The Mariners have acquired Danny Valencia from the Athletics according to reports. In exchange, Oakland will receive righty Paul Blackburn.
This trade comes only a few short days after the Mariners also made a move to acquire Carlos Ruiz from the Dodgers. So far during the beginning of this offseason, the Mariners have been one of the leading teams in acquisitions. Adding veteran presence with Carlos Ruiz and a utility man in Valencia, who is coming off a breakout 2016 campaign, could definitely help boost their lineup. It makes you wonder if the Seatte Mariners are not done just yet.
The Mariners have improved over the past several seasons, but have fallen short of making the playoffs on all occasions. With the Mariners making moves to boost their lineup, it makes sense that they could also try and make moves to fix their weaknesses in their rotation and bullpen. Felix Hernandez is coming off of an injury-plagued down year, leaving only Hisashi Iwakuma to carry the load. The Hernandez-Iwakuma duo has not been enough for the Mariners, and a move to go after a starter to help not only them, but Nate Karns and Taijuan Walker as well may be necessary. In the bullpen, Steve Cishek and Edwin Diaz were the only two consistent bullpen pieces, which definitely leads to believe the Mariners may go after better options.
The last time the Seattle Mariners clinched a playoff berth was 2001, where the team completely dominated the American League. Seattle finished the season tied with the 1906 Chicago Cubs for the best record in MLB history, which broke the American League record of 114 wins. Despite having many notable players on their team, including Edgar Martinez, Ichiro Suzuki, Jamie Moyer, and Felix Hernandez, the Mariners only reached as far as the 2001 ALDS. The Mariners had winning seasons in 2002 and 2003 before going 10-straight seasons without a winning record. The Mariners showed glimpses of greatness in 2014, missing the playoffs by one game, before faltering in 2015. During the 2016 season, Seattle again found themselves in a playoff race, but fell just short again.
The time is waiting is over, and the Seattle Mariners need to go all-out this offseason. At this point, it is all-or-nothing, and the Mariners know this. If Seattle can make a big splash this offseason, the 2017 season may be theirs. We now wait and see
