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baseballfanmas · 04-30-2018, 01:49 PM

Seattle Mariners Opening Day Roster Evaluation

Wow, am I excited to be here in great Seattle. While the expectations aren't high (the goal for this season is just to finish .500) and we have absolutely no kind of minor league system to work with, I'm up for the challenge of finally leading Seattle to a world series championship. First though, a look at the opening day 25 man roster.

Starting Pitchers

James Paxton - 29 years old, 68 overall/68 potential

-- James is actually the ace of our staff, as his ERA has decreased every year he's been in Seattle, dropping down under 3.00 in the 2017 season. We're going to need that this season.

Felix Hernandez - 31 years old, 50/50

-- "King Felix" is already putting me in a tough situation. He has digressed in his last couple seasons in Seattle, and is no longer that feared starting pitcher he used to be. I'd like to unload him and his $26,000,000 contract for some prospects, but damn if the team owner hasn't given me a goal to resign him. What to do, what to do?

Mike Leake - 30 years old, 50/50

-- Mike had a brilliant start to his Mariners career last season after being traded in late August. He made 5 starts for us and had a 2.53 ERA. The question is can he sustain that over a full season? The experts say no, but he had least should be a quality mid rotation guy.

Casey Lawrence - 30 years old, 36/36

-- Now we come to the back end of the rotation, which quite frankly looks got awful. Casey is not the answer as our 4th starter, but unfortunately it's what we have to go with for right now. He's got 2 minor league option years left, and don't be surprised if before the end of the season, he is back down in AAA, especially if I can find a better guy.

Marco Gonzalez - 26 years old, 35/35

-- Marco is in an even tougher position than Casey, as he has no option years left so if he doesn't perform at least decently this season, he may be looking for a new home. I'm a fair guy, I'll give everybody a chance, but he doesn't exactly wow me.

Bullpen

Edwin Diaz - 24 years old, 75 overall/80 potential

-- If we can get to the 9th inning with a lead, this guy will shut it down more often than not. We're gonna have to spend some dough to keep him, as his contract expires after the 2018 season, but you can bet I want to keep him here as long as possible.

James Pazos - 26 years old, 67/69

-- James had an ERA and a WHIP rating much higher than I'd like to see in the 2017 season, but he still has some slight improving to do. I'd like to think we can rely on him as a late inning guy, as he should collect some holds. For him, it's all about control. If he can get it across the plate, he'll get guys out. If he can't.. well... you know.

Juan Nicasio - 31 years old, 61/61

-- Although we need quality arms in the bullpen, this guy might very well be trade bait with his $7.5 mil contract. He's locked into that for 2 more years, but if we can get rid of that and maybe get a prospect in return, we'll do it. If we're not in the wildcard hunt when the trade deadline expires, Juan might get shipped. It's up to him to perform well in the meantime.

Nick Vincent - 31 years old, 57/57

-- Nick gives up a lot of fly ball outs, which I'm not overly happy about. His stuff is good, he just commands the top part of the zone much too frequently. Despite that, he's a solid bullpen option for us. He's up for arbitration after the season, so we'll see.

Marc Rzepczynski - 32 years old, 45/45

-- I'm not sure I like the fact that we're spending $5.5 mil on a left handed specialist. I'm all about that, but typically, I like left handed specialists to actually get guys out, and Marc hasn't done that consistently for a while now. He will be trade bait as well, although if he comes in and goes lights out against the lefties, I'll consider keeping him around.

Dan Altavilla - 25 years old, 43/53

-- This guy does bring some excitement. In 2016 as a rookie, he had a 0.75 ERA in 15 appearances for the Mariners. That went up greatly in the 2017 season, as his ERA was 4.24 in 41 appearances. He needs to find that consistency he had in 2016, and he still has room to improve. I'm optimistic about him.

Wade LeBlanc - 33 years old, 38/38

-- Wade was a starting pitcher for many seasons, but has settled into a bullpen role now. He has great control, and was in Seattle briefly in 2016. He's back now, and he will see some action, but I wouldn't expect him to be back next season. Again, everybody gets a chance, but he's not the answer as a left handed specialist either.

