AL West 2023 Preview: Seattle Mariners

Major League Baseball is set for opening weekend. Inside the Rangers has updates on each of the Texas Rangers’ American League West rivals entering 2023.

Seattle Mariners

2022 Record: 90-72, second place, AL West (16 games behind Houston); beat Toronto Blue Jays in Wild Card series; lost to Houston Astros in ALDS.

Manager: Scott Servais (528-504, seven seasons with Mariners, seven seasons overall)

Free Agency Losses: OF Mitch Haniger (San Francisco Giants), P Matt Boyd (Detroit Tigers), 2B Adam Frazier (Baltimore Orioles), 1B Carlos Santana (Pittsburgh Pirates), C Curt Casali (Cincinnati Reds), P Matt Koch (minor-league deal with Colorado Rockies), OF Derek Hill (minor-league deal with Washington Nationals).

Free agency gains: OF A.J. Pollock (one-year contract worth reported $7 million), P Trevor Gott (one-year contract worth reported $1.2 million), 2B Tommy La Stella (one-year contract worth reported $720,000).

Trades: OF Teoscar Hernandez (acquired from Toronto Blue Jays for P Adam Macko and P Erik Swanson); C/OF Cooper Hummel (acquired from Arizona in exchange for OF Kyle Lewis); 2B Kolten Wong (acquired from Milwaukee Brewers for LF Jesse Winker and 3B Abraham Toro).

Projected Lineup in Field: 1B Ty France, 2B Kolten Wong, SS J.P. Crawford, 3B Eugenio Suárez, C Cal Raleigh, DH Sam Haggerty, OF Jarred Kelenic, OF Julio Rodriguez, OF Teoscar Hernandez.

Projected Starting Rotation: Robbie Ray, Luis Castillo, Logan Gilbert, Marco Gonzalez, George Kirby.

Outlook: The Mariners are the team most likely to give the Astros a run in the AL West. To do that, the Mariners will need to make up the 16 games they finished behind the Astros.

Did Seattle do enough this offseason? The Mariners were certainly active. The trade for Hernandez was designed to fortify right field as he comes off a 25-home run season. He should pair well the combination of outfielders the Mariners have, with Rodriguez in center and Kelenic in left the most likely everyday combination.

The Mariners gave up a pair of players to make Wong their everyday second baseman. He batted .251 last season. There’s an “all-in” sense to both trades, as the pair are free agents after this season.

From there, the lineup from last season is basically unchanged. Pencil in Haggerty as the designated hitter for now. Dylan Moore, one of their top utility players, is out with an oblique strain. It’s likely the Mariners will rotate players through the DH position, at least until Moore returns.

The rotation can give anyone in the American League a run. The Mariners traded for Castillo at the deadline last season and he went 4-2 in Seattle. The entire rotation was together at the end of last season and only Gonzalez had a losing record for the Mariners (but he won 10 games).

Last year’s saves leader, Paul Sewald (20 saves) is back, along with most of the bullpen. Chris Flexen, who won eight games as a starter last season, gives the Mariners a great long-relief option and a back-up if one of the starters gets hurt.

What to Watch? Unlike the Astros, the Mariners are not dealing with major injuries to frontline players. Can the Mariners get off to a hot start? Seattle has just one series in April against AL West teams — a three-game set at home against the Angels. The Mariners start May with a series each against Oakland, Houston and Texas. That may be a good measuring stick of the Mariners’ standing in the division.

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