Morosi: What the Mariners’ priority should be this offseason

For the third time in the last four years, the Seattle Mariners go into the offseason having missed the playoffs by two wins or less. And that means they have a lot of time again to think about why they missed the mark by a small margin.

The key things Dipoto said about Mariners’ offseason plans

What should the Mariners’ priorities be this winter in order to get over the hump in 2025? MLB Network insider Jon Morosi shared his insight Wednesday during his weekly conversation with Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob, and he mentioned a couple of things that get at a larger point together.

Morosi used the example of some teams that are playing in the postseason now as wild cards, comparing their offenses to Seattle’s.

“When this team has struggled … you start to wonder what exactly is their identity offensively?” Morosi said of the Mariners. “Are you a slugging team one through nine, like what the Padres of all of a sudden built? Are you a really athletic team like what the Royals have done in being able to win a series against Baltimore? Are you just this youthful, exciting team with just enough power and timely hitting like the Tigers have shown in the last month or so? Who are you?

“I think the answer going into this year was, ‘We’re built around Julio Rodríguez, one of the best talents in the game, and we’ve got one of the best all-around catchers in the game in Cal Raleigh.’ And in some ways, that’s a really good starting point. I think they need a little bit more. They need not just a supporting actor here. They need a co-star.”

Potential M’s offseason targets

Who could be that “co-star” for the Mariners? Morosi pointed at a couple of switch-hitting All-Star outfielders who have been on the national stage in the playoffs this week: Baltimore’s Anthony Santander and San Diego’s Jurickson Profar.

Santander, who turns 30 later this month, crushed a career-high 44 home runs in 2024 with 102 RBIs and a slash line of .235/.308/.506 for an .814 OPS.

The 31-year-old Profar, meanwhile, is a former blue chip prospect who debuted in the big leagues in 2012 and just had his best season, slashing .280/.380/.459 for an .839 OPS with 24 homers, 85 RBIs and 76 walks.

Both are set to be free agents this winter.

The Mariners don’t have the best recent history when it comes to signing bats in free agency. The biggest contract Seattle has signed an offensive free agent to since current president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto joined the franchise late in the 2015 season is catcher Mitch Garver, who joined the M’s on a two-year, $24 million deal last offseason. Garver slashed just .172/.286/.341 for a .627 OPS in 114 games in 2024, and his role changed around midseason from Seattle’s usual designated hitter to essentially the backup to Raleigh behind the plate.

Morosi assessed the moves the Mariners made last offseason to address their lineup – namely trades for Luke Raley, Mitch Haniger and Jorge Polanco – as a way to explain what he thinks Seattle should try to accomplish this time around.

Raleigh reflects on Mariners’ ‘disappointing’ 2024 season

“They kept trying to make moves late (last offseason). The Raley move was late, the Haniger move was late, the Polanco move was late,” Morosi said. “They kept trying to make some marginal moves, but they weren’t, in the end, the moves that got them to the playoffs … I think they have to swing the bigger bat here and try to really land somebody of consequence … They probably should have gone all-in in ’23 and ’24. They didn’t, and they’d better do it now before it’s too late.”

Hear the full Wyman and Bob conversation with MLB Network’s Jon Morosi in the podcast at this link or in the player near the top of this post. Catch Wyman and Bob from 2-7 p.m. weekdays on Seattle Sports 710 AM, the Seattle Sports app and SeattleSports.com.

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