ESPN’s Jeff Passan: The 3 positions Mariners need to address

The Seattle Mariners are spectators instead of participants again this postseason, having ultimately fallen short of making the playoffs by a win.

AL West Check-In: Astros’ future uncertain after early playoff exit

With the M’s missing out on October for a second straight year after breaking a 21-year playoff drought in 2022, the question remains, how do they go from good to great?

Brock Huard asked ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan that on Thursday’s edition of Brock and Salk on Seattle Sports, and the initial answer was pretty cut and dry.

“How do they become a great team?” Huard asked. “Do you see a pathway this offseason as they go to work on trying to do that very elusive good to great? How do they do it?”

Passan’s response: “They get a first baseman, they get a second baseman, they get a third baseman. Simple as that. You’ve got your outfield taken care of, you can rotate people around at DH, but I think a remake of that infield is necessary.”

As cut and dry as the answer was, finding the solutions will be anything but.

Who’s available?

Passan went down the list of available free agents at each of those positions this winter, but as he did, he wasn’t sure that’s where the Mariners will find their fits.

“The free-agent first basemen are going to be Pete Alonso, Christian Walker, Paul Goldschmidt, Rhys Hoskins, Ryan O’Hearn, Josh Bell, Carlos Santana, Anthony Rizzo. Those are your options there, and you have everything ranging from guys who are going to cost $5-8 million a year all the way up to $25 million-plus,” Passan said. “If you get in that $5-8 million territory, you’re probably going to have guys who are more platoon players – like, Ryan O’Hearn’s really good against right-handed pitching, not quite as good against lefties. Carlos Santana has been there, Josh Bell production’s decent but he’s not going to be a real gamechanger.

“At third base, you have Alex Bregman, and that’s pretty much it unless you put Willy Adames there going from shortstop to third base. Both of those guys are going to be $25-plus million a year players. Simple as that. And at second base, there’s Gleyber Torres and a bunch of guys you probably don’t want to sign. Maybe Ha-Seong Kim, but he’s injured right now. Wilmer Flores, another guy who is more of a platoon guy. Brandon Drury, coming off of a horrendous year. Adam Frazier, not the impact type player you want.”

Out of all of those names, one screamed out to Huard as the ideal offseason target: Christian Walker, who hit 26 home runs with an .803 OPS for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2024. Passan said the services of Walker, who will be 34 next season, will be in very high demand, though.

“Yeah, Christian Walker would be great. You know how many teams are gonna want Christian Walker? Like 15, because he’s an exceptional defensive first baseman who’s got power too, and a very good clubhouse guy,” Passan said. “So Christian Walker’s probably going to be in the three to four years at $18 million or so a year (range). Is that the kind of contract that the Mariners are going to be willing to give out? Are they going to win a bidding war for someone like Christian Walker? And I ask this in all sincerity – I don’t know the answer to it, guys. I don’t.”

Hear the full Brock and Salk conversation with ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan in the podcast at this link or in the player near the top of this post. Catch Brock and Salk from 6-10 a.m. weekdays on Seattle Sports 710 AM, the Seattle Sports app and SeattleSports.com.

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