Pre-Spring Training meeting: Excitement remains present as Mariners prepare to build off historic 2022 season
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – “Rolling in here today gave me goosebumps,” Cal Raleigh said to the local media when asked about the energy that’s been around the team in meetings this offseason. Raleigh echoes the feeling that the entire organization and fanbase has about this ballclub, everybody eager to return to T-Mobile Park and hear “Welcome to Mariners baseball.” CSS and Converge Media were on site at the Mariners Pre-Spring Training media event that covered topics from the new “Mariners Training Center,” giveaways such as the “Cal-Boy” hat, injury news on players, and much more. Here is our recap of the day.
Second baseman Kolten Wong joins virtually (Photo by Liv Lyons)
Aloha, Kolten Wong
Acquired in the off-season via a trade that sent Abraham Toro and Jesse Winker to Milwaukee, second baseman Kolten Wong has already expressed general excitement to get join the franchise. With the local media on Wednesday morning (via Zoom call), Wong doubled down on that, explaining his enthusiasm to join the third team of his career and his hope for a bounce back season. It was apparent in press conferences after the trade for Wong and even on this day, that the Mariners have not be happy with the production or lack thereof that they have gotten from the second base position and are counting on a bounce back year from Wong.
“Obviously excited, I’m at the point of my career now where I’m trying to a ring… seeing the talent and the pitching staff that this team had, I’m just excited to be aboard”
The former Milwaukee Brewer spoke about how he disliked playing with the shift and is looking forward to it being gone this year and beyond, saying it will help his defensive performance. Coming off a tough year defensively, as he’s typically been a plus defender throughout the course of his ten-year career. While he discussed how the shift often put him in comfortable positions, another reason for his belief of getting back to top defensive form is Mariners infield coach Perry Hill.
“I’ve been begging Perry to come down, having conversations with Jerry to get him down here… I didn’t wanna wait till spring training to work out him”
Seattle Mariners Vice President of marketing Gregg Greene discusses giveaways, ticket promos, and more (Photo by Liv Lyons)
Bobbleheads, funko pops, “Cal-boy” hats?
Mariners Vice President of marketing Gregg Greene stepped in as the first in-person arrival at the table, to discuss some of the promotions, giveaways, ticketing events, and other news for the upcoming season. Greene opened by saying that there are very limited tickets for opening day, and that the best option was to secure a season-ticket package as a certain number of tickets have been allotted to season-ticket holders. Greene then got into the giveaways, and here is a list of those.
March 31st: Mariners cross body bag
April 1st: Julio Rodriguez and his rookie of the year award bobblehead
April 14th: Cal Raleigh’s “clinch” bobblehead
May 7th: Eugenio Suarez “Geno Grigio wine tumbler”
May 27th: J.P. Crawford Funko Pop
June 18th: Eugenio Suarez “Good Vibes talking bottle opener”
July 1st: Patriotic “Cal-Boy” Hat
July 18th: Ty France bobblehead
August 13th: Felix Hernandez bobblehead
August 29th: Julio Rodriguez bobblehead
The Mariners will salute the Negro Leagues by donning their Seattle Steelheads uniforms on June 17th (Photo by Liv Lyons)
In addition to those giveaway nights, sharing a few laughs with those in attendance because of the items such as the “Cal-boy” hat, Greene also discussed the special event nights and games that the team will be hosting this season, headlined by Felix Hernandez weekend when the King is inducted into the Mariners Hall of Fame.
April 2nd: Kids opening day
Kids 14 and under will get a Luis Castillo shirt
June 16th: Pride night
June 17th: Salute to Negro Leagues
Team will wear their Seattle Steelheads uniforms, fans will get a replica Steelheads jersey
August 12th: Felix Hernandez Mariners Hall of Fame
September 15th: Hispanic Heritage night
Team will wear it’s “Marineros” jerseys
On April 2nd, kids 14 and under can receive a Luis Castillo t-shirt (Photo by Liv Lyons)
Building baseball and making it accessible for all
The second topic of the day was a special announcement from Mariners Director of Community relations and Mariners Care Foundation Social Impact Executive, Nova Newcomer alongside EL1 Sports Co-Founders Aaron Trolia and Jameel Cante. The three at the table made the announcement that the ballclub was beginning a multi-year partnership to create the “Mariners Training Center,” as the five EL1 Sports facilities in Western Washington were going to serve as spaces for equitable access and participation for baseball and softball. You can read more about it here.
