Raleigh was speaking emotionally immediately after a horrible loss. He hasn’t named players, he’s just said they need such a little bit more. Three weeks ago the were winning the division. With all the close losses keeping Sewald could have been the difference. Obviously no-one knows.
I’m (as an A’s fan) a bit gutted for the Mariners.
Will be really interested to see what they do in the hot stove. See how willing the F/O are to gamble.
I hear you, but I think those were the thoughts he and many of his teammates had coming out of the offseason. The results just certified them.
It’s kind of funny for me that I’m not more upset, probably because they still did better overall on the year than I expected and the core really took a step forward.
I empathize more with Athletic and Angel fans. Fans deserve better than these ownership groups give them.
Angel fans have the franchise they deserve tbh
3card. Oh really? Tell me how Angel fans deserve the type of team that 30 players on the IL? We support this team every year win or lose 3M + in attendance every year. Or are you just a troll?
simmer down thunderstix
#card-Frgures. Can’t back up with your remark with an intelligent answer. Typical troll response.
Improving? You would think that in itself will make the difference. So how patient are you?
This is only part of the building of a winning team. The Mariners have become heavy handed in becoming budget minded, and the fan base knows it, It’s one thing to be the Rays who know how to win on a meager budget but also they have the know how to do it, and be successful instead of the M’s experimenting with chemistry 101. The front office needs to move on from being a perpetual rebuild team to making significant impacts, they have the means in doing this . No more has been players that are hoping to turning their game around don’t gamble on reliable returns or at least limit them. What we need, get some contact hitters at least a couple of them. Pitching always look to improve here, next year should be even better if you do this they should be back in the playoffs, race again. Then we can finally silence Cal Raleigh once and for all.
ok, Jerry
Good, because it probably meant a winning franchise traded for him to upgrade their catching.
Cal is one of the best players on the roster. He isn’t going anywhere, so that opening comment is silly.
Sorry to the guys on the margins like Sam Haggerty, Mike Ford, Dom Canzone, etc. but Cal is absolutely correct. There are about 5-7 players who have no business being on the opening day roster.
Not sure why it’s either shut up and get in the weight room or talk and you’re being a prima Donna? You can work hard and express and honest opinion.
Maybe, but what if he is saying that La Stella, Pollack, and Wong, were not the help they needed?
I think the Mariners should be all in Ohtani. He would add a huge piece to the offense next season and then pitching also in 2025. They have enough pitching for 2024. Josh Hader wouldn’t be a bad pickup either.
Of course Ohtani would be a force in the line up.
Ohtani-$50M
Hader-$15M
Then you have: Gilbert, kirby, Raliegh, France, kelenic hitting arbitration. Some are gonna get expensive real quick
50/50 whether France is even on the roster next season. I think the FO is growing tired of running out a non-power bat who only plays average D at 1B.
Have to agree – France’s stock fell considerably this year when just a couple years ago his future looked really bright. I can see a trade to CLE centering around France and Emmanuel Clase. Yeah, Clase led the league with 44 saves, but he also had 11 or 12 blown saves. Both these guys lost some luster this year.
I’m hopeful we give him an opportunity to recapture his magic, especially since it’s a weak free agent class and we have no apparent solution in-house, but Dipoto gets creative so I could see something like you suggested and then trading for a different 1B.
Castillo gets a $12.75M raise next year. Julio gets a $6M raise.. Marco gets a $5.5M raise (oof). Evan White will make $7M next year (up from $3M this year).
That’s almost $30M in raises among 4 players and it doesn’t account for arbitration raises to players like France and Rojas.
M’s hate spending money, so I think this is going to be a wild offseason full of trades. Ohtani is a pipe dream.
Luckily, the arb class is pretty small. Teo’s $14M comes off the books and so do a lot of retained salaries (Wong at $8.25M, Pollock at $4.66M, Flexen at $4.13M, Sewald at $2.73M, Cano’s retained salary finally concludes so there’s $3.75M freed up). That’s $37.52M total. With the players you listed and the arb raises, it should essentially even out. The M’s should (emphasis on “should”) be able to increase payroll given the profits over the past couple seasons. Fingers crossed.
Both SF and Seattle are going hard after Ohtani
Has Cal looked around the league? The only team – and I mean the ONLY team – whose off-season big signings splurge made a difference was Texas. This is a different era of baseball. Opening the wallet does not guarantee a winner. Ask Seidler and Cohen.
