The Seattle Mariners have quietly had a positive offseason.
After finishing very, very close to a postseason berth last year, they have made several potentially impactful additions to their roster.
Yes, they lost Eugenio Suarez and Teoscar Hernandez, but they brought in high-upside hitters in Luke Raley and Luis Urias, a solid hitting catcher in Mitch Garver, and two reliable veterans in Jorge Polanco and Mitch Haniger.
That’s just the lineup: for the pitching staff, they added Austin Voth, Jackson Kowar, Gregory Santos, and now another useful veteran arm in Ryne Stanek.
The Mariners bullpen is strong: they have the flame-throwing Andres Munoz plus Gabe Speier, Santos, Tayler Saucedo, and Voth, among others.
Stanek is a solid middle reliever with a bit of a control problem.
During his seven-year career, he has given up 175 walks in just 347 innings: that’s too much.
He did manage to get that number under control last year, with 21 bases on balls in 50.2 frames.
His 3.45 career ERA could be much lower if not for the issues finding the strike zone, but he is a quality pitcher nonetheless.
His strikeout stuff often gets him out of trouble: he has fanned 406 hitters in those 347 frames.
His role in Seattle remains to be seen.