The offseason of suck

The atrocities of the POTUS47 administration continue today, of course, that's just a given now, but we'll talk about those later. For the moment I turn my attention to the failures of the Jerry Dipoto regime with Your Seattle Mariners.

The Mariners, who have finished three of the last four seasons no more than two games out of the playoffs and made it in by the skin of their teeth in the fourth, have severely underachieved in this, the alleged "window" for contention envisioned by Dipoto when he began tearing down and remaking the roster after the 2018 campaign, and it's not hard to see why: the offense has been obsessed with launch angles, exit velocities, and other Statcast-era nonsense and neglected the basics. Had they been even just a little bit more competent with fundamental offensive tactics (e.g. scoring a runner from third base with 0/1 out), they would have won anywhere from three to ten more games in each season, plenty to score a playoff berth.

Finally, finally, moves were made late last season to replace manager Scott Servais and alleged batting coach Jarred DeHart and results were positive (.618 winning percentage post-change); but it was too little, too late for that year and hopes were placed on a carryover from the new guys and some roster improvements for 2025.

Following the ’24 season, a decision was made to cut loose three quarters of the infield. Only shortstop J.P. Crawford would remain, the other spots would be upgraded. Not a bad idea, as Josh Rojas (though inexpensive and versatile, letting him go was slightly iffy), Jorge Polanco, and Ty France all had poor years, combining for an on-base mark of just .303 and a 26% K rate. (France's replacement late last year was Justin Turner, who did well enough, but he wasn't brought back either.) France I still believe will produce, for whatever team he ends up with, now that he's out from under the yoke of the useless DeHart, but regardless there were three holes to fill.

Then nothing happened.

Attempts were clearly made to acquire upgrades at the infield corners, at least, but all failed. Ownership has hamstrung Dipoto with a strict budget, so free agent options were nearly nil; dreams of landing Pete Alonso or Christian Walker were never viable. Trade offers, like one for Phillies 3B Alec Bohm or another rumored to have been for the Cubs' Nico Hoerner, were all countered with requests that were unreasonable and/or unaffordable. And now we're just a couple weeks away from the start of Spring Training and have to take what's left in the remainders bin.

As one of the softball players I was umpiring last week put it, this has been the "offseason of suck."

Today came what reads to me like an official declaration of surrender, as instead of getting any sort of upgrade the M's re-signed Polanco—whom no other team really wanted (marginal interest from the Yankees and Astros in a kick-the-tires kind of way)—for another year with a vesting option for 2026. Polanco's 2024 line of .213/.296/.355 hardly seems to justify his 1.3 WAR rating (I will never fully accept/understand Wins Above Replacement as a legitimate stat given its inherent subjectivity) and there is no split for which he put up decent numbers unless you count "ahead in the count," which is a split that favors everyone.

But Polanco was apparently the best Dipoto could do at this point with his limited financial flexibility. The hope now is that last year was a down season for him because of nagging minor injuries he was playing through and that he's over them now. And, of course, having Kevin Seitzer as batting coach instead of negative-impact-DeHart won't hurt.

The M's are also moving Polanco to third base, a position he has played for just 2% of his time as a big-leaguer. That seems like a dubious choice, but again, who else is there? (And he might be OK there defensively as the M's have the god of infield coaches in Perry Hill, he who turned error machine Eugenio Suárez into a stellar defender at third.)

So, here is your likely Mariner lineup for 2025, at least to start:

1. Victor Robles, RF
2. Julio Rodríguez, CF
3. Randy Arozarena, LF
4. Cal Raleigh, C
5. Mitch Haniger/Dom Canzone, DH platoon/OF rotation
6. Donovan Solano/Luke Raley, 1B platoon
7. Jorge Polanco, 3B
8. Ryan Bliss, 2B
9. J.P. Crawford, SS
   Dylan Moore, Mitch Garver on the bench with the non-starting platoon partners

I'm not saying this is terrible. It actually has the potential to be a solid group, but only if Seitzer works some coaching magic and manager Dan Wilson continues to get his guys to play as a team rather than as swing-for-the-fences solo artists. But it is a failure in that the goal was to upgrade the roster, and what we have is exactly the same group minus Rojas & Turner and plus Solano.

Is this another failed gambit by Dipoto or is it fairer to put the blame on tight-fisted ownership that wouldn't open their wallets? Or will it pan out that the restrictions were fine and this group turns everything around thanks to Wilson and Seitzer being that much better than Servais and DeHart?

I'm optimistic. But not as much as I'd have been if the M's landed a third baseman with a consistent record of getting on base more than 30% of the time.