Seattle Mariners Insider Comments on Team's Quiet Offseason on Popular Podcast
The Seattle Mariners offseason was one that was uncharacteristic for the franchise. The Mariners President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto hasn't been prone to signing big-name free agents in the nine years he's been with the organization. But the trade market has been an avenue often used.
Even the trade market yielded little for Dipoto and Seattle this offseason. Instead, the Mariners went signed two veteran infielders — Donovan Solano and Jorge Polanco — to respective one-year deals to fill the holes at first and third base. Second base, another position of need, will be handled in house.
Dipoto said in a news conference hosted via Zoom that Seattle expected the slow offseason. But many media apparently didn't anticipate it to be as quiet as it was.
The Seattle Times Mariners beat writer Ryan Divish went on the Foul Territory podcast on Feb. 10 and talked about how the offseason played out for the team:
"It was less active than I thought," Divish said. "I figured they would do something more than they did. I think their intention was to do something more than they did. But when you only have $15 million in payroll flexibility, you just don't have a lot to do. They looked at signing Carlos Santana. They felt like he would be a great fit at first base, kind of a platoon with Luke Raley. Good leader in the clubhouse. He's been a pretty good mentor for Julio Rodriguez. ... But the pull of going back to Cleveland, to the place where it started his career, was more important for Carlos than maybe a little bit more money and a second year. They kind of pivoted, went to Donovan Solano, who's a nice pick-up, don't get me wrong. He's a nice pick-up if you have a finished product as a team. But when you have questions at second base, third base, first base, that's just not enough. Now they go out and get Polanco, bring him back, they're hoping for a bounce-back. Jerry Dipoto was kind of hamstrung with the minimal amount of payroll flexibility provided by ownership. And they really didn't find any trades for their prospects. I think they felt like they were going to be able to move some of their prospects to get a major league hitter. It just didn't happen because more teams believe they can compete than ever before."
The @Mariners had a very quiet offseason ... more quiet than @RyanDivish expected. pic.twitter.com/xRKRM2HQqh
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) February 10, 2025
The Mariners offense led the league with 1,625 strikeouts in 2024 and was the team's biggest weakness. Several players will need to bounce back and the additions of Polanco and Solano will need to play well for the lineup to take necessary steps forward in 2025.
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