Perhaps the M’s should look at why their hitters are so inconsistent. Teo was a wrecking ball in Toronto; not so in Seattle. Haniger’s career took a rough turn in Seattle. Frazier, who clearly hated being in Seattle, was the reason the M’s beat Toronto in the post. And he walked, and has gone on to tie his career highs in homers and steals. But aside from clutch hits, why could the M’s not get more from him? Or from Teo? Guys like Ford, Zunino, Raleigh… Seattle’s farm seems adept at producing guys who don’t make consistent contact. That, to me, is the root of their problem.
For Cal to go out and say the clubhouse needs an expensive hierarchy shows he is not thinking clearly.
Have you looked at the performance of those free agents?
Some of the team’s struggled, but most of the big names performed big.
But don’t take my word for it, go look at the numbers on fangraphs.
Stud performance =/= wins
Nobody is saying a higher payroll guarantees success, but it certainly couldn’t hurt. I’d much rather they invest in the roster than in another yacht for John Stanton.
Agree-king
To buy, means someone has to be selling.
Huh? Haniger’s career took a rough turn in Seattle? It absolutely did not. He broke out in Seattle and was middle of the order quality his entire tenure there.
Most of your comment don’t make a lot of sense. Trying to use Zunino (from the old regime) to make your point makes zero sense, Adam Frazier sucked (and still does–look at why he’s putting up numbers… he’s in Baltimore. His advanced stats say he still sucks) and had no business being extended/re-signed, Ford isn’t from our farm system, etc.
If you know nothing about the Mariners, maybe look into things a bit more before posting a comment like this.
I didn’t think they did enough to take the necessary step forward either. They relied on the growth of their talent..which didn’t quite get them there in 2023. I speculate they and a couple of teams have been hoarding budget to go after Ohtani.
Frazier did not hate being in Seattle. Seattle moved on from him, Which may have been a a mistake. The Dodgers spent some cash money this off season…….
Actually, the Dodgers spent less this offseason than they usually do. They never fixed that hole at shortstop, for example. Just ask Cohen if spending a lot improves your chances at winning. It definitely helps, no question. It makes it easier to move on from mistakes. But it’s no panacea. If Cal wants to be a leader and speak out to the media, he ought to start by having his teammates evaluate their own performance before pushing them out the door with outside acquisitions. .
I am not asking that they do what Texas has done…That is crazy spending. But Spending a little more to get an impact bat last year would have been the right decision to help this team. A JD Martinez or Brandon Drury would have helped…. Those moves don’t break the bank and they would have helped.
His teammates that need to evaluate their own performance were the lackluster acquisitions the front office made. Wong 34 OPS+. LaStella 53 OPS+. Hernandez 106 OPS+ and 2.2 WAR.
Those were the impact acquisitions they made last offseason.
With the exception of Ty France, the existing core of the Mariners played well. They just needed a small amount of help that they didn’t get.
Frazier plays like he hated Seattle. He’s been decent everywhere BUT Seattle. And who wouldn’t hate it. Godawful traffic, depressing weather, outrageous COL. But a nice stadium.
The only place Frazier has ever been even league average was Pittsburgh.
Seattle is one team that would have really benefited from a later trade deadline.
Some of the “big bats” the M’s missed out on in the last few free agent classes include Trevor Story, Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, Carlos Correa, Rendon. Damn glad they did.
Yep. Texas got the one guy of that group (Seager) who didn’t instantly regress with the mega-contract.
Correa would’ve been a massive upgrade over Frazier/Wong/Rojas. They also missed out on Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, Seiya Suzuki, and Trea Turner. Not to mention Ha Seong Kim who costs less than Kolten Wong. Listing bad contracts is not a reason to not even try to sign free agents.
LOLOLOLOL Frazier 2023: .241/301/.398. Correa 2023: .230/.312/.399
What a massive upgrade!
You’re forgetting Correa’s 5.5 WAR 2022, which the Twins got without even tendering a long-term contract.
Jerry is the kind of guy that looks at:
$25M for 5war player
Or
$8-10M for a 2-3war player.
Then
$10-12M for another players =3war
I think he’d rather have 2 players vs 1 expensive player
Frazier 2022 when he actually played for the Mariners – 80 OPs+ and 0.7 WAR
Correa 2023 – 94 OPS+ and 1.4 WAR.
Both below average. Correa much better. You don’t want to look at the 3 year totals of those two guys. The comparison doesn’t help your argument.
