Mariners set for what could be an interesting offseason

Now the real fun begins.

With the general manager meetings starting today, the rumors are flying and the stove is stoked. The hot-stove season is officially underway, and like last offseason, the Mariners’ name is out there more than most in the early rumors.

This could be because once again agents and national writers view the Mariners as a team that will (or even must) spend money, or simply because the Mariners are being aggressive with the number of players they have interest in.

We will take a closer look at that below. First, a look at what this week could bring.

The general manager meetings are just that, a gathering of all of the general managers and their staffs in the game. This year the meetings are taking place in Phoenix and will run through Thursday.

These are not the same as the winter meetings, which will take place in early December. While those meetings traditionally have been much bigger – involving more people in the game including front-office personnel, media and agents – the general manager meetings in recent years have become more significant in regard to player movement. Groundwork for trades and signings is laid at these meetings. Teams gauge interest on players they could possibly move and values begin to be established.

Business not concerning player movement is taken care of, with meetings on umpiring, pace of game and other on-field issues, but with every general manager in the game in one place, the bigger focus is the individual conversations between clubs. No doubt the Mariners’ Jack Zduriencik is planning to talk with each of his counterparts over the next four days.

This could prove to be one of the more interesting offseasons in recent memory. What impact will the number and quality of free-agent starters have on their price tags? What impact will that have on the value of starters available in trade?

As for the position players, while the list of premium free-agent bats is short, the trade possibilities are intriguing with talk of the Rockies looking to unload Troy Tulowitzki or Carlos Gonzalez, the Dodgers’ surplus of outfielders, the Braves perhaps looking to move a number of players and rumblings that the Red Sox could trade Yoenis Cespedes. Throw the international players into the mix and all of a sudden this offseason has a much different look. The shelves seem to be amply stocked for offseason shopping or bartering.

How do the Mariners fit into this picture? They will be shopping and it would appear it will not be primarily from the bargain bin or slightly-dented-or-dinged aisle. As always, the Mariners are being tight-lipped on what they have to spend this year. Add this to the fact that they don’t have big salaries coming off the books and actually went over budget last year and it’s hard to even come up with a ballpark figure.

Do they start to see the big dollars from the television deal this year? While the numbers aren’t available, we do know that team president Kevin Mather has said that the club has holes to fill and that payroll will increase in 2015. We also know that they have set their sights on the top bat in free agency, Victor Martinez. By all appearances they have the resources to make a run at at least one big acquisition, and two may not be out of the question.

The second big target could come via free agency with Hanley Ramirez’s name being thrown into the pot today, or it could come via trade. I continue to hear that Matt Kemp is still of considerable interest. I think this is a longshot at best considering that the Dodgers were unwilling to pay much if any of his remaining salary in order to move him at the trade deadline. After a strong second half they may be even less inclined to move him, especially if there is interest in Andre Ethier or Carl Crawford.

The wild-card here is the Dodgers’ overhauled front office. New team president Andrew Friedman knows the Mariners well and showed interest in a number of their young players while with the Rays. The same can be said for new general manager Farhan Zaidi, who comes over from Oakland. There could be Mariners targets on the Dodgers’ list.

There could be Mariners targets on a number of lists. While the team would prefer to fill needs primarily via free agency, I wouldn’t be completely surprised if we saw a significant trade. This offseason should be anything but quiet for the Mariners.

Notes

• FOX Sports’ Jon Morosi had an interesting note over the weekend as he pointed out that the Mariners will not be able to extend the qualifying offer to Hisashi Iwakuma next year when he is eligible for free agency.

• The deadline for players to accept the qualifying offer is today, and with Michael Cuddyer signing with the Mets, it would appear that once again no player will do so.

• Roc Nation announced this morning that Robinson Cano has signed an agreement with HTC to be a brand ambassador.

• Cano is in Japan for the Japan All-Star Series, which kicks off tonight. The MLB team will take on a combined team from the Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers in a game that can be seen on the MLB Network at 1 a.m. Tuesday. Iwakuma is scheduled to start Game 2 of the series Friday at the Tokyo Dome.

• If you can’t stay up for the game tonight you may want to tune into the MLB Network at 8 p.m. as Bob Costas will sit down with Ichiro for an interview.

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