NASHVILLE, Tenn. — If the winter meetings have revealed anything for the Mariners, at least publicly, it’s that behind-the-scenes rumors of financial constraints are even more real than first thought.
“Things may have shifted a few weeks into the season as to where we are going and why we are going there based on various circumstances,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “Some of it is in our control, some of it is not in our control and how you will shape your team in the future.”
While president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto emphasized throughout the sessions that the Mariners’ 2024 payroll was “very likely” to increase from about $140 million last year, it took a lot of budget-related transactions to ultimately get there to get.
“I would have been surprised to be standing here 12 months ago and not have gone through some of the changes we’ve made until this year,” Dipoto said. “I’m really disappointed that we didn’t make it to the postseason, disappointed that this step in our growth wasn’t as effective as maybe we all imagined it would be. I still think we have a really good team that has a chance to be a great team.”
Sources say the Mariners are particularly facing challenges after their ROOT Sports – the regional sports network in which they own a 70% stake – was tied to a price increase for customers of Xfinity, the largest cable provider in the Pacific Northwest region.
When asked about that component impacting Seattle’s offseason, Dipoto said: “I’m just going to focus on the baseball part. We’re here to try to build the best 26-man roster we can in the short and long term. I will never talk about our budget.”
But are they done cutting costs to move from the “subtraction” to “addition” phase of their offseason?
“We did what we had to do to create the framework to build the team we envisioned,” Dipoto said. “And as I said [Monday]Our goal is to get better.”
MAJOR REMAINING NEEDS
This part is obvious – bats, and big ones, even though Seattle doesn’t rely on either righties or lefties to hunt.
“We would like to add, at least I would call it, a corner and a half outfielder,” Dipoto said. “And half would be at least somewhat able to come together – with the idea that Dominic Canzone could fill the other side, or a Cade Marlowe or Taylor Trammell, etc. And then we would like to find someone who is just a presence. “, more of a middle class bat guy. And if that means primary downhill, if it means part of a corner and downhill, that’s a possibility.”
Based on contract projections for top free agents like Cody Bellinger, the Mariners’ clearest path to upgrades is via trades, which would almost certainly require them to part ways with their young starting players — even if they shy away from doing so.
“You’re never going to tell someone, ‘Hey, we don’t want to hear your advances anymore,'” Dipoto said. “So we’ll see what the market offers.”
OFFERS COMPLETED
After trading Eugenio Suárez (owed $11.3 million guaranteed in 2023) to Arizona on November 22, the Mariners traded Jarred Kelenic (estimated at $750,000 in 2023), Marco Gonzales (12, $25 million in 2023) and Evan White ($7 million owed in 2023). ’23 and $8 million in ’24 with a $2 million buyout after that) to Atlanta on Sunday to release financing. In return, they received reliever Carlos Vargas and catcher Seby Zavala from the D-Backs and reliever Jackson Kowar and pitching prospect Cole Phillips from the Braves. On November 17, they also acquired Luis Urías from the Red Sox in exchange for reliever Isaiah Campbell.
RULE 5 DRAFT
Seattle failed to make the Major League draft and lost right-hander Stephen Kolek to the Padres.
FINAL EFFECT
The Mariners are aware that they are in a difficult spot not only in their offseason, but also in what they believe is an upcoming World Series window.
Amid these deliberations — particularly whether Seattle would have taken a different approach this winter if it had made the postseason in 2023 instead — Dipoto recounted a recent conversation with Rangers general manager Chris Young, who told Dipoto: “It could .” “You were there at the end.”
“I said, ‘Believe me. “I thought about it every moment I watched the postseason,” Dipoto remembers. “We believe we have a team that can do it. I look forward to it. I don’t know if we would have been in a different situation now that we’ve made it to the postseason because we always think big. We’re constantly trying to bring the present into the future.”