Catchers

Mike Marjama - 28 years old, 32 overall/34 potential

-- Simply put, Mike is only starting because our regular catcher is on the DL. As soon as Mike Zunino is healthy, this other Mike will be back on the bench. He is solid defensively though, which might be the only thing that keeps him around long term.

Chris Herrmann -- 30 years old, 20/20

-- He's our back-up right now, but he also plays good defense, and he's good at fighting pitches off until he gets something to hit. The .284 average he had in Arizona in 2016 proves that he can hit, but he just doesn't do it consistently. I'll have a choice to make when Zunino gets back: which of these guys goes back down to AAA.

Infielders

Robinson Cano - 35 years old, 67 overall/67 potential

-- Robby came over from the Yankees a few years ago, and we've got him locked up until 2023. His age hasn't started to show yet, as he's still an effective ball player. He's consistently around .300 as a hitter, and should give us close to 20 HR and 100 RBI. I don't like the fact that he has a $24 mil contract, but he's not going anywhere this season, we'll need him at 2B.

Kyle Seager - 30 years old, 62/62

-- Kyle is another guy that we have locked up for several more seasons, and he also has a pretty high priced contract. It's going to make it tough to get any major free agents, but Kyle has a place here. He'll be our starting 3B for sure.

Jean Segura - 28 years old, 53/53

-- Jean will be our starting SS this season, and probably for years to come as we also have him locked up until 2023. I just don't know about all these long term contracts, but unfortunately getting any of these guys to renegotiate, well it's not gonna happen. 2016 and 2017 have been really good for Jean, with .300+ averages both season. We need that production to continue this season.

Ryon Healy - 26 years old, 22/24

-- Ryon will lock down the 1B spot, but we'd like to have a better option there. His first 2 seasons offensively in the majors were fine, but defensively he lacks something.. mainly the ability to stop a wild throw. Kind of an important thing for a First Baseman to have. Unfortunately, we're stuck with him, so hopefully his bat makes up for his not so great glove.

Andrew Romine - 32 years old, 20/20

-- To start the season at least, Andrew is our only main back-up in the infield. The good thing about him is that he can play pretty much any position except catcher or pitcher. It's going to be nice to have that versatility. He won't wow anybody with his bat, but he has a nice glove. The idea of putting him in as a late inning defensive replacement at 1B probably won't work though, as go figure, 1B is his weakest defensive spot. Ah well.

Outfielders

Nelson Cruz - 37 years old, 56 overall/56 potential

-- Nelson is a heck of a hitter, and will probably fill a DH role for us, while he's here. He has already said he has no plans to resign with Seattle after this season, so we will look to unload him as early as possible. If we're gonna lose him anyways, might as well get something for him. Only problem is, how many teams will take a chance on a 37 year old that is currently making $14 mil and is wanting double that wherever he goes next season? We may get stuck with him all season.

Dee Gordon - 29 years old, 44/44

-- I like Dee, always have. Even when he was with the Dodgers. His speed makes him a prototypical leadoff hitter, even if he isn't great with the bat. A lot of people don't remember he came up as a second baseman, but is now playing the outfield. He'll be here until after the 2021 season, as long as we can afford him.

Ichiro Suzuki - 44 years old, 30/30

-- The ageless wonder. In real life he has said he wants to play until he's 50. Will he last that long in this OOTP dynasty? We'll find out, but he'll be given the opportunity to retire here. He might not play much early on, but when and if we get rid of Nelson, that RF spot will be his. He may not be the player he used to be, but loyalty arises in this situation.

Kirk Neuwenhuis - 30 years old, 22/22

-- Not much to say here. We have 6 outfielders on the opening day roster, but only 3 of them are really worth a darn. Kirk can fit in as a pinch runner, or defensive replacement, but he's really not known for his bat. He'll work the counts and raise pitch counts, but his lifetime .221 average tells me all I need to know about his offensive production.. or lack thereof.

Taylor Motter - 28 years old, 21/27

-- The good news on Taylor is that he still has potential yet to develop. The bad news is, it's not gonna help him too much in the long run. He has decent speed and hits for power, but not much else. He's also versatile, as he can play anywhere on the field. His contract will auto renew after the season, and we'll find a spot for him, but we have to be careful because he only has 1 option year left.

