THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: An all too familiar quiet on the Mariner front

Dan Wilson needs some public relations work.

The Mariners relatively new manager might want to poll the fans to see how they feel about his team.

Surely, you know that saying: “We just need one more player.”

Well, the Mariner universe would more likely ask for a FEW more players — mostly infielders who can run, hit line drives and get in the Gold Glove conversation.

Wilson, though, said several times at the MLB Winter Meetings this week that he’s perfectly happy with the team he’s got.

Gasp!

“I know they can do what they need to do to get themselves to a World Series,” he said.

“I think this is a team that wants to get there. This is a group of guys that are hungry. It’s a group of guys that are willing to really, really fight.”

If Wilson walked the streets of Seattle, he’d hear something quite different.

The public is tired of coming close.

There’s a perception that the Mariners, despite the best starting rotation in baseball, have fallen short of the playoffs the past two years because ownership won’t spent decent money to upgrade at some positions.

I CAN’T really blame Wilson for feeling optimistic with the roster he’s got.

That club went 21-13 in the five weeks that Wilson was in charge.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to catch Houston in the AL West, or squeeze into a wild card spot.

Teams like Kansas City and Detroit have improved drastically with an influx of young talent.

Seattle has some exciting players working their way up through the minors, too — but there’s a fear that by time the kids are ready for The Show, the “window of winning” with the current pitching staff may have closed.

That’s why the paying customers have been yelling for club president Jerry Dipoto to find some talent to augment the roster.

Attempts to do so over the past few off seasons have failed pretty miserably.

This time around, the Mariners signed Jorge Polanco to play second base, Mitch Haniger (via trade with the Giants) for right field, and Mitch Garver as a DH.

Polanco hit .213, Haniger .208 and Garver an eye-watering .172.

The two Mitches are on the payroll for this year, too.

To take a fair look at lineup, the Mariners did score with some acquisitions.

Luke Raley (off season trade with Tampa Bay) played a fun, furious type of baseball that the club is trying to embrace.

The 6-4, 235-pound Raley played first base and all three outfield positions, hit 22 homers, managed to get himself hit by 20 pitches and, best of all, beat out six bunt singles.

Dipoto’s best work came during the season, when he traded for Randy Arozarena and 39-year-old Justin Turner.

The jackpot, though, was Victor Robles, who played the second half of the season in Seattle after being released by Washington.

Robles would gotten MVP votes if he’d played all season, nailing down the right field job and hitting .328 with 30 steals.

He’s been signed to an extension, so the outfield is nailed down, and under contract.

A HOLE still remains at third base — assuming that somebody in the organization can take over at second.

Ryan Bliss and Dylan Moore will get shots in spring training, and Dipoto insists he wants to see how far top prospect Cole Young has developed in that position.

Tyler Locklear will get a shot at first base, and Ben Williamson is considered the best defensive third baseman in the entire minor leagues.

“We do have the good fortune of having a number of infielders that we feel are close to or major league-ready,” Dipoto said.

“It gives us short or mid-term focus. We’re in pretty good shape there. We also have players that other teams would love to acquire, and they are among them, in addition to having what we think is one of the best stocked farm systems in the league.”

The Mariners are ready to talk about trading some of their coveted minor league pieces if they can fill a need.

They’ve talked to the Phillies about third baseman Alec Bohm, who hit .280 last year with 15 homers and 97 RBI.

Bohn won’t be a free agent until 2027, so he’s under control for two more years.

It will take some wrangling to land Bohm, since the Phillies reportedly asked for Logan Gilbert.

That is exactly why the trade and free agent markets have been slow so far.

Oh, except for that Soto guy.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”