Mariners New Brass Who Will Be On First Base

Coming up during this off-season one of many questions will be who is playing first base. Just like the well-known comic act “Who is on First”.

The Mariners have three candidates or maybe more that we can see right now to play first base. There is a possibility that at least two of them maybe traded if not three. Two of the candidates are Mark Trumbo who may be the favorite and Logan Morrison; however, there is a strong possibility that one if not both of them will be traded during the off-season. The main reason is that both of them have salaries of over $7 million each, and the Mariners will not share the position. GM Dipoto traded Trumbo while with the Angels so there may be a good chance trading him again. Logan Morrison has put up Smoak like numbers in the two seasons he has been in a Mariner uniform. Just like Smoak he fields the position pretty good but the Mariners need a higher batting average at first.

The third choice is Jesus Montero who played a lot at first base in September. He shows that he can play the position good though his batting average was low. He is out of options so the Mariners need to keep him on the roster or trade him. He may be the only one of the three to stay on the team. The one thing Montero needs to do during the off-season is working on hitting the breaking ball or at the least stay away from swinging  at the low pitch. Other words, he needs to be more selective at the plate.

It will be interesting to see if the Mariners will go out and acquire another first basemen; however, we again know those three will not be on the team together. New manager Scott Servais says that he will spend some time in the Dominican Republic speaking with Robinson Cano and go fishing with Nelson Cruz. He knows that Cruz will not play the outfield this season as he did in 2015. Wants to keep him healthy; however, he knows that Cruz does hit better when in the field. My idea is why not play Cruz some at first base. Since Montero has been able to play good first base and Cruz is more athletic than why not have him play some first base. It is only an idea in my mind if another first baseman is not added to the roster.

Another idea I have is if Brad Miller is still on the team and he is consider a super utility player why not have him play some first base as well. Another choice would be whoever the Mariners have as the backup catcher he plays some first base as well.

All my ideas are if the Mariners do not go out and pick up another first baseman. I am sure the team of Dipoto and Servais want to have one player primarily playing first base. Whoever that player turns out to be I am sure on occasion he will be the designated hitter when he needs a rest.