Mariners making quick moves, but will they wait for Hisashi Iwakuma?

I expected there would be some changes with the Mariners while I was away for two weeks – a qualifying offer could be extended, coaches could be hired, perhaps a 40-man roster move would be made – but coming back Thursday I find there is more to talk about than I thought there would be. Some quick thoughts on what we have seen in the last fortnight (that’s for you maqman!) and where the Mariners stand now.

• The qualifying offer was indeed extended to Hisashi Iwakuma. Friday is the deadline for players to accept the qualifying offer of $15.8 million and there is little reason to believe that Kuma will do so. The Mariners want Kuma back, Kuma likes Seattle, but the fact that we are to this point with no agreement indicates that re-signing Iwakuma this time around is anything but a slam dunk.

Iwakuma and his family may feel comfortable in Seattle, but this is Kuma’s one and only shot at a big contract. In his four years with the Mariners he has earned less than what Felix Hernandez makes in a single year. He has been a great bargain for the Mariners, but his price tag is changing.

The word is he is looking for a four-year deal. I would be surprised to see him get that from anyone. Three years at $45 million is a popular estimate of where his deal could land. I am interested to see how the Mariners with Jerry Dipoto at the helm play this. In recent years, the bigger names on the pitching market have gone late. Some very late. Dipoto has been moving quickly so far this winter. Is it part of his plan to wait and see how the starting pitching market develops, or will he make his offer and move on to a plan B if Kuma’s camp wants to wait things out? We shall see.

• Dipoto has wasted no time in bolstering the bullpen. The Mariners acquired Joaquin Benoit from the Padres for two lower-level minor leaguers on Thursday. In his conference call with the media, Dipoto called the 38-year-old right-hander a “high impact, back of the bullpen” reliever and characterized the addition as “both a stabilizing and impact move toward the back of our pen.”

Dipoto would not commit to a role for Benoit, who has pitched primarily in a setup role but had 24 saves for Detroit in 2013, saying that ultimately would be up to his manager, pitching coach and what his performance dictated.

Dipoto said that Benoit would join Tom Wilhelmsen, Carson Smith and Charlie Furbush as the quartet that makes up the back of the bullpen. For now, that is.

“I don’t anticipate this will be the last addition we make to our bullpen,” he said.

Whether or not that is a big addition or a smaller addition remains to be seen, but with the value Dipoto seems to put on the bullpen, I don’t think it would be out of the question it would be a bigger acquisition despite the fact Benoit comes with a $7.5 million price tag. For now at least the Mariners have a veteran, proven, experienced arm that gets lefties and righties out and has closing experience. Jeff Sullivan at Fangraphs has a great post on what Benoit has done and what the numbers say he should do next year. Check it out if you haven’t already.

Of course the trade for Benoit wasn’t the only move we saw in the last 24 hours.

• Wednesday the team signed Franklin Gutierrez to a one-year deal. Dipoto called the move a “no-brainer.”

“We might have found the sweet spot for Franklin in just the way he is used, the way he is asked to contribute and just understanding how to manage his own personal situation,” Dipoto said. “We love his makeup, we love what he brings to the clubhouse and the general balance of the team. The fact that he wanted to be in Seattle and the fact that we wanted to bring him back made this one about as simple as it gets.”

The hope is Gutierrez can be used similarly to how he was used in 2015. For now Dipoto sees Gutierrez along with Seth Smith manning left field for the Mariners next year.

“Right now we view that as a tandem that really gives us an advantage at their position,” he said, noting that neither would be limited to facing opposite-handed pitching. “It provides us with a real high impact position if the two of them are together.”

One outfield position down, two to go, and just one week into free agency.

• Manny Acta in as third base coach. While things have been moving quickly on the player acquisition front, it has taken longer for Dipoto and manager Scott Servais to round out the coaching staff. I like the move of bringing Acta in to coach third base. I have talked to him a number of times through the years and found him to be incredibly thoughtful in those conservations, whatever the topic was. Being analytically inclined of course will help, but I think his experience and presence will also be a huge plus in the clubhouse with the players.

The two weeks I thought would be relatively quiet were anything but. Dipoto has been aggressive with his targets and critical roster needs have been filled. There is still work to be done however, but as I said after the Brad Miller/Logan Morrison/Danny Farquhar trade, I believe the quick early moves help set the Mariners up better for later, perhaps bigger ones. So far, so good.

Notes

• Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Awards have been handed out, and for the first time since 2009 a Mariner has won one. Nelson Cruz picks up his first career Silver Slugger after hitting .302/.369/.556/.936 and finishing second in baseball to Chris Davis in home runs with 44.

• The Mariners have announced that Scott Brosius will be Triple-A Tacoma’s hitting coach in 2016. A former World Series MVP, Brosius had an 11-year big league career playing for the Oakland A’s and New York Yankees. He has spent the last eight years as the manager for the Linfield College baseball team. He was twice named USA Baseball Coach of the Year coaching the USA 18-under national team to gold medals in the 2011 COPABE Pan American AAA/U18 Championships and the 2012 IBAF World Championships.

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