Mariners still have work to do as Winter Meetings come to a close

The Winter Meetings in San Diego have come and gone, and with the exception of a Rule 5 lefty reliever that may or may not make the team, the Mariners look the same. Is it panic time? Hardly.

The Mariners did not make a deal but there were plenty of discussions and situations that shook out, which makes the landscape a little bit more clear going forward. General manager Jack Zduriencik and crew will return to Seattle and further evaluate their options for adding an outfielder or perhaps something else.

Matt Kemp is off the board, and if you were wondering why the Mariners couldn’t put together a package similar to the one the Padres did to acquire him, the answer is simple. The Dodgers weren’t looking for similar players from the Mariners. They were looking for Taijuan Walker or James Paxton. When the Mariners said no, they moved on. There are different demands for different teams.

Also off the board is Yoenis Cespedes and Kendrys Morales. While there are some in the Mariners organization that liked Cespedes, there are others that were not so high on him. The home runs he hit were impressive but his on-base percentage was scary and the Mariners elected to not give up a rotation piece for the home runs and outs he might bring. As for Morales, there was very little interest and certainly not at the price Kansas City paid for him.

Still on the board is Melky Cabrera, who is seeking a five-year deal. The Mariners are not going to do that and according to Bob Dutton of The News Tribune they “appear unwilling to go more than three years” for Cabrera. If no team is willing to go four years, then there will be considerable competition for him at three. How far the Mariners are willing to go for Cabrera remains to be seen, but as I have said before, while they would like to have him it is not Cabrera or bust. They have explored and put the work in on other options.

A quick look at some of the options: Alex Rios has been of interest for some time and with Scott Boras as his agent he is playing the wait-it-out game. Dayan Viciedo’s name was out there as well today, but from everything I have heard the interest is not strong. Marlon Byrd could still be an option and Justin Upton is still out there. At some point the Braves may need to lower their demands.

Speaking of demands, I had heard for some time that the Nationals and Mariners had been talking about a deal and we learned some more about that today. The Nationals have been shopping shortstop Ian Desmond and there is a report that they had asked for Walker and Brad Miller in exchange for Desmond and right-hander Jordan Zimmermann. Eleven years of club control versus two years at a combined cost in the neighborhood of $28 million? Yeah, I would imagine that was a pretty short conversation. Still, these are the talks that can lead to something else. Perhaps an outfielder. Something to keep an eye on.

The meetings have ended but the talks with both free agents and other clubs will continue. We will get to hear a little bit more about Friday night when Zduriencik joins us on “The Hot Stove League” show, which will be broadcast live from the Bellevue Mariners Team Store from 7-9 p.m. If you are in the area stop by and say hello. If not, tune in to 710 ESPN Seattle for two hours of baseball talk with Rick Rizzs, Mike Blowers and me.

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