Mariners need to keep tinkering following roster moves

A week ago, I urged the Mariners to make the tough call and trade RHP Luis Castillo in the hopes of adding a reliever and a right-handed bat. They did so. On Tuesday, a day after the trade deadline, they emphasized their belief in their deadline trades by further tweaking their roster.

Here’s my take (that I think others might be uncomfortable with): if the Mariners want to accomplish anything this MLB postseason, they will need to keep tinkering.

Seattle needs to grasp the principle that ‘good’ won’t be enough. It hasn’t been enough, and it won’t be enough for this cursed, underperforming, god-I-hate-that-I-love-them franchise. It especially won’t be enough in a league with the 2026 Death Star Dodgers in the wings. Aaanyways, here are the roster moves in question:

Seattle Mariners post-deadline roster moves

DH/OF Rob Refsnyder, released
C Mitch Garver, released
OF Stuart Fairchild, designated for assignment

OF/DH Taylor Ward, reported to club
RHP Seranthony Domínguez, reported to club
C Jhonny Pereda, recalled from Triple-A Tacoma
UTIL Brendan Donovan, activated from IL (left groin strain)
Source: MLB.com

What’s all this then, love?

Well, it’s the Mariners trimming the fat (Refsnyder, Garver, Fairchild) to make room for the new guys (Ward, Dominguez), a replacement backup catcher from our farm system (Pereda), and Brendan Donovan’s long-awaited return from rehab assignment.

These moves were a long time coming, with Refsnyder and Garver both underperforming.

Refsnyder batted so poorly that any successful hit by him would summon a popular Mariners-doomer meme ‘You Just Got Refsnyder’d’ (although he once challenged a third strike call, won the challenge, and then hit a homer, so we’ll always have that).

Garver was just an older player and not hitting well, so giving a younger backup catcher a chance just makes sense. Both good men, people, and Mariners, but it was for this year’s team to get serious and start min/maxing (ruthlessly optimizing) their roster.

Speaking of…

Colt Emerson on the hot seat

There are only 9 spots in an MLB lineup. This requires a cutthroat approach for any team hoping to tough its way through the gauntlet of an MLB postseason. That is, if they even make the postseason *gulp*.

If this Mariners team wants to do both, they need to be extra ruthless, especially considering our offense is often so cold – despite its talent – that it boggles the mind.

Yes, young, recently promoted prospect Colt Emerson is a fan favorite. Yes, he just hit a walk-off single to possibly save our season pre-deadline.

Unfortunately, baseball sucks, is a large sample size sport, and as I’ve already harped on in this post, the Mariners are desperate and need to emphasize winning over development down the stretch here.

So, we weigh Emerson’s popularity against the fact that he is a sub .200 bat occupying an in-demand infield position that the Mariners will need to accommodate the return of two veterans, Brendan Donovan and (soon) J.P. Crawford.

“It might be time to have a difficult conversation about Colt Emerson,”as Mariners Insider Andersen Hirst so eloquently puts it. Translation: We need to send Emerson back down to make room for our veterans to return to regular action in the infield.

Rabid Colt Emerson defenders are already after him in the comments, crying ‘the season is already over, why not let him play’, but that’s just not true. The Mariners are still in the three-horse race for a winnable AL West.

(Yes, I am aware the Mariners were smoked 8-0 last night with poor performances from new assets. Again, sample size.) If the Mariners stick to their new ruthless principles, keep optimizing, and just hit the dang baseball, they have the materials to start winning.

Anything can happen in August and September, and then truly anything if you survive beyond that.