Personally, as an Angels fan I am glad they won’t send to make the upgrades, but since Arte won’t spend either its a moot point for us.
This illustrates my point that spending around the league did not equal success. Also look at how many of the big ticket pitchers from last offseason choked or got hurt.
So because spending doesn’t automatically lead to success, better to not even try. Just pocket those profits Mr. Stanton, don’t invest it in the on-field product on account of us insignificant fans! Enjoy your next yacht sir.
They were not rumored on this site to be in on any of those players. Only one of those players was even available this past offseason.
You went out and cherry picked the FA bats that did the worst and tried to attribute them to who Seattle could have picked up and totally failed to mention any of the FA that have played well or that they were mentioned to be interested in.
That would happen to relate to Sam Blum’s article about the Angels..
I was surprised Rojas had 1.2 fWAR in 2 months with the M’s. That trade made the 2023 M’s better, regardless of the intent (which wasn’t ‘wong’ either)
I am glad Cal is speaking up. If it can push them to make one more add this off-season.
No playoff lineup should have Dylan Moore, Sam Haggerty (as freaking DH!), and Jose Caballero in it. Maybe one of those guys, but all 3 is a joke.
Great point!
Those players are bench (or platoon) players on any team that expects to go deep in October. Cal is spot on with his comments. He doesn’t need to name specific players for the point to stand. We know who the players are.
I find that a very odd statement for Raleigh to make, especially the timing of it. Like, who did he want brought in here? He sounds as if he’s jumping on the bandwagon trying to win brownie points with the one contingent of Mariners fans who won’t stop squealing about the cheap ownership. It’s a bad look for a player on the day they get eliminated, if anything he should be looking inward as I don’t recall any clutch hits coming from his bat this last week. Anyways, the free agent market was crap last winter & I don’t know who we could have landed that wouldn’t have cost an arm & a leg. And the trading deadline was dead for everyone, particularly for batters. So it’s just surprising he’s copying this same old lame refrain that’s been coming from the whining contingent of fans all season now.
As I pointed out elsewhere, in like 111 more ABs this year, he left over 100 more runners on base than last season. Can’t be stranding a guy for every additional AB you take. Cal’s clutch numbers leave some questions in my mind. And who was calling the games when they were losing… Cal.
I generally respect the hell out of the M’s for being a gutsy, exciting team. But Raleigh’s comments are a horrible look, and he’s not really good enough to be making them.
I hope Raleigh’s comments were just something rattled off in the heat of the moment, not thinking , like yeah not thought-out well at all. You never want to sound like the Twitter/reddit bros.
There was a great FA class last season including 4 of the top 7 SS in the game.
THIS upcoming offseason is short on bats. Not last offseason.
Mariners have JP Crawford they didn’t need one of those guys , but I was pulling for Xander a little bit to play 2B before his contract got way too long & cumbersome.
Crawford has been below average fielding for 2 years now, he would have gladly slid over to 2B to make room for any of the shortstops that have signed elsewhere the last few years.
The Angels should have snagged one of those SS.
The timing of your comment is baffling. They just missed the postseason in game 161 and virtually every player that was discussed in FA would have represented the difference. Even Correa had 1.1 fWAR. And you’re defending this ownership that just got you a failed season after getting so close last year!?
As annoying as it was to hear some people complain about the offseason after, seemingly, every loss, it’s far more annoying to hear people defend ownership and the non-moves that got them nowhere, and it was equally annoying hearing some of you spout off with snark when the Mariners were in first place–as if something had been won or guaranteed because the team didn’t spend.
Again, the timing of this. They just missed the postseason. This is absolutely the right time to reflect on the offseason, whether you’re Cal Raleigh, or a passionate fan.
47 years with no World Series appearance.
Every contending team in the American League was fearful of the Mariners getting into the postseason. Did you hear John Schmoltz & Ken Rosenthal during the game yesterday and how giddy & pro-Mariner they sounded throughout because they knew if the M’s got in they could go a long ways with that pitching?? If the Mariners were executing like they were in August during this last week then the sky would have been the limit. We had the personnel on the team to do the job.
Unfortunately they choked. Castillo choked. JRod choked. Raleigh choked. Teoscar choked. I was hoping Kelenic was going to be our secret September weapon and hit like he did in April but that didn’t pan out either.
