Perhaps the largest information this week following the tip of the Mariners’ first postseason look in 21 years has to do with a participant who used to be absent for it.
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Outfielder Jesse Winker, who used to be an All-Star for the Cincinnati Reds in 2021, overlooked the playoffs with a neck damage, and he noticeably used to be now not provide for participant introductions remaining Saturday earlier than the Mariners’ lone house sport of the postseason (the Mariners stated all the way through an end-of-season press convention Wednesday that Winker has gone through knee surgical procedure and may also have neck surgical procedure this offseason).
Winker struggled in his first season with Seattle, and Ryan Divish, who covers the Mariners for The Seattle Times, stated Tuesday on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk that the connection between Winker and his teammates perceived to have soured, partly as a result of his preparation stage wasn’t as top as nearly all of the workforce.
For complete main points on what Divish stated, learn this tale right here.
On Wednesday, Seattle Sports dug into what the results of Winker’s scenario with the M’s might be in conversations with a couple of nationwide MLB newshounds. Here’s what they needed to say.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan, who frequently joins Brock and Salk, used to be requested about identical instances of gamers who struggled of their first 12 months with a brand new workforce however bounced again of their 2nd. He had an enchanting solution for that.
“This player doesn’t check off all of those boxes because I think he did post and I think he was a good teammate, but sounds like you’re talking about Francisco Lindor,” stated Passan, referencing the famous person shortstop who signed a large extension in a while after a business from Cleveland to the Mets between the 2020 and 2021 seasons. “He’s given a $341 million contract over 10 years, he is the franchise shortstop, and he goes out and puts up league-average offensive numbers (in 2021). His wins above replacement (WAR) was really good because he was still excellent defensively, but he certainly was not the type of player who the Mets thought that they were trading for, who they gave up Andrés Giménez and Amed Rosario (for) who now comprise the entire middle infield of the Cleveland Guardians’ playoff team.”
How Lindor performed in 2022, despite the fact that, may give Mariners enthusiasts some hope about Winker’s chancing of rebounding with Seattle.
“Lindor turned around this year, offensive numbers stepped up big time, and he was a seven-win player and should get MVP votes. Now, Jesse Winker has never been the player that Francisco Lindor is, but the notion that everything is broken just because of a bad first season I don’t think is necessarily true,” Passan stated. “… Ultimately, this is Jesse Winker, this is his career, this is his livelihood, and whether it’s going to be in a Mariners uniform or another uniform, I don’t know, but the idea that he is lost and cannot be repaired, no. … He wasn’t effective this year and that is something that absolutely needs to change.”
Listen to the overall dialog with Passan at this hyperlink or within the participant beneath.
Tuesday afternoon on Wyman and Bob, Jon Morosi of the MLB Network weighed in on Divish’s record and agreed with host Bob Stelton that it might be tough for Winker to proceed with the workforce if he had misplaced different gamers with a “tired act,” as Divish termed it.
Even despite the fact that the Mariners signed Winker to an extension via 2023 to circumvent arbitration this offseason, Morosi wonders if Seattle will glance to discover a business spouse to take him.
“It was very interesting to me that he gets the contract extension for next season, so now what do you do? You’ve already kind of pledged that money, (but) it’s not huge money – it’s money you should be able to move,” Morosi stated. “He’s still a major league player, there are plenty of teams that don’t have a lefty bat who’s at least league average to be a corner outfielder… I think that they’re gonna have to find a way here to very quickly ascertain what happened, and if they don’t feel like this can be repaired, they better trade him.”
Morosi added that with Winker owed a $8.275 million wage in 2023, it’s now not out of the query that it might get in the way in which of re-signing Mitch Haniger, who Divish pointed to as somebody who shows the other stage of preparation from Winker.
“Where it would really sting (is) if you say, ‘Wow, we’re short on the money to pay Mitch Haniger, we have to let him go in free agency, and meanwhile we’ve got to turn around and pay Jesse Winker $8 million bucks.’ That’s a tough look because Mitch Haniger I think in a lot of ways embodied what made this team special. His focus level, his preparation is top in the industry… and if you lose your one of your best examples, maybe your best example (for working hard), and now the team turns over to somebody who – let’s be fair, (Winker) made the All-Star team last year, this is a good player at his best, but maybe he just didn’t buy in the way that he was supposed to. He’s going to have to find a way to either address that directly now with with the team’s leadership, or it may be best for him to move on and (the Mariners) trade him.”
The Mariners will want to determine that out temporarily, despite the fact that, in step with Morosi.
“I think (Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto) could probably find someone to take him, but I think that they’ll have to ascertain that pretty quickly if the relationship is fixable or not,” he stated.
Listen to the overall dialogue with Morosi within the podcast at this hyperlink or within the participant beneath.
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