Jayson Werth - 38 years old, 20/20

-- Jayson's best days are well behind him. He's not nearly the same player he was in Philadelphia or Los Angeles, or even in Washington. He's got 1 more year left on his contract, and no option years. I'd like to say he'll have a spot with the Mariners all season, but he most likely won't. Although, his leadership could keep him around.

Seattle Mariners Front Office

Finances: It's definitely not going to be an easy time here, as owner John Stanton is a demanding guy to work for, and he's tight with money. Right now we have a $168 million budget, but absolutely no room for free agents or contract negotiations. This essentially means if I want to make some moves, I'm going to have to get rid of some of those high salaries, which means getting rid of some of our better talent. Nelson and Marc will be the first to go, and hopefully I can get cash and/or prospects for them.

Scouting and Player Development: Our scout Scott Hunter is Fair, but not Great. He specializes in scouting minor league players and amateur players, so I'll look for his help when it comes to the draft, as well as finding minor league prospects. As far as major league and international players, that'll be hit and miss. Then again, with a scouting rating of Fair, and scouting accuracy on normal (I usually play with 100% accuracy, but decided to be different), everything is hit and miss. We only have $4 mil in the scouting budget, and I've left that in the hands of my assistant GM, Jerry Dipoto, on how to divide that up. As for player development, although we have no real prospects right now, I've also let Jerry handle that. I don't want to get too much into it, but if I don't like what happens with scouting, I'll make my own changes next season.

Personnel: We certainly don't have the best of the best on our major or minor league staff. Scott Servais is a very personable guy, but he just isn't the right fit for our team. He favors prospects, and well.. we have none. We do have a lot of veterans, so you can see why a guy like Nelson Cruz won't resign. I'll give Scott the year as I don't want to come in and clean house, but unless we really just tear it up, Scott will be gone after the season. Mel Stottelmyre Jr. and Edgar Martinez are the pitching and hitting coaches, respectively, and they are both fair. Our team trainer, Rob Nodine, is very, very good in preventing and treating injuries in the back, legs, and elsewhere. When it comes to the arms though, he isn't very good. That is a scary prospect for the pitching staff. We'll see how the season goes.