We were 2 wins shy. I don’t see that being on the backs of Dipoto or Servais. It’s on the players, period. (and it didn’t help having two rookies in the starting rotation up against innings limitations.) (Forget about Carlos Correa and his onerous salary & health problems, if we even had a healthy Marco Gonzales for the month of Sept we would be in right now.)
Who was scared of the Mariners? The Rangers? The Orioles? The Rays? Might want see how Seattle faired against those teams collectively. A healthy Houston team they just faced certainly wasn’t scared of them, either.
Their pitching was exhausted and they lacked offensive depth to cover the bats that went cold. All of that comes back to the halfassery last offseason no matter how you try to spin it.
But It is on the players, and that means Kolten Wong, AJ Pollock, and Tommy La Stella as well. And it’s on ownership for giving Jerry & Justin a restrictive budget that didn’t allow them to get the kind of impact players the team lacked and instead led to players such as….(wait for it)….Kolten Wong, AJ Pollock, and Tommy La Stella. Every team endures injuries.
You make it sound like the season was a success because they were close and you suggest injuries were the culprit. That’s nonsense. The AL West was open for the taking. They blew.
By the way, JP made a statement defending Cal’s comments, saying he felt exactly the same. Are you going to throw him under the bus as well? Maybe they should just ditch JP & Cal, right?
It’s funny…
You blast off on fans for wanting the best team possible and now you’re criticizing one of the team leaders for wanting the best team possible.
Ridiculous.
Add now Logan Gilbert when asked about Cal’s comments….
“Everybody’s got his back. I really don’t think it was as controversial as it was made out to be. It’s kind of just like, yeah, every team would be better by adding big players. That’s just how the league works.”
Everyone has his back….
Let that sink in.
Yeah it was sub-optimal to have Sam Haggerty batting DH this week. I wasn’t very enamored with Dylan Moore in the lineup. But I also don’t think it would have ultimately mattered if we had even two guys besides JP & Rojas swinging a hot bat. Or if Castillo throws two quality starts when it counted the most…
If this team could have shown any type of consistency outside of the second half of July thru August it would have easily been a 100-105 win team. So many winnable games in the first half. I need to go back and look , but how many times were we completely blown out of a game? I would say it was pretty seldom.
I will read what JP & Logan had to say but of course they’re going to show support to Cal. But I think Cal was just raw & emotional at that time , much like when George Kirby had his little outburst a couple weeks ago. They both spoke prematurely but it was understandable to vent given the context & pressure.
But if Cal really meant what he said, I would ask him the perennial question…Who did you want Jerry to bring in?? Who who who??? Okay I will play the game. I wanted Jerry to sign Brandon Belt at DH instead of Pollock. Yeah JD Martinez would have been rad , but I doubt we had snowballs chance in Hades to sign him (and I heard he turned us down)…we can’t force guys to sign here.
So this entire notion that resources were not allocated & the franchise is cheap blah blah blah is just so missing the point. It’s such a low bandwidth bandwagon take; one that you would expect from the unwashed masses on Twitter/reddit/sports radio. So it was just embarrassing for Cal to also echo those kind of concerns; the team leader needs to look inward not lash out along with those wanting to burn it all down.
And yeah , if Castillo were himself, teams would not want to be facing our Top 3 guys in the postseason with that bullpen. Kirby & Logan were locked in. If we had two or three more bats get hot we would have made it to the ALCS at least. As we all know it’s about teams getting hot and gelling at the right time. Unfortunately that didn’t happen with us. Only had to win two more games. So close.
Appreciate debating with you Stevil, thanks for keeping it civil & not muting. I apologize for not being more concise, tired, and just wanted to get some thoughts out. Thnx for your patience.
You don’t seem to realize that having a couple of stars in the lineup from opening day very likely would have been all the difference. Cooper Hummel made the opening day roster and their immediate corner infield depth was Colin Moran. Ford hadn’t proved he deserved another shot at that point. Cade Marlowe was their (healthy) outfield depth, and he had just a few AAA PAs in 2022. He wasn’t ready. Caballero wasn’t ready either. They were lucky he stayed healthy and was able to get up to speed relatively quick to eventually help out at 2B.
The one thing they addressed well was getting pitching depth. It’s impossible to predict the number of injuries you’ll have and when, but they were pretty stacked. Ray went down, Flexen fell off a cliff, Marco, McGee, and Hancock were all lost to injury, Diego Castillo apparently caught what Flexen had, Murfee went down, Gott went down (before the trade)…then they traded Sewald. It had an effect, no doubt.
