Mariners Offseason a Success?

Looking at what the Marines have done this offseason or rather what they haven’t done, it may seem that they have not been successful. While Seattle hasn’t brought in any big name players or been a part of any blockbuster deals, the offseason hasn’t been a total failure.

Nobody expected the Mariners to bring in any high-caliber players due to the lack of payroll room and that they are currently in a rebuilding process. So what has been a success this offseason for the Mariners?

Cliff Lee signing with the Phillies turned out great for the Mariners for a variety of reasons. It was rumored that the Angels, Rangers, and Yankees were all pursuing Lee but more so the Rangers and Yankees. Having Lee in the division or even the league alone would hurt the Mariners. They might only see him once this year as the Mariners will be playing the Phillies for a 3 game series during interleague play.

As we look back to about a year ago, when the Mariners initially acquired Lee, this deal has worked out great over time. Seattle gave up very little for Lee and got a lot more in return from Texas. Seattle initially traded prospect Philippe Aumont, Tyson Gillies, and J.C. Ramirez to Philadelphia. It has also been rumored that the Brandon Morrow trade Toronto trade was needed to make the deal happen. That deal was Brandon Morrow for Brandon League and Johermyn Chavez, now a top 10 prospect in a deep Mariners farm system. The Mariners got a spectacular 2 months from Lee and proceded to trade him, as well as Mark Lowe, to Texas for: Justin Smoak, Josh Lueke, Blake Beavan, and Matt Lawson. If we take in all these factors the deal essentially looks like this:

Mariners Received: 2 great months of Cliff Lee, Justin Smoak, Josh Lueke, Blake Beavan, Matt Lawson, Brandon League, and Johermyn Chavez.

Mariners Traded: $2MM to Texas, Cliff Lee, Mark Lowe Brandon Morrow, Tyson Gillies, Philippe Aumont, and J.C. Ramirez.

Looking at the players involved and the fact that Cliff Lee did not end up in the American league, I really think that they were winners. Lee, now back with Philadelphia, has completed this crazy cycle of Cliff Lee transactions and it has turned out well for Seattle.

The AL West has not been very active this year in terms of bringing in big name players. This is great news for the Mariners because they knew that they would not be able to compete for the big names. Other members of the division were capable of bringing in a Carl Crawford or a Cliff Lee, as I mentioned above, but they haven’t. That is very big for the Mariners and their 2011 season giving them a better chance to compete with their young roster.

The Mariners have made a few small acquisitions this offseason and on the small scale they appear to be successful.

Seattle signed a good bat and DH in Jack Cust. The deal was small and inexpensive; 1 year $2.5MM. Cust was previously non-tendered by the Athletics. Before Seattle signed Cust, they had been looking at Hideki Matsui. Matsui just recently signed a 1 year $4.25MM with the A’s. Looking at the 2 players, Matsui is 36 years old and Cust is 31. Using the Bill James projections from Fangraphs, they are projected to have similar homerun totals and RBI. They give Matsui the edge with AVG but Cust has a higher projected OBP and BB. Looking even closer at projections Cust has a higher projected WAR of 1.6 compared to Matsui (0.9 War). Given the stats, age, and price of the two players, I think the Mariners were winners here as well.

The Mariners had a whole to fill in the middle infield this offseason and they were successful in filling it. Trading pitching prospect Maikel Cleto for Brendan Ryan was a smart move by the Mariners. Cleto has been anything but spectacular in his minor league career. The wild, hard throwing righty projects to be no more than an average reliever if he manages to turn it around. Ryan on the other hand is a very cheap defensive specialist. He is arguably one of the best defensive shortstops in the majors. He has no power but he has shown decent average. The Mariners could get the 2009 version where he hit .292 or the 2010 version where he hit .223. Either way I still think the Mariners were winners here due to the fact they couldn’t acquire a player like this for this cheap via free agency.

Yes there have been other small moves by the Mariners, but these are the things that stand out to me making this a successful offseason thus far. We may see more deals by Zduriencik but I doubt anything big will occur. No they have not brought in a big name or filled a huge offensive void. No the Mariners aren't winnrers like the Red Sox or Phillies but these small deals that they've gotten done make this small offseason a winner in my book.