Subscribe
Follow Us
The Seattle Mariners are in desperate need of an offensive upgrade and the Philadelphia Phillies may be willing to deal Alec Bohm.
The two teams could be ideal trade partners, according to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal.
“After trading for Carlos Santana and Justin Turner the past two deadlines, the Seattle Mariners want to acquire that type of veteran presence for an entire season, not just the final two months,” Rosenthal wrote in a story published Monday.”
The Mariners ranked 22nd out of 30 teams in OPS in 2024 and 29th in batting average. At third base, where Josh Rojas got the bulk of the at bats, Mariners batters hit for a .643 OPS with 12 home runs.
Bohm, who started 2024 red-hot before slumping in the second half, hit .280 with 15 home runs and 97 RBI. Only four of those homers came after the All-Star break, however. He hit .251 in the second half, enduring a left hand injury that sidelined him in the first chunk of September. He returned for the final 11 games of the regular season but hit only .163 in that time.
With two years of club control remaining, the first-time All-Star in 2024 stands to make around $8.1 million in arbitration for 2025, according to Rosenthal.
The Mariners hope to address second base internally
The Mariners' production at second base was nearly as bad as at third. Seattle second basemen, led by now-free agent Jorge Polanco, hit for a .209 batting average and .658 OPS. Still, Rosenthal reports the team could look to fill second base internally, between Dylan Moore and Ryan Bliss to start, then maybe 2022 draft pick Cole Young.
Moore took 368 at bats last year, hitting 10 homers in that time with a 104 OPS+, though he only hit a shade above .201. The career Mariner took home the Gold Glove at his position this year.
Bliss, who grew up dreaming of playing for the Mariners, made his MLB debut for Seattle in May. He only got 63 at bats with the big league club but held his own in that time, injecting some speed and energy into the lineup.
After spending most of the 2024 season in Double-A, Young could make his MLB premiere in 2025. Ranked the No. 38 prospect in MLB, per MLB Pipeline, Young is a contact machine who gets on base and hits the ball hard. He hit .271 for the Arkansas Travelers this season with 25 doubles and 23 stolen bases. If he starts 2025 in Triple-A, it could be just a matter of weeks before he's playing games in Seattle.
