Seattle Mariners: One Big Deal Down, What’s Next?
Congestion in the Outfield
The Seattle Mariners now have a traffic jam in the outfield. They have six players Winker, Jarred Kelenic, Mitch Haniger, Taylor Trammell, Julio Rodriguez, and Kyle Lewis, for three spots, four if you toss in the DH rotation Dipoto spoke about.
Let’s first throw out some facts. Winker, Haniger, and Lewis will need time at the DH to help keep them healthy. Speaking of Winker, he is a liability in left field per his total zone total fielding runs above average rating of minus nine. As of right now, the projected opening day outfield is, from left to right, Winker, Kelenic, and Haniger.
The hope is that Kelenic can pick up where he left off in 2021. Trammell made the necessary adjustments to hit at the Major League level. And Rodriguez is as good as advertised.
A hypothesis on the JRod situation, if Rodriguez lives up to the hype and doesn’t have a Kelenic type start to his career, then JRod might be the starting centerfielder. Kelenic then goes to left field and Winker to more of a DH role.
The Seattle Mariners might actually have a problem similar to the Dodgers. Too much talent and not enough places to use them. If every player produces as expected, Dipoto has more options to make a trade or two. Specifically, improving the starting rotation.
Julio Rodríguez rips a would-be double to deep left off Logan Gilbert in live BP on Field 2, which has Trackman.
Exit velo: 116 mph pic.twitter.com/BikZMmmOdu
— Daniel Kramer (@DKramer_) March 17, 2022