This offseason, the Seattle Mariners are exploring new ground. In previous years, Justin Hollander and Jerry Dipoto had a tendency to get things going quickly. In 2016, they signed Mitch Garver a few days after Christmas and made moves on Thanksgiving Day. Moving quickly and staying ahead of the competition appears to be Dipoto’s favored strategy.
However, the Mariners still have a lot of gaps as Christmas approaches and 2025 approaches.
It is a well-known trade partner that may be very beneficial to the Mariners and help them meet a huge need, even though the team is still receiving inquiries on its starting pitching.
This offseason, Spencer Steer could be the Mariners’ best trade target.
The Cincinnati Reds were reportedly making utility player Spencer Steer available for trade on Wednesday night. Mariners supporters are familiar with Steer, a youthful attacking weapon who has shown promise.
2023 was a breakthrough season for the 25-year-old.271/.356/.464 with 15 stolen bases and 23 home homers. Before the 2023 season, he was an advanced hitter for just 28 major league games with a 117 wRC+ and a 20.9% strikeout rate.
Despite some slippage, his 2024 season was still strong. He raised the number of stolen bases from 15 to 25, but his slash line fell to.225/.319/.402 with 20 home homers. He continued to have good zone control (20.9% K rate and 11% BB rate). His road stats (107 wRC+) give him some optimism, but his 96 wRC+ is alarming and indicates some regression.
Although Steer isn’t a very good defender, he can fill in at any corner of the diamond and perhaps even at second base. Dipoto, Hollander, and John Stanton should find Steer’s financial cost extremely important, as he is still just in the pre-arbitration stage. Additionally, as a University of Oregon student from the area, this move is becoming increasingly logical.
Many Mariners fans were interested in the trade for Steer, which was a popular issue during the previous offseason. He might not be as valuable as he was the previous season, but he would still be a good addition to a roster that isn’t particularly exciting.
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