Its been an active two weeks for the Mariners, whove recently signed to a two-year deal and shipped out and in trades that brought , and back to Seattle. President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said this weekend that while his team feels more complete now than at any point this offseason, hes still open to subsequent additions ( ). More specifically, that the Mariners are still hoping to acquire an infielder to make the club le s reliant on the uncertain tandem of and , who are currently projected to start at third base and second base, respectively. Seattle would also like to add a reliever, per Rosenthal, which Dipoto alluded to in his comments to Divish and others. An infield upgrade is a sensible target for the Ms, given the volatility presented by both Urias and Rojas (and to a le ser extent, first baseman , whos coming off a down season). From 2021-22, both Urias (.244/.340/.426, 111 wRC+) and Rojas (.266/.345/.401, 106 wRC+) were above-average performers at the plate, due in no small part to walk rates approaching 11%. Rojas saw his walk rate drop to 7.7% in 2023, however, as he batted just .240/.303/.338 in 350 plate appearances. Urias maintained his walk rate but watched his hard-hit Matthew Dellavedova Jersey rate and exit velocity plummet en route to a middling .194/.337/.299 slash in 155 trips to the plate. Both players saw their strikeout rates tick up to near identical marks of 23.2% and 23.1% slightly higher than league average but also well south of the 30%-plus rates of some names they shipped out in trades. Both Rojas and Urias come with platoon i sues of note, as well. The lefty-swinging Rojas has extremely similar rate stats against lefties and righties, with identical 93 wRC+ marks against each, but his production against lefties is contingent on a .361 average on balls in play thats not likely to hold up. Rojas has punched out at an ugly 28.3% clip against southpaws compared to a 21% mark against righties and hit for more power when holding the platoon advantage as well (.098 ISO versus lefties, .122 versus righties). Its the opposite for the right-handed Urias, whos smacked southpaws at a .276/.353/.442 pace in his career but carries a .219/.326/.365 slash against right-handers. Rojas and Urias are both capable of playing either second or third base, so theres a potential platoon setup between the two. Alternatively, if the Ms succeed in adding a second or third baseman and prefer to go with one true starter at the other slot, both Rojas and Urias could profile as a potential utility option off the bench. Because of the defensive flexibility the current group po se ses, the Mariners could look for options at either second base or third base. Dipoto typically operates more on the trade market than on the free-agent market, though both provide myriad avenues to fill the teams needs. stands as the top free agent at second base. The Mariners arent going to meet s asking price at third base, but and would represent much more affordable alternatives. Any of that trio would meet the Mariners previously stated goal of improving the clubs contact rate (which hasnt exactly been strictly adhered to, when looking at the acquisition of Raley in particular). On the trade market, Minnesotas is a natural target who could step in at second base (speculatively speaking, to be clear). The Twins are deep in controllable young infielders and looking to slightly scale back payroll due to the RSN collapse thats impacting budgets around the league (including the Mariners). The switch-hitting Polanco is earning $10.5MM this season and has a $12MM option for the 25 campaign. The Reds, Orioles, Cardinals and Guardians are also deep in infield talent and could be intrigued by Seattles stock of young arms. That said, Dipoto cast significant doubt on his willingne s to move a controllable starting pitcher with his weekend comments. We did a lot of groundwork on what it might look like if we did trade one of those young starters, and we never liked the way it looked, Dipoto said (via Divish). He called retaining his stock of young arms (e.g. , , , , ) Plan A this offseason. Within that same media se sion, Dipoto maintained an openne s to further additions to the roster, speculatively rattling off the po sibility of making a fun addition in the bullpen or more generally an upgrade somewhere on the field that we dont really have. The Mariners have an imposing late-inning trio of , and , but theyre relatively light on lefty options with 28-year-old and 30-year-old as the only options on the 40-man roster. Both were solid in 2023, but neither had found any real MLB succe s prior to last season. Dipoto has said previously that the Mariners 2024 payroll could increase over its 2023 levels, although a substantial increase hasnt looked likely all winter. Ownership has rather clearly placed some fiscal constraints on Dipoto, GM Justin Hollander and the rest of the front office, as theyre among the many teams in the game facing financial uncertainty due to their own RSN situation. a payroll of around $132MM for the Mariners, which sits about $8MM shy of last years end-of-season mark. Divish writes within his column that the Mariners want to leave some wiggle room for in-season additions, but theres of course still some room beneath last years budget and the po sibility that additional trades could further alter the current payroll outlook. Shawn Kemp Jersey