Seattle Mariners: Off-season maneuvers needed to fine-tune roster

Drew Pomeranz, Boston Red Sox, Seattle Mariners. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

2018 was a good, not great, season for the Seattle Mariners. To reach the next level, some adjustments to the roster are needed.

The Seattle Mariners ended their 2018 season with 89 wins and 73 losses. Nothing to be ashamed of with that final tally. However, a third-place finish in the American League West division was not enough to qualify for a wild-card berth.

A couple of factors might offer an explanation. One is the absence of Robinson Cano due to an 80 game suspension for violating Major League Baseball’s joint drug agreement, when it was revealed he used the banned substance, Furosemide. The other primary reason, in my opinion, is the decline of the pitching staff in general and that of Felix Hernandez specifically.

Gauging some recent perspective by going back to the 2014 season, when the Mariners won 87 games, there is obviously an inconsistent pattern with the Emerald City’s MLB franchise’s win/loss records. 2015 saw a drop to 76 wins. Then, in 2016, a jump to 86 victories. Only to be followed by 78 wins in 2017. One wonders, why the erratic victory totals?

The focus here is how to improve the player personnel; primarily through the free agent market. That focus is due to the Mariners having one of the weakest minor league systems in MLB. Actually former Major League G.M. Jim Bowden ranked the M’s last, with a D- grade, in an article he penned for The Athletic in August.