Morosi: Potential Mariners trade targets, rumors from GM meetings
The MLB offseason officially started this week, and we’re all waiting to see what the Seattle Mariners will do this winter after missing the playoffs in 2023.
Drayer: Seattle Mariners’ path to offseason success? It’s more pitching
Top MLB brass got together this week in Arizona for the annual GM meetings, and we’re starting to hear the initial rumors and buzz from across the league.
Someone who is locked in to all things MLB and even got some one-on-one time this week with Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto is MLB Network insider Jon Morosi, who joined Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob on Wednesday to discuss what he’s hearing and thinking about the M’s this offseason.
Yandy Díaz ‘precisely’ what Seattle Mariners need
Morosi said that Dipoto told him the Mariners are looking to get more contact-oriented bats in the lineup in order to cut down on strikeouts, which was a big problem for Seattle in 2023.
During one of his on-air hits this week for MLB Network, Morosi mentioned an intriguing trade candidate for the Mariners: Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Yandy Díaz, who led the American League in batting average and hit a home run in the All-Star Game at T-Mobile Park.
“I do think that the Rays in general are open for business. And whether it’s Yandy Díaz, whether it’s (outfielder) Manuel Margot … I believe that the Rays will be in the market to move some position players in an effort to get less expensive pitching in,” Morosi said. ” … Yandy Díaz, you saw him out there in Seattle during the All-Star Game – really valuable player. And Jerry Dipoto was very candid yesterday. I was speaking with him and he said, ‘We need to get better contact hitting, we need to be in the zone more often.’
“While he’s not going to tell you exactly chapter and verse of who he’s looking at, Yandy Díaz is precisely the kind of guy the Mariners need.”