04-30-2018, 01:49 PM	#2
baseballfanmas All Star Reserve Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 661	Seattle Mariners Opening Day Roster Evaluation Wow, am I excited to be here in great Seattle. While the expectations aren't high (the goal for this season is just to finish .500) and we have absolutely no kind of minor league system to work with, I'm up for the challenge of finally leading Seattle to a world series championship. First though, a look at the opening day 25 man roster. Starting Pitchers James Paxton - 29 years old, 68 overall/68 potential -- James is actually the ace of our staff, as his ERA has decreased every year he's been in Seattle, dropping down under 3.00 in the 2017 season. We're going to need that this season. Felix Hernandez - 31 years old, 50/50 -- "King Felix" is already putting me in a tough situation. He has digressed in his last couple seasons in Seattle, and is no longer that feared starting pitcher he used to be. I'd like to unload him and his $26,000,000 contract for some prospects, but damn if the team owner hasn't given me a goal to resign him. What to do, what to do? Mike Leake - 30 years old, 50/50 -- Mike had a brilliant start to his Mariners career last season after being traded in late August. He made 5 starts for us and had a 2.53 ERA. The question is can he sustain that over a full season? The experts say no, but he had least should be a quality mid rotation guy. Casey Lawrence - 30 years old, 36/36 -- Now we come to the back end of the rotation, which quite frankly looks got awful. Casey is not the answer as our 4th starter, but unfortunately it's what we have to go with for right now. He's got 2 minor league option years left, and don't be surprised if before the end of the season, he is back down in AAA, especially if I can find a better guy. Marco Gonzalez - 26 years old, 35/35 -- Marco is in an even tougher position than Casey, as he has no option years left so if he doesn't perform at least decently this season, he may be looking for a new home. I'm a fair guy, I'll give everybody a chance, but he doesn't exactly wow me. Bullpen Edwin Diaz - 24 years old, 75 overall/80 potential -- If we can get to the 9th inning with a lead, this guy will shut it down more often than not. We're gonna have to spend some dough to keep him, as his contract expires after the 2018 season, but you can bet I want to keep him here as long as possible. James Pazos - 26 years old, 67/69 -- James had an ERA and a WHIP rating much higher than I'd like to see in the 2017 season, but he still has some slight improving to do. I'd like to think we can rely on him as a late inning guy, as he should collect some holds. For him, it's all about control. If he can get it across the plate, he'll get guys out. If he can't.. well... you know. Juan Nicasio - 31 years old, 61/61 -- Although we need quality arms in the bullpen, this guy might very well be trade bait with his $7.5 mil contract. He's locked into that for 2 more years, but if we can get rid of that and maybe get a prospect in return, we'll do it. If we're not in the wildcard hunt when the trade deadline expires, Juan might get shipped. It's up to him to perform well in the meantime. Nick Vincent - 31 years old, 57/57 -- Nick gives up a lot of fly ball outs, which I'm not overly happy about. His stuff is good, he just commands the top part of the zone much too frequently. Despite that, he's a solid bullpen option for us. He's up for arbitration after the season, so we'll see. Marc Rzepczynski - 32 years old, 45/45 -- I'm not sure I like the fact that we're spending $5.5 mil on a left handed specialist. I'm all about that, but typically, I like left handed specialists to actually get guys out, and Marc hasn't done that consistently for a while now. He will be trade bait as well, although if he comes in and goes lights out against the lefties, I'll consider keeping him around. Dan Altavilla - 25 years old, 43/53 -- This guy does bring some excitement. In 2016 as a rookie, he had a 0.75 ERA in 15 appearances for the Mariners. That went up greatly in the 2017 season, as his ERA was 4.24 in 41 appearances. He needs to find that consistency he had in 2016, and he still has room to improve. I'm optimistic about him. Wade LeBlanc - 33 years old, 38/38 -- Wade was a starting pitcher for many seasons, but has settled into a bullpen role now. He has great control, and was in Seattle briefly in 2016. He's back now, and he will see some action, but I wouldn't expect him to be back next season. Again, everybody gets a chance, but he's not the answer as a left handed specialist either. Catchers Mike Marjama - 28 years old, 32 overall/34 potential -- Simply put, Mike is only starting because our regular catcher is on the DL. As soon as Mike Zunino is healthy, this other Mike will be back on the bench. He is solid defensively though, which might be the only thing that keeps him around long term. Chris Herrmann -- 30 years old, 20/20 -- He's our back-up right now, but he also plays good defense, and he's good at fighting pitches off until he gets something to hit. The .284 average he had in Arizona in 2016 proves that he can hit, but he just doesn't do it consistently. I'll have a choice to make when Zunino gets back: which of these guys goes back down to AAA. Infielders Robinson Cano - 35 years old, 67 overall/67 potential -- Robby came over from the Yankees a few years ago, and we've got him locked up until 2023. His age hasn't started to show yet, as he's still an effective ball player. He's consistently around .300 as a hitter, and should give us close to 20 HR and 100 RBI. I don't like the fact that he has a $24 mil contract, but he's not going anywhere this season, we'll need him at 2B. Kyle Seager - 30 years old, 62/62 -- Kyle is another guy that we have locked up for several more seasons, and he also has a pretty high priced contract. It's going to make it tough to get any major free agents, but Kyle has a place here. He'll be our starting 3B for sure. Jean Segura - 28 years old, 53/53 -- Jean will be our starting SS this season, and probably for years to come as we also have him locked up until 2023. I just don't know about all these long term contracts, but unfortunately getting any of these guys to renegotiate, well it's not gonna happen. 