Baseball Beyond Borders founder Bookie Gates speaks with Charles Hamaker (Photo by Liv Lyons)
Clear your calendar for All-Star week in the 206
Major league baseball executive Vice President of strategy, technology, and innovation Chris Marinak took the stage next for some brief updates on this year's All-Star game. Returning to the Emerald City for the first time since that historic year of 2001, Marinak provided a timeline of the events that will be taking place in the Seattle area, while also noting that the league plans to have more activations around the city during that week. A few important things to note from Marinak are that MLB wants to get the “whole city” involved for the Midsummer classic and they have a primary focus on engaging youth, making programs available for all types of fans.
Friday, July 7th: HBCU Swingman Classic and USA All-American game.
Marinak on the HBCU Classic: “This event is designed to take the best players from HBCU’s across the country, bring them to All-Star and give them their own All-Star experience, and showcase themselves on a national stage.”
July 8th-11th: Playball Park event (Fanfest) will be open to the public, taking place between T-Mobile Park and Lumen Field, likely at the Lumen Field event center, with more events to come at Lumen Field and its courtyard.
Heavy youth component, open to the public.
July 8th: The Celebrity All-Star game and All-Star Futures game.
July 9th: The MLB Draft
The location of the draft has not yet been finalized, and it is still being discussed. A location should be announced in the next few weeks.
It’ll be open to the public, wherever it’s held
July 10th: T-Mobile Home Run Derby and All-Star workout day
July 11th: MLB All-Star game
Day will begin with a red-carpet show at Pike Place Market
MLB executive Chris Marinak provides updates on this years All-Star week (Photo by Liv Lyons)
Front office notes from Dipoto, Hollander, and a new face
Following Mr. Marinak, team President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto and Executive vice president of baseball operations and general manager Justin Hollander took a seat to provide updates on injuries, talk about the lineup, and much more. This may have been perhaps the most “informational” part of the event when it comes to purely team related news, and it is always a treat to listen to Dipoto discuss the team and the moves that have been or may be made.
Catcher Cal Raleigh played most of the end of the season with an injured left thumb (Photo by Liv Lyons)
First, Dipoto gave injury updates on a range of players that either had been dealing with minor issues, needed surgery, or have been dealing with the injury bug for their career. Cal Raleigh, Tom Murphy, and Sam Haggerty are back in full baseball activity, Haggerty is a little bit behind those first two but is also in baseball activity workouts. Dylan Moore had a small setback in his rehab after having surgery on a core muscle but is still on track to be ready for opening day and the team should learn more at Spring Training. Andres Munoz is out of his boot, has been throwing and should be good to go for Arizona. Both him and Paul Sewald should be ready to throw in games in Arizona. Evan White is in full baseball activity, and the Mariners medical team believe that he is the healthiest he’s been since 2021.
Jerry Dipoto confirmed that Matt Brash will stay in the bullpen this season, and he may pitch for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic (Photo by Liv Lyons)
When asked about the roster and contending for the division title, Dipoto stated that he feels this team is not only ready to do that, but also that the Mariners as a team got “meaningfully” better this offseason. With the additions, Dipoto feels that the team is more complete and deeper than it was last season. He believes that competing with the Houston Astros for the division title is a realistic goal.
“We do feel that we’ve gotten meaningfully better since last year… we feel that we are a more complete team… the goal is to win the division, and we believe that is a realistic goal.”
When asked about young outfielder Jarred Kelenic, both had glowing things to say about his offseason and general process. Hollander stated that the reports that the team has gotten on Kelenic have been “over the top awesome,” whether it’s his mental or physical work that he has done this offseason. Continuing with that, Hollander said that the team even had some motion capture data on his mechanics and the team was happy with what they had seen there. Both Hollander and Dipoto doubled down on Kelenic’s work ethic and desire to be great being second to none.
