SEATTLE — Say this for new Seattle Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto: He promised a busy off-season, and he wasn’t kidding.
The calendar hasn’t yet hit Thanksgiving and, already, the Mariners have added 11 players to their 40-man roster through trades, signings and waiver claims.
And they’re not done.
“We’d like to get deeper in terms of our pitching,” Dipoto said. “That is likely to happen at this point in addressing bullpen needs. As we get into the month of December, we’ll determine whether that’s going to be via trade or free agency.”
On Monday, in discussing the signing of free-agent catcher Chris Iannetta, Dipoto cited the ongoing efforts to retain free-agent pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma as the “obvious” focus.
But Dipoto said the Nov. 5 trade that netted right-hander Nathan Karns from Tampa Bay eased the urgency in addressing the rotation and seemed to suggest the bullpen as a rising priority.
That unit will already have a new look.
The Mariners acquired veteran Joaquin Benoit, lefty C.J. Riefenhauser and righty Anthony Bass in various trades while dispatching Tom Wilhelmsen and Danny Farquhar.
Further, the club jettisoned Logan Kensing and JC Ramirez off their 40-man roster.
Since Wilhelmsen ended the season as the Mariners’ closer, the question arises: Does Dipoto believe he has a replacement on the current roster? He hedged in responding.
“Those are confidence roles,” he said, “and we’ll see where that goes. Carson Smith is on our roster and had some small level of experience in pitching the ninth inning. He had an outstanding year as a set-up man.
“Joaquin Benoit has had closing experience in the past on two different occasions and has done an excellent job when been asked to do that. He’s also been an excellent set-up man.
“Between the two, I feel like we do have options in-house and there is a lot of off-season yet to go. So it’s TBD on who will pitch the ninth inning on opening day.”
Regarding Iwakuma, the general view within the industry remains unchanged: the Mariners will eventually reach a deal because competitors will shy away from topping their bid and surrendering a high draft pick.
Even so, several clubs have been linked in possible interest, including the Tigers, Yankees, Dodgers and Giants.
One top official from a rival club said: “Iwakuma could probably get three years on the open market at $40-45 million. I hear the Mariners only want to go two years.
“If they stick to two years, another team might top a two-year offer and give up the draft pick. Maybe. Maybe not. But I think that’s the only way they lose him.”
Dipoto appears willing to let the situation play out a while longer.
“Part of the appeal of acquiring Nate Karns so early in the offseason,” he said, “is that among Taijuan Walker and James Paxton and Nate Karns and (Roenis) Elias and (Vidal) Nuno, it gave us a modicum of depth behind Felix (Hernandez) that we didn’t have to panic.
“We knew we could go out there and throw innings. Now all we need to do is focus on guys who get a little bit closer to the top of the rotation. Obviously, (with) Kuma, we’d love to have him back.
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