2016 and 2017 have been really good for Jean, with .300+ averages both season. We need that production to continue this season. Ryon Healy - 26 years old, 22/24 -- Ryon will lock down the 1B spot, but we'd like to have a better option there. His first 2 seasons offensively in the majors were fine, but defensively he lacks something.. mainly the ability to stop a wild throw. Kind of an important thing for a First Baseman to have. Unfortunately, we're stuck with him, so hopefully his bat makes up for his not so great glove. Andrew Romine - 32 years old, 20/20 -- To start the season at least, Andrew is our only main back-up in the infield. The good thing about him is that he can play pretty much any position except catcher or pitcher. It's going to be nice to have that versatility. He won't wow anybody with his bat, but he has a nice glove. The idea of putting him in as a late inning defensive replacement at 1B probably won't work though, as go figure, 1B is his weakest defensive spot. Ah well. Outfielders Nelson Cruz - 37 years old, 56 overall/56 potential -- Nelson is a heck of a hitter, and will probably fill a DH role for us, while he's here. He has already said he has no plans to resign with Seattle after this season, so we will look to unload him as early as possible. If we're gonna lose him anyways, might as well get something for him. Only problem is, how many teams will take a chance on a 37 year old that is currently making $14 mil and is wanting double that wherever he goes next season? We may get stuck with him all season. Dee Gordon - 29 years old, 44/44 -- I like Dee, always have. Even when he was with the Dodgers. His speed makes him a prototypical leadoff hitter, even if he isn't great with the bat. A lot of people don't remember he came up as a second baseman, but is now playing the outfield. He'll be here until after the 2021 season, as long as we can afford him. Ichiro Suzuki - 44 years old, 30/30 -- The ageless wonder. In real life he has said he wants to play until he's 50. Will he last that long in this OOTP dynasty? We'll find out, but he'll be given the opportunity to retire here. He might not play much early on, but when and if we get rid of Nelson, that RF spot will be his. He may not be the player he used to be, but loyalty arises in this situation. Kirk Neuwenhuis - 30 years old, 22/22 -- Not much to say here. We have 6 outfielders on the opening day roster, but only 3 of them are really worth a darn. Kirk can fit in as a pinch runner, or defensive replacement, but he's really not known for his bat. He'll work the counts and raise pitch counts, but his lifetime .221 average tells me all I need to know about his offensive production.. or lack thereof. Taylor Motter - 28 years old, 21/27 -- The good news on Taylor is that he still has potential yet to develop. The bad news is, it's not gonna help him too much in the long run. He has decent speed and hits for power, but not much else. He's also versatile, as he can play anywhere on the field. His contract will auto renew after the season, and we'll find a spot for him, but we have to be careful because he only has 1 option year left. Jayson Werth - 38 years old, 20/20 -- Jayson's best days are well behind him. He's not nearly the same player he was in Philadelphia or Los Angeles, or even in Washington. He's got 1 more year left on his contract, and no option years. I'd like to say he'll have a spot with the Mariners all season, but he most likely won't. Although, his leadership could keep him around. Seattle Mariners Front Office Finances: It's definitely not going to be an easy time here, as owner John Stanton is a demanding guy to work for, and he's tight with money. Right now we have a $168 million budget, but absolutely no room for free agents or contract negotiations. This essentially means if I want to make some moves, I'm going to have to get rid of some of those high salaries, which means getting rid of some of our better talent. Nelson and Marc will be the first to go, and hopefully I can get cash and/or prospects for them. Scouting and Player Development: Our scout Scott Hunter is Fair, but not Great. He specializes in scouting minor league players and amateur players, so I'll look for his help when it comes to the draft, as well as finding minor league prospects. As far as major league and international players, that'll be hit and miss. Then again, with a scouting rating of Fair, and scouting accuracy on normal (I usually play with 100% accuracy, but decided to be different), everything is hit and miss. We only have $4 mil in the scouting budget, and I've left that in the hands of my assistant GM, Jerry Dipoto, on how to divide that up. As for player development, although we have no real prospects right now, I've also let Jerry handle that. I don't want to get too much into it, but if I don't like what happens with scouting, I'll make my own changes next season. Personnel: We certainly don't have the best of the best on our major or minor league staff. Scott Servais is a very personable guy, but he just isn't the right fit for our team. He favors prospects, and well.. we have none. We do have a lot of veterans, so you can see why a guy like Nelson Cruz won't resign. I'll give Scott the year as I don't want to come in and clean house, but unless we really just tear it up, Scott will be gone after the season. Mel Stottelmyre Jr. and Edgar Martinez are the pitching and hitting coaches, respectively, and they are both fair. Our team trainer, Rob Nodine, is very, very good in preventing and treating injuries in the back, legs, and elsewhere. When it comes to the arms though, he isn't very good. That is a scary prospect for the pitching staff. We'll see how the season goes.