Reports on Jarred Kelenic have been stellar this offseason, according to Hollander and Dipoto (Photo by Liv Lyons)
When asked about the situation in left field, Dipoto confirms that position will be a platoon situation with Jarred Kelenic and Taylor Trammell potentially being the opening day starter there. He mentioned A.J. Pollock and how he enjoys the things that he adds to this ballclub, so it does sound like the left field spot will be a three-ring circus of Kelenic-Trammell-Pollock. Some of those players will likely get days at designated hitter as well.
Taylor Trammell and Jarred Kelenic will platoon left field (Photo by Liv Lyons)
A funny note from the offseason was the discussion about the potential of Luis Castillo pitching in this year's World Baseball Classic, which runs during Spring Training. Dipoto spoke about the team's potential participants in the event, and while he did not have a finalized list of who would be participating, he did have a decent idea. Luis Castillo will not be pitching as he and the team mutually agreed upon it. Julio Rodriguez, Diego Castillo, and Teoscar Hernandez will play for the Dominican Republic. Eugenio Suarez will play for Venezuela, Matt Festa will play for Italy, Matt Brash will play for team Canada, and Harry Ford will play for team Great Britain. There are other players who could participate, but nothing finalized.
Third baseman Eugenio Suarez will play for Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic (Photo by Liv Lyons)
Scott states the standard for this season
Skipper Scott Servais followed the ballclubs general manager and president of baseball operations, as his post-playoff clinching speech was played before he sat down at the table. Servais mainly continued to hammer down what Dipoto and Hollander had said in their segment, saying that the primary goal is to win the division and really establish themselves as the top dog in the AL West. Servais also agreed with Dipoto’s statement about the team's depth, saying that “this is the deepest team I have seen since I’ve been here.”
“This is the deepest team we’ve had since I’ve been here… they can all play and will play a huge role… we spent a lot of time this off-season trying to shore up the communications lines… the only way to understand where we’re at is communicating… we were on fumes at the end.”
While there has been concern surrounding the Mariners this offseason regarding the lack and or “quality” of the moves they made, Servais brought up how the team was a handful of swings away from sweeping the Astros in the ALDS. He stated how while Houston is a good team and they aren’t going anywhere, neither are the Mariners. While he did acknowledge that the rest of the division made additions in the offseason, he mentioned the experience that the ballclub gained down the stretch as a key factor going forward on top of the team's chemistry.
Scott Servais speaks to the media at the Pre-Spring Training media event (Photo by Liv Lyons)
Cal and Teoscar walk us off
Mariners catcher and “Drought buster” Cal Raleigh, as well as off-season trade acquisition Teoscar Hernandez were in attendance to cap off the event. Raleigh largely discussed items such as returning to the ballpark following such an exciting end to the season and now living with that fame, while Hernandez discussed coming to this team, trying to establish new relationships.
Cal Raleigh and Teoscar Hernandez speak at the Mariners Pre-Spring Training media event (Photos by Liv Lyons)
Raleigh discussed how it’s been hard not to think about the magnitude of the drought ending homer he hit, because of how it has followed him on social media and the line “the pitch from Acevedo” is now an inside joke around his family. He confirmed that his thumb has gotten better, even catching a bullpen from Marco Gonzales in Arizona the day before but did say he has some rehab to do with it still.
“I don’t have any specific goals, I just wanna win… as long as I can help this team day in and day out, that’s what I wanna do… I think it’s gonna be a lot of fun continuing to work with them… we wanna be in the same place we were in last year.”
Teoscar Hernandez discussed why his numbers at T-Mobile Park are so good, stating that he “loves this stadium so much.” Hernandez went on to say that he loves the ballpark and enjoys playing in Seattle. The 30-year-old outfielder said that he’s not only been trying to teach everything he knows to teammate Julio Rodriguez, but also learn from him as the two have been training together this offseason. An interesting note from his time in Toronto was that Teoscar said he did not want to play Seattle in the playoffs because of their pitching staff, when his teammates said that they did want to face the Mariners.
“It’s always a surprise, especially when you’ve been with a team for so long… at the same time, it’s exciting to be part of this organization and see what they can do in special moments… being with them is really exciting.”