The Mariners (and Jerry Dipoto) must be cautious, mostly with regards to Soto

 The trade deadline rapidly approaches for the 2022 MLB season, and as always happens, players' names circulate among the rumor mill.  The Seattle Mariners, in contention after their 14-game winning streak, will likely be looking to add a piece or two.  The biggest name on the market is one Juan Soto, an outfielder for the Washington Nationals.  He's still only 23 and rejected a gigantic contract extension, meaning he wants out of Washington (D.C.).  He's arguably one of the most valuable trade pieces ever on the market.  And the Mariners are rumored to be one of 4 teams strongly interested in him.  I say this to Mariners Team President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto and the rest of the Mariners front office: Do not sell the farm for Soto.  He is one player.  What if something happens to him?  

The Mariners must be cautious.  We have built a strong core, one that is as strong as we have seen in the past twenty years.  To sell a huge chunk of it for one player is risky at best and foolish at worst.  What if a health condition is discovered in Juan Soto a year or two from now?  With the news of Mike Trout, it makes you want to be cautious about what you give up for certain stars.  Or what if he decides he doesn't like Seattle?  That would completely derail this rebuild, one that has taken eight years so far.  

Not to mention, the Mariners already have a Dominican young star in Julio Rodriguez.  They also have a plethora of other outfielders, just waiting for a pair to be healthy and playing well simultaneously.  Those outfielders include Jesse Winker, Kyle Lewis, Jarred Kelenic, and Mitch Haniger.  Surely 2 of those could pan out and be very capable players.  Yes, trading for Soto would acquire someone we wouldn't even have to worry about.  But is ownership really willing to pay both Julio and Soto contracts that would total close to a billion dollars?  

The best players in Mariners history almost all come from the draft or they were signed as amateur free agents.  Griffey, A-Rod, and Seager were all drafted.  Felix and Julio were signed as amateur free agents.  Ichiro was brought from Japan.  The one exception being Randy Johnson, but he was not highly touted when the Mariners acquired him from Montreal.  My point is, trades or even free-agent acquisitions hardly have been huge successes in this team's history, especially when acquiring big name stars.  

If the Mariners could somehow get Soto for a handful of mid-range prospects, and maybe Kelenic or Lewis, I'd say go for it. But the Nationals apparently want a team's top 3 or 4 prospects.  Jerry Dipoto and the M's simply cannot afford to blow this up for one player.  Are all the top prospects the Mariners would trade for Soto going to live up to their billing?  Maybe not.  But it's an almost certainty that most of them will be big contributors in a few years.  

I just hope Dipoto is cautious.  I'd rather miss the playoffs barely again this year and go into next year stronger and hungrier than trade for Soto and have a quick playoff exit.  I want to end the playoff drought just as much as any Mariners fan, but not at the cost of our future.  

I Believe the Mariners are Doing the Right Thing (Plus a Condensed Version of my 2019 MLB Predictions)

The Mariners head into the 2019 MLB season having gone through a lot of changes.  Significant players gone are James Paxton, Mike Zunino, Jean Segura, Robinson Cano, Edwin Diaz, and Ben Gamel.  And those are just the players who were traded.  In exchange the Mariners received a mix of prospects and a couple veterans.  And to be totally and completely honest, I think general manager Jerry Dipoto and the Mariners organization as a whole are doing the right thing.  Even if the Mariners were going to win with the core of players above, they weren't going to go very far.  They were decent, but not great.  We need to strive for great to finally break this long playoff drought.

As Mariners fans, we've almost become numb to losing and disappointment.  It's not expected, but it's never a surprise, either.  Just like the rain we so often get in the Puget Sound area, it's never welcomed but always a reason for gloominess.  So this 2019 season, the Mariners are not expected to do a ton of winning.  And I am content with that.  This is a transition year.  Mostly, I'm excited to see how new faces do, and see how the youngsters do if and when they're called up from the minors. 

So I thought it would be fun to make a team that may be the core of this roster some day.  It might not look exactly like this, but it will be fun to see how close I come to getting it right. 

C: Nazvaez/Trade Acquisition/Raleigh
1B: White/Healy
2B: Shed Long
SS: JP Crawford
3B: Seager/Trade Acquisition
OF: Some combination of Haniger, Smith, Kelenic, Rodriguez, Bishop, and Lewis.

SP: Sheffield, Kikuchi, Gonzalez, Carlson, Gilbert, FA/Trade
RP: Dunn, Festa, Mills, Rumbelow, Tuivailala, FA/Trade

The could be the roster come 2021 or so.  We'll see.  But having acquired a group of talented youngsters, I'm finally excited for the future of the Seattle Mariners. 

So onto my predictions for 2019.  As I'm not too excited for this baseball season as a whole, I'm just predicting the playoff teams and division winners.  As for the Mariners, I'll predict their record to be 73-89.  Just barely missing 90 losses. 

AL Division Winners: Astros, Twins (you heard it here first), Yankees
Wild Cards: Red Sox and Indians

NL Division Winners: Dodgers, Cardinals, and Phillies
Wild Cards: Cubs and Nationals

Wild Card Winners: Red Sox and Cubs

AL Divisional Matchups:
Yankees vs. Red Sox (What a matchup!): Yankees win... The-e-e-e-e Yankees win!
Twins vs. Astros: Astros win

NL Divisional Matchups:
Dodgers vs. Cubs: Dodgers win
Phillies vs. Cardinals: Cardinals win

ALCS: Yankees beat Astros
NLCS: Dodgers beat Cardinals

World Series: Yankees in six games

So, there you have it, the Yankees winning the World Series.  Just like old times.  Good for James Paxton if that does indeed happen.  As for the Mariners, they will play spoiler and knock the Athletics out of the Wild Card race in the final series of the season.  :)