But it never should have came down to Castillo’s last start. Players have bad starts. They whiff in a big PA. But over 162 games, good players make a difference. The first three months of the season were horrific and that was a direct reflection of the poor roster construction due to a restrictive budget.
The quote I posted was from Logan himself. Of course they mean what they said. Why are you trying to spin everything? Give them the benefit of the doubt. They want to win. They want fans to have a winning team, and virtually any of the stars that were available would have made a difference. They don’t need to name names. I gave you names and you dismissed everyone as being overpaid or overhyped. Well, look what Wong, Pollock, and La Stella gave Seattle to start the season.
Another thing you’re missing is the fact that fans were promised star players. I have some of the quotes dating back to 2018 (they’re all available at Seattle Sports and in Ryan DIvish’s posts). They were going to ‘pay it forward’, regarding the money they’d save during the rebuild.
They graduated two waves of prospects and didn’t do a damn thing. If you buy into the Julio and Castillo extensions as money spent, you should note that both deals were back-loaded. Julio made less than Pollock this year (and he was under control for 6 years anyway!) and Castillo was paid in line with a second-year arbitration eligible player. They haven’t spent. The team was 18th in MLB in spending despite being the most profitable team in MLB, and it’s worth noting revenue from ROOT and their restaurants & bars aren’t apart of that.
Ownership threw Jerry under the bus. Jerry made bold statements because he was assured he would have the resourced to spend. Ownership pivoted. They haven’t honored their word and anyone who believes otherwise is fooling themselves.
We now have the players telling us how bad they want to win while recognizing their limitations, and some fans are faulting them for the team’s shortcomings.. This is indeed ridiculous. Nobody wants it more than they do. Again, it never should have came down to a single Castillo start or a Julio AB.. They should have had better players for 162 games.
Here are some of the quotes from Jerry at the time of the rebuild and shortly after….
“Clearly we are building a roster that is geared toward the future, and we’ve made no secret of it,” Dipoto said. “We see this as, this group starts to really arrive midway through 2020 and we feel like we become a fun and interesting team by ‘21, and then we have a young core on the field. And by that time, with some of the moves we’ve made that have brought all of this young talent into the system, we’ve also been able to cut off a lot of future salary commitment that then becomes capital to reinvest in player acquisition.”
More…
“Whether it be the free-agent market, whether it be trading for players who join that group by 2021, you can’t spend it if you don’t have it. What we’re doing now is we’re… re-arranging the furniture, so to speak, so that by the time this group starts to arrive in 2020 and then is on the field together for what we think will be a full season in ‘21, we have created payroll space. Rather than in 2021 paying Jean Segura, paying Robinson Canó, we’re paying it forward.”
One more for now….
“If we’re not going to win it in 2018, then our goal is to determine what our best timeline is. You don’t see a lot of teams win championships with a group of players that are far north of age of the center or far south. Most of the guys are usually between 25 and 30 years old. That’s the line for us. We are looking at that 25- to 30-year-old group and trying to determine how many of them form a championship team and then looking at the teams around us, how realistic is it we can build a team around that group to compete around the teams ahead of us. It has to be a consideration.”
You can try to spin this, but this came from Jerry himself and he was crystal-clear that they intended to spend out of the rebuild. And again, I’m not even upset with Jerry. He was thrown under the bus by ownership as well.
Yeah he spoke the truth. Nothing to see here.
Dipoto needs to go. Servias can help him pack.
And why should that be the case?? Because Dipoto didn’t get any hitters? That would have more to do with the lack of quality bats to be had, &/or a lack of allocated funds to acquire somebody which isn’t his fault. And Servais should be fired because why? He couldn’t pitch for Castillo or hit for Rodriguez. We had the players to make a deep run but they collectively failed to execute.
Because we are just seeing what the Diamondbacks and Angels already knew. He’s a terrible gm who, thinks he’s the smartest man in the room, yet constantly screws the pooch. Players don’t like him, the wanted to fight him in Anaheim for his decision making. Mike Scioscia almost put him in witness protection. His reputation in the front office is atrocious. This team has the funds. We’ve had much higher payrolls in the past. Cal was 100 percent right. They’ve developed alot of inexpensive talent, but you can’t expect to make a real shot at it with guys like Haggerty, Caballero, Pollack, Trammell, Wong, Ford, LaSella, Dylan Moore, Marlow, O’Keefe, Tom Murphy, Torrens, getting significant at-bats. As for Servias, the man is just a patsy. He was hand picked by Dipoto. The guy has no fight, mismanagement of a bullpen is his middle name.
