GM Hollander: How Mariners view their infield for 2025

Feb 5, 2025, 3:41 PM | Updated: 5:29 pm

Seattle Sports

Pitchers and catchers report to spring training in just eight days for the Seattle Mariners. And eight days after that, we’ll get a chance to see the 2025 M’s on the field during their first Cactus League game.

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There hasn’t been a whole lot of change for the Mariners this offseason, but questions still remain as to how exactly the roster will shake out this season. Perhaps the most unclear area on the team – at least throughout the offseason – is the infield. During a conversation with Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy on Wednesday, Mariners general manager Justin Hollander shared how the team sees its infield heading into spring.

Here’s a look at what Hollander had to say about each position.

• Catcher: “Cal (Raleigh) obviously will be behind the plate a lot, mixing in (Mitch Garver) when it makes sense to give Cal a day (off),” Hollander said. “Feel really, really good that that’s a huge advantage for the Mariners: a Platinum Glove winner (Raleigh) who we feel like is the best catcher in the American League, if not baseball. That’s a good place to start.”

• First base: “Luke Raley’s going to play a lot of first base this year. (Free agent signing Donovan) Solano will also play a lot of first base this year.”

• Second base: “I think first crack at the everyday second base job will be Dylan Moore. Ryan Bliss will mix in, Leo Rivas will mix in. We’ll see some Cole Young (one of Seattle’s top prospects) in spring training this year at both second and short.”

• Third base: “Jorge (Polanco) will play a lot of third this year. I mentioned when we brought (Polanco) back last week (that) giving him the six, seven weeks of time to prepare at third in spring training, we thought was really valuable as opposed to asking him to bounce between positions or learn something on the fly during the regular season. … Solano can go to third to give (Polanco) a day off. Rivas can play third. (Moore) can play third. So we’ll have plenty of options at third.

“You might see some Ben Williamson in camp at third base,” Hollander added. “He’s one of our younger prospects who we drafted in the second round a couple years. (He’s) an awesome defender who advanced through Double-A last year (and) will likely start in Triple-A this year.”

• Shortstop: “Really looking for a bounce back from J.P. (Crawford) this year. Obviously, he didn’t have the kind of year that he’d hoped to have.”

Listen to the full conversation with Mariners general manager Justin Hollander at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Tune in to Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.