This story was excerpted from Daniel Kramer's Mariners Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
SEATTLE -- The equipment trucks left T-Mobile Park last week, players have already begun descending upon the Peoria Sports Complex and those who haven’t will be in transit as soon as this week.
Spring Training, at long last, is practically here.
Here are three storylines surrounding the Mariners entering camp:
1. First chance to see the new-look lineup
This could be a storyline that defines Seattle’s season -- either as a fulfillment of adding the proper pieces to find more consistency at the plate or as another shortcoming that holds the club back.
The everyday starting nine will feature a whopping five new faces, and with platoon alignments expected to be heavily in play early in the regular season, there will be many new names to follow throughout the lineup and in the field.
Out are well-known players Jarred Kelenic, Eugenio Suárez, Teoscar Hernández and Tom Murphy; in are Mitch Garver, Mitch Haniger, Jorge Polanco, Luke Raley and Luis Urías -- and that’s not counting Dominic Canzone and Josh Rojas, who’ve only been here since last summer’s Trade Deadline.
Of note, each of the offseason’s additions carries some notable injury history, which represents risk, but Seattle’s front office has built in more position-player depth to account for potential attrition. There’s also the realistic possibility that one or more of the new additions could struggle to transition to a very pitcher-friendly environment in the cooler months, like Jesse Winker, Kolten Wong and Adam Frazier in recent years.
But for a front office that’s weathered unexpected financial constraints this offseason, with things looking bleak as recently as the Winter Meetings, there’s promise in the group they’ve assembled.
2. Julio’s next act
Anchoring this new-look group will be the franchise’s most familiar face, one that’s rapidly becoming one of the most prominent in the entire sport. On the heels of winning the AL Rookie of the Year Award in 2022 and finishing fourth in the AL MVP Award voting in 2023 -- and as he enters just his age-23 season -- the trajectory for Julio Rodríguez appears sky high.
Moreover, word behind the scenes is that Rodríguez felt he “had a bad year” last season, according to multiple people who spent time with him this winter. And despite putting up a 30-30 season, there are clear reasons why he might feel that way.
Rodríguez was the best player in the game in August, when the Mariners -- not coincidentally -- set a franchise record for wins in a single month, during which he hit .429/.474/.724 (1.198 OPS) with seven homers and 30 RBIs. But he also carried a .646 OPS from Opening Day into late May and made too many poor swing decisions, which often made him a liability in leverage moments.
The good news is that Rodríguez appears to recognize that this was an issue. And while being committed to a more disciplined approach is just as much about execution, he has the talent to sustain it for the season.
3. New coaching staff
Speaking of a better offensive approach, it’s been at the forefront of a self-aware organizational shift this winter, most notably in the form of its external coaching hires. Throughout the tenures of president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto, general manager Justin Hollander and manager Scott Servais, the Mariners have mostly made coaching promotions from within -- and typically with success, headlined by pitching coach Pete Woodworth and director of hitting strategy Jarret DeHart.
But the Mariners saw a need for new voices, specifically those who could blend DeHart’s mechanical hitting acumen with insights on the mental component. That’s where Brant Brown comes in, with a newly established title of offensive coordinator. Brown will join Servais in the dugout to supplement game strategy and help players make in-game adjustments.
The Mariners also brought in Tommy Joseph as an assistant hitting coach and Danny Farquhar as an assistant pitching coach.
It’ll be hard to gauge immediate production results from the new group in Spring Training, but watching the new braintrust in play will be of great intrigue.