I’m sorry, but that was just one long rant of utter nonsense.
Yet it’s all true, and the majority of Mariners fan agree. It might be non-sense to you, because you’re the type of fan I’m talking about. The kind who gets the same regurgitated b.s. shoved down there throat and begs for more.
Neither are the problem. Jerry (and Justin) have a budget they have to work within and Scott can only work with what he’s given.
If you’re one of those Scott-can’t-manage-the-BP guys, I’d advise looking at the list of middle-inning arms he had and consider the mileage on the late-inning arms. Can’t use the same 3-4 guys every night.
That’s why I said “both”. Dipoto decides to trade the best reliever they have, again. As for Servias, look no further Than the last couple months. How many leads did they blow? I watched the game last night from the third baseline as he just let Castillo fall apart with the bases loaded, and then let him throw an additional 25 pitches. Some people may choose to swallow the same regurgitated non-sense they keep feeding year in and year out, but most fast are with, Cal that this team needs to make some major improvements to the major league roster if they expect to be relevant with the Rangers and Astros in the years to come. Guess what, they have prospects too, the only difference is they are ran by people who have a clue, and aren’t afraid to do what it takes.
That was a great article by Sam Blum. No it wasn’t a “hit piece”. The Denver Post did a 4 part series on Rockies problems. Was that a hit piece? The Angels suck and injuries cannot be used as an excuse. They’ve sucked for a while so it’s a years long trend. And they talk of the same issues. Lack of spending, development. And yes they talk about paying for a dedicated lab. The Rockies are buying a new one for the new season. The Angels aren’t. I’m not all for the Ivy Leagues that are taking over front offices but it’s hard to argue with the results. Rockies in the same boat. No wonder they’re trade partners. Minasian is no egghead. Hes shaped like an egg. it seems they’re stubborn to stick do things old ways and maybe even intimidated or defensive of the technology and high IQ guys.
As an Angel fan I just wanna say they do the worst job in bringing back players like other teams. There seems to be just a handful of favorites that you see all the time. And you know who they are. Maybe they just live close by. I don’t know. Correct me if theyve been to the stadium but Where are even recent legends like Figgins, Kendrick, Iszturis, Aybar, Rodriguez? And of course Rod Carew still isn’t welcome back.
And “fan favorite” David Fletcher. When he was demoted all the “fans” around here turned on him and went with Minasian bc he can’t hit 10 HRS in a season. “Oh his OPS is low” . And he stayed healthy all year while everyone went on the DL. And played fundamental defense. What could have been. A lot of the Angel fans will turn on any player if they’re framed negatively
Please tell me you are not trying to say Fletcher would have made the Angels better. He had a 71 OPS+ over the past 3 seasons and when you add up all 3 seasons it doesn’t equal league average for one season.
The SS the Angels ran out there were not great, but they did put up a 93 OPS+ this season and as much WAR as Fletcher over the past 3 seasons combined.
Come on Skip. Fletcher is a terrible player. A 71 OPS over 3 years. We know he can’t hit and his defense is not good enough to make up for being one of the worst hitters in the West. Arte went cheap and relied on a rookie and guys that would have been backups on any contending team to man the middle infield instead of signing a shortstop wen there were a glut of great ones in FA. All so he could stay under the CBT.
Fletcher’s defense didn’t cost this team crucial games. Ask any of the pitchers if they’d prefer defense behind them over a higher OPS. This team didn’t need more offense. Sticks weren’t the issue. There are at least 4 games that I know that he would have made the play over the other player. He isn’t a fan favorite just because he has a good smile.
A 71 OPS is minor league offense. Combine his offense with defense and he still was far under league average. Fletcher doesn’t belong on a major league team that is trying to contend even as a backup.
How many times did Ohtani (or any other pitcher) this year show frustration when an Angel screwed up on defense? The Padres as a team were 106 OPS. Cards 101, Cubs 100. Marlins were 94 and Brewers 93 D backs 98, so maybe it’s not the end all stat.
Do you all honestly think if filling out a baseball team was as easy as OPS the Angels would be the only team to focus on that as though they stumbled upon a secret formula? What a joke it was for Bally’s Angel telecasts to be the only ones in all of baseball that never showed average or traditional stats when showing the starting lineup. The higher numbers must mean they’re better than their .210 average!
