What current M's should we keep?
OK, boys and girls, let’s continue our crusade to rebuild the Seattle Mariners.
That’s our focus this week, since the MLB non-waiver trade deadline looms at the end of July.
So let’s make things happen…
Believe it or not, there is reason for optimism.
The 2018 Mariners, who missed the playoffs in a tradition that dates back to 2001, carried a big-boy payroll of $171 million at one point.
That’s ridiculous money for a team that finishes third in its division, but it’s also good news in one sense.
It means that if the core of a challenger can be built, owner John Stanton is willing to fill in the gaps with serious cash.
Now then, two things I need to say before we get rolling on today exercise — which is to decide (more or less) the fate of this year’s Mariners.
Who can help in the long run?
First of all, I appreciate your emails and I want more. The idea here is to see if a fan base can stitch together a playoff team.
BUT HEY, there’s no use in writing to say GM Jerry Dipoto ought to be fired. Same with Scott Servais, a good manager who can only work with the roster he’s handed.
If you suddenly became general manager, you wouldn’t last long if you barged in to tell Stanton that Servais and the entire roster will have to go.
The second thing here is that Dipoto has wiggled back and forth between 2021 and 2022 when he talks about fielding a bona fide playoff team.
Part of our job is to distinguish between those two seasons, because some of the Mariners’ outstanding minor leaguers are just kids in Single-A ball — and you never want to rush the process.
It’s fair to say we can build a competitive team by ’21, but the real target should be 2022.
We don’t want to ask Stanton to reach for his wallet until most of the key pieces are in place.
That doesn’t mean, though, that some of the more advanced prospects can’t be in Seattle by 2021, or even next year.
Guys like outfielder Jake Fraley, starter Justin Dunn and perhaps reliever Ljay Newsome could even show up for a cup of coffee this September.
It’s not like they’d be interrupting a pennant drive.
Remember, though, when you add a pure rookie to the roster, you start the clock toward his ultimate arbitration years and then free agency.
So it’s a balance between giving true prospects experience in the big leagues, but not bringing them up just for the hell of it.
SO BACK to today’s mission: What players from the current roster can stick around to help us when the prospects arrive and we add some key free agents?
I’ll start and take the easy one, shortstop J.P. Crawford.
He should be one of our long-term building blocks, and believe it or not, although a few current players (like lefty Yusei Kikuchi) may wind up as useful pieces, Crawford could be the only true cinch on the this roster when we look out toward 2022.
Now how about your thoughts on the rest of this group?
Are you convinced Marco Gonzales is solid enough to be part of a pennant-winning rotation?
How about outfielders Domingo Santana and Mitch Haniger? Or DH Daniel Vogelbach?
Give me a vote on the catching platoon of Omar Narvaez and Tom Murphy…is it good enough, even though neither is considered an elite defensive option?
MAKE A case for these guys, one way or the other — considering their age, production, and what they’ll cost.
Ironically, the Mariners’ battered bullpen contains four guys who are good enough to be around for a while — Austin Adams, Brandon Brennan, Hunter Strickland and Connor Sadzeck.
Adams, in particular, might be a shutdown closer.
Unfortunately for this year’s results, all four are on the injured list.
Weird things like that are going to happen, so when you look at the roster, always be thinking about depth and having a Plan B.
Take it from there, folks.
Let me hear from you, My email address is right at the bottom of this column.
On Friday, we’ll wrap up this segment on fixing the Mariners by looking at the deep and exciting crop of minor leaguers we’ll need to break the playoff jinx.
But for now, tell me who to keep from 2019.
Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns for The Press appear on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Steve also contributes the “Zags Tracker” package on Gonzaga basketball once monthly during the offseason.
Email: scameron@cdapress.com