Mariners President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto met with the Seattle media today to give updates regarding multiple pressing topics heading into Spring Training, including the health of multiple crucial bullpen pieces and how the offseason played out.
Updates on Bullpen Arms
Immediately bad news was given, as it was announced that Troy Taylor suffered a lat strain during offseason workouts and will be not be ready for the beginning of Spring Training. Taylor had a solid cup-of-coffee at the big league level in 2024, being called up in August and throwing for a 3.72 ERA in 19 1/3rd innings. Previously a lock to make the Opening Day roster, Taylor’s injury is a difficult blow to Seattle’s bullpen depth.
On the positive side, reliever Gregory Santos is reportedly in Arizona and will have a full Spring Training. The Mariners acquired Santos in a trade with the Chicago White Sox during the 2023 offseason, and he was supposed to fortify the back-end of the bullpen alongside Andrés Muñoz and Matt Brash. However, Santos started the season on the 60-day injured list, came back for seven innings, and went back on the injured list to end the season with right bicep inflammation.
Like Santos, Matt Brash went down with an injury last Spring Training, however his injury was more serious. Right elbow inflammation placed him on the 60-day injured list, and soon after Brash would undergo Tommy John surgery. Per Dipoto, Brash has not suffered any set backs and should return by late April.
“…if this is our team going into Spring Training… we’re pretty excited by it.”
It was speculated that the Mariners may need to trade away one of their elite starting pitchers in order to get the bat they needed this winter. Dipoto did confirm that they fielded calls on their arms “…but it was always our desire to get to Opening Day with those five”.
Adding to the topic of a lacklustre offseason in Seattle, Dipoto oddly stated the team “didn’t have a whole lot of holes to fill”. Entering the winter there were pretty clear holes on the offensive side, including the entire infield except short stop, designated hitter, and to a lesser extent the bullpen. At the time of this writing the only additions to the 26-man roster have been a returning Jorge Polanco and veteran back-up infielder Donovan Solano.
Dipoto specifically pointed to the final stretch of the 2024 season as a reason to be optimistic in the offense, stating “…over the last six weeks, [there was a] notable uptick in our offense. The group generally played well together”. This stretch occurred after the organization replaced skipper Scott Servais with former catcher Dan Wilson, along with hiring back Hall of Famer Edgar Martínez as hitting coach. Although this point isn’t incorrect, the team posted a 125 wRC+ during that period which was third best in the league in that span, it begs the question of that trend carrying over to 2025.
When asked if the Mariners are done adding to the 2025 roster, Dipoto claimed they were “…open to add if the opportunity exists…” but followed that the front office is content with the current roster construction.
For a team who has fallen one game short of the playoffs two years in a row, is placing hope that more time with new coaches is what this team needs to push it over the edge? Especially when every team in the division, including the Athletics, have spent more money to upgrade their roster this winter? For fans, who haven’t even witnessed the Mariners play a single game in the World Series, why should we bank on hope?
Featured image: via MLB.com
Jake Tomasello is a Mariners fan from Seattle and can be found across social media @RaiseTheTrident.