The only way the Angels get better is if Moreno sells the team.
I couldn’t be more proud to call Cal Raleigh my catcher! He is a leader; leaders hold everybody accountable and I agree with all of his words! And impressive how he managed to come off as professional and straightforward, despite his frustration last night. I love this kid.
And I love this team! The core of a champion is there, top to bottom we have achieved the blueprint to success. But if we don’t supplement our successful blueprint over the next couple of years; we will miss the window. Cal is spot on, they need to make moves RIGHT NOW. This off-season.
Go Mariners! My pride and loyalty will never waver!
Blum nailed it with that article. Arte needs to sell. He has been cheap in every way except putting a few stars on the field to draw in fans and the results have been predictable.
Minasian brought up players quickly after being drafted to so the awful development staff that Arte would not allow him to add to didn’t ruin good players.
When Eppler was hired the Angels didn’t HAVE an analytics department. He hired the first guys and that the department is still one of the smallest in baseball is part of the reason the Angels continue to lose despite signing some great players.
This season Minasian brought in one of the best pitching minds from outside the organization, but Arte would not spend money on the equipment, the technology, needed to give him a chance to do his job correctly. No pitching lab. No hitting lab either.
Minasian has been drafting guys he was scouting when he was with the Braves. That runs out soon and the Angels tiny scouting staff and non-existent technology will not be able to keep up his record of good drafts for long without huge additions to that staff. The international scouting staff is particularly small. If it wasn’t for Eppler personally scouting Ohtani when he was with the Yankees, the Angels would not have had a shot to sign him. The Angels do not even HAVE a scout in Japan.
Wonder how the Padres consistently restock their farm system with international free agents? Chris Kemp leads a international scouting staff of 46. Because of that they get to see kids play 15 or 20 times in person before having to make a recommendation. The Yankees and Dodgers have 42. The Angels? 20 and most of them are just reviewing video in Anaheim.
I could go on and have been harping on these same issues for years now. Arte has to go. He has no interest in winning or treating anyone right other than his superstars that draw fans.
SELL now Arte.
Biggest disappointments in MLB this year:
1) Mets
2) Padres
3) Rangers for the late season choke
4) Yankees
Kind of a dumb thing to say honestly, but as a player they just want to win, logistics be damned. Team can’t be perfect, they tried to patch every hole and had rotation depth, sometimes other teams are just better. Gone are the days when you can just outspend your way to the top. Are we forgetting they traded for a premier pitcher in Castillo and signed him, who would be the top starting pitcher in free agency this season?
I don’t think the Mariners can continue with two guys in the lineup who struck out 210 or more times this season (Suarez and Hernandez). Nor can they afford to get the kind of production Ty France gave them as the team’s first baseman. Nor can they afford to not have a shut-down guy or two in the bullpen (Brash and Munoz seem more like set-up guys to me). Nor can they afford to use backup-quality guys at 2B. This winter they need to replace the guys who strike out so much, find better-hitting players for at least two or three of RF,3B,1B and 2B, and strengthen the pen. We’ll see how committed they actually are to fixing the roster. They’re in a nice window of opportunity right now, and it would be a shame to waste it by going cheap (like I believe they did last winter).
I don’t disagree with what Cal said but he still shouldn’t have said it.. Hopefully he learns from it. I think it’s going to take Shohei and more to get this team to the playoffs next year. Seems unlikely ownership invests like that.
Jerry had a pretty bad year of major league roster moves but as a whole I think he’s running a strong organization especially the minor league development side. I’m on the fence about Servais, but I’d probably lean towards dismissing him.
Frustrating season. I feel ya, Cal.
Raleigh doesn’t need to apologize. He spoke the truth.
We have like 50 million we can spend this year if I’m ownership of mariners. The big prize should be for RF bellinger. Great fit as he slides into the 3 hole behind JP and julio. Pick up RP Moore as pure lefty specialist on a 2 yr deal. CJ Cron on a 2 yr deal would be our DH with occasionally spell france at 1st. And trading with Padres for 2B Kim be giving them Woo and Ashton izzi straight up. Berroa is ready to make full jump to high octane our bullpen in 2024 so losing izzi won’t hurt. Ray or Marco would take Woo’s spot as #5SP. Hancock and Dollard would be the 6 and 7 guys for SP as they work their ways back from surgery by June.