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Last week, as you may recall, the Lookout Landing staff had a bit of a chuckle at the earnest reader's expense. Having promised an Offseason Plan, teeming with Bold Action and Clear Vision and Marketable Expertise, we delivered an ironic meta-commentary on the insatiable need for content. But now, with the World Series complete and the frozen tundra of autumn yawning before us, we return, contrite if amused, ready to provide the reading material you so clearly deserve.
But first, we need your help.
Look, creating an Offseason Plan is hard. There are trillions of possibilities, endless iterations, so much that it's difficult to know where to start. There are also like twenty staff members. Last year we spent hours talking over each other on Skype, interrupting each other and knocking out the audio, only to give up and cancel the whole project, so that no one would ever know that I totally called the Seth Smith trade. That's why we're asking you to give us some ideas. Or, specifically, one single idea. Just a move that you think the Mariners should make. It doesn't have to be the biggest move, or the smartest move. You could sign a free agent, compose a hypothetical trade, release someone for no reason - it's up to you. That's what makes these plans so great and terrible: the limitlessness.
But only make one move. If you make more than one, we'll end up swimming in moves and it'll be no better than starting from scratch. We'll take your answers, compile them, compare them, use them as a starting-off point for our own discussion, perhaps ridicule them privately. It'll be great. Thanks in advance, and look forward to our full-fledged Offseason Plan coming to your internet soon.
ADDENDUM: Please be as specific as possible. When making a trade, talk about who's getting traded to both teams. When signing contracts, give us dollars and years. Thanks.
For reference, here's the current Mariners 40-man roster with contract information (players with less than a year of service time left blank):
Starters | B/T | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
Felix Hernandez | R-R | 25.9 | 26.9 | 28.9 | 27.9 | FA | |
Hisashi Iwakuma | R-R | FA | |||||
Taijuan Walker | R-R | A1 | A2 | A3 | A4 | FA | |
James Paxton | L-L | A1 | A2 | A3 | FA | ||
Roenis Elias | L-L | A1 | A2 | A3 | FA | ||
Danny Hultzen | L-L | ||||||
Vidal Nuno | L-L | A1 | A2 | A3 | FA | ||
Mike Montgomery | L-L | ||||||
Starters | B/T | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
Tom Wilhelmsen | R-R | A2 | A3 | FA | |||
Carson Smith | R-R | A1 | A2 | A3 | FA | ||
Danny Farquhar | R-R | A1 | A2 | A3 | FA | ||
Charlie Furbush | L-L | A2 | A3 | FA | |||
Mayckol Guaipe | R-R | ||||||
Joe Beimel | L-L | FA | |||||
David Rollins | L-L | ||||||
Edgar Olmos | L-L | ||||||
Tyler Olson | R-L | ||||||
JC Ramirez | R-R | ||||||
Jose Ramirez | R-R | ||||||
Rob Rasmussen | R-L | ||||||
Cody Martin | R-R | ||||||
Tony Zych | R-R | ||||||
Catchers | B/T | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
Steve Baron | R-R | ||||||
John Hicks | R-R | ||||||
Jesus Sucre | R-R | A1 | A2 | A3 | A4 | FA | |
Mike Zunino | R-R | A1 | A2 | A3 | FA | ||
Infielders | B/T | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
Robinson Cano | L-R | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 |
Ketel Marte | S-R | ||||||
Brad Miller | L-R | A1 | A2 | A3 | FA | ||
Jesus Montero | R-R | A1 | A2 | A3 | A4 | FA | |
Logan Morrison | L-L | A3 | FA | ||||
Kyle Seager | L-R | 8 | 11 | 19 | 19.5 | 19.5 | 18.5 |
Chris Taylor | R-R | ||||||
Outfielders | B/T | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
Nelson Cruz | R-R | 14.3 | 14.3 | 14.3 | FA | ||
Ramon Flores | L-L | ||||||
Franklin Gutierrez | R-R | FA | |||||
James Jones | L-L | ||||||
Shawn O'Malley | S-R | ||||||
Stefen Romero | R-R | ||||||
Seth Smith | L-L | 6.8 | |||||
Mark Trumbo | R-R | A3 | FA |
Additionally, here's a current list of free agents for you to peruse.