Mariners common supervisor Justin Hollander already confirmed earlier within the offseason that the membership has mentioned a possible reunion with Justin Turner, they usually’re additionally weighing a reunion with one other former Mariner. Adam Jude of the Seattle Instances experiences that the M’s have spoken to free agent first baseman Carlos Santana, who spent a part of the 2022 season in Seattle. Jude cites a number of sources in including that curiosity in bringing one of many two again to Seattle is robust sufficient that it’s thought of a “probability” the Mariners will shut a take care of certainly one of them.
Santana, 39 in April, is recent off his greatest 12 months since 2019. He spent the 2024 marketing campaign in Minnesota, serving because the Twins’ on a regular basis first baseman and profitable a Gold Glove for his defensive efforts there. He additionally slashed .238/.328/.420 with 23 homers in 594 plate appearances. That’s good for a stable 114 wRC+ (indicating he was 14% higher than league-average on the plate), however setting apart a catastrophically poor first three weeks of the season, Santana hit .253/.342/.460 (129 wRC+, or 29% higher than common) after connecting on his first homer in late April.
That sort of manufacturing would attraction to only about any membership, significantly when coupled with wonderful defensive and a stellar clubhouse popularity. That latter issue can also be a key a part of the Mariners’ curiosity in each Turner and Santana, per Jude. On the finish of the season, president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto voiced a want so as to add some veteran voices to assist lead a younger clubhouse, Jude writes, particularly name-dropping each Turner and Santana as examples of gamers who’ve performed key management roles throughout partial seasons in Seattle.
There are different causes to suppose each gamers match the Mariners’ roster. Each Turner (17.6%) and Santana (16.7%) struck out properly under the 22.6% league common in 2024. The Mariners’ collective 26.8% strikeout fee was the worst in MLB. Whittling that quantity down needs to be a precedence, and both veteran first baseman would assist the membership take strides towards that finish.
Each Turner and Santana are additionally pure suits to pair up with Luke Raley at first base. Turner’s right-handed bat makes him a logical platoon accomplice at first, and he hits righties sufficient to take DH at-bats even when Raley attracts a begin within the subject. Santana’s glove most likely would push Raley to a major DH/nook outfield function, however the veteran switch-hitter is significantly better from the suitable facet of the plate. For a Mariners membership that hit solely .213/.300/.363 in opposition to southpaws final 12 months, Santana’s .286/.356/.578 slash in opposition to lefties has to look particularly interesting.
Both Santana or Turner needs to be out there on a one-year deal. Santana will certainly command a elevate on final 12 months’s modest $5.25MM wage, whereas Turner may very well be in line for a minimize from final 12 months’s $13MM fee of pay. Once more, for a Mariners membership that’s anticipated to extend payroll, however maybe not by leaps and bounds over the roughly $145MM mark at which they completed the 2024 marketing campaign, that makes both veteran a logical goal. RosterResource at present tasks the Mariners for a $150MM payroll, although that determine might change within the subsequent 36 hours based mostly on non-tenders and/or potential trades of non-tender candidates.
The Mariners haven’t been shy about their want so as to add infield bats this offseason. Dipoto and Hollander have voiced confidence in an outfield mixture of Randy Arozarena, Julio Rodriguez, Victor Robles and Raley. They’re trying so as to add a bat able to spending a while at first base and both a second baseman or third baseman — with Josh Rojas and Dylan Moore standing as candidates to platoon on the different spot. Turner or Santana would verify one field and achieve this each affordably and whereas bettering the membership’s total contact fee.
