TEREN'S TAKE: Seattle Mariners Need to Take Advantage of Surprising Offseason

The 2024-25 MLB offseason has been one of the more eventful ones in recent memory. Superstar Juan Soto and elite starting pitchers like Roki Sasaki, Corbin Burnes and Max Fried highlighted this year's break.

All of those aforementioned players have found new homes. Soto was signed to the highest-paying contract ever for a professional athlete when the New York Mets inked him to a 15-year, $765 million deal.

Other hitters that highlighted the free agent class haven't been as lucky as Soto. And that fact should be beneficial for the Seattle Mariners. If they manage to take advantage of it.

Third baseman Alex Bregman and first baseman Pete Alonso were generally considered among the top position players available after Soto. Both players are represented by Scott Boras and both were expected to demand deals worth upwards of $200 million total at $30 million a year.

Versatile infielder Ha-Seong Kim is another player who's shockingly still available. But he's not expected to be ready until late April or early May due to a surgery to repair an injured shoulder.

Alonso and Bregman aren't expected to earn the kind of money they were expecting to when the offseason began. And that should be something Seattle takes advantage of.

The Mets are reportedly expecting Alonso to sign elsewhere instead of returning to the franchise, where he's spent the last six seasons. His suitors aside from New York are reportedly the Toronto Blue Jays and and another "unidentified team."

The Seattle Mariners should do baseball fans a favor and sign Pete Alonso pic.twitter.com/zVIPm9UvBB
— Kick Dirt Baseball (@KickDirtBB) January 16, 2025

This is exactly the kind of scenario that the Mariners would wish for in any other offseason.

Two of the best overall hitters on the market are available at discounted rates and one of the most versatile infielders on the market will likely be even cheaper.

That's the best-case for Seattle. But yet the organization is still not in the position to capitalize.

Even after signing multi-faceted infielder Donovan Solano to a cheap one-year, $3.5 million deal, the Mariners still have roughly $11.5-16.5 million available in payroll.

Even if Alonso and Bregman are available at discounted rates, it's unlikely either will be available for that cheap.

There's still enough potential suitors for Bregman that it wouldn't behoove Seattle to enter a bidding war, even if it does free up the necessary salary. But Alonso is a different story.

The most recent reports have said that Alonso is looking for a three-year deal with options after the second and third years of the deal.

That is something that the Mariners can easily accomplish. And it's something they should do. But unless the team adjusts their approach, they won't.

It's not common for players the caliber of Bregman, Alonso and Kim last this late in the offseason. It's even more rare for players like them to see their free agent value drop the way it has.

If Seattle is serious about being perennial division and American League contenders, then the Mariners wouldn't think twice of at least reaching ot to Alonso and/or Kim.

But if sticking to the payroll is non-negotiable, then the Mariners will let yet another prime opportunity pass them by.

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