Veteran Justin Turner hit free agency again this past winter, having spent the past season split between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Seattle Mariners. Looking for a home for the 2025 season, Turner considered returning to the Mariners after falling in love with the city during his brief tenure, but started to question why the team wasn’t doing anything on the free agent front as the offseason dragged on into the new year.

Speaking to USA Today Sports, Turner didn’t mince words, “The fact that they missed the playoffs by one game, and didn’t go out and add an impact bat or two when you have the best pitching staff in baseball… just seems absurd to me. Honestly, as much as I wanted to be back there, if I was the only piece they brought back in, I would be saying the same thing: What the hell are we doing? Are you trying? It’s a head-scratcher for me.”

While a respectable offer from Seattle never came to fruition for the right-handed bat, Turner ended up in the NL Central instead, signing a one-year deal with the Chicago Cubs worth $6 million. Between both Toronto and Seattle, the 40-year-old authored a .259/.354/.383 slash line with 11 home runs and a .737 OPS, seeing a slight uptick in his stats after being dealt to the Mariners.

Turner’s comments aren’t out of the blue – he’s not wrong in saying that the Mariners really had a weak offseason.

Jerry Dipoto’s offseason acquisitions include multiple minor league signings (including former Blue Jays first baseman Rowdy Tellez), claiming Jays catcher Nick Raposo and right-hander Hagen Danner off of waivers, trading for infielder Miles Mastrobuoni, catcher Blake Hunt, and RHPs Will Klein and Casey Legumina, and signing infielders Donovan Solano and Jorge Polanco. The Mariners needed some offense in the form of a power bat or two in a market full of players that fit the bill and nothing came to fruition.

Last season, the Mariners ranked 12th in home runs (185), 21st in runs (676), and 29th in average (.224) while barely missing the playoffs after being edged out of the Wild Card with their 85-77 record. Acquiring Randy Arozarena at the deadline will help in some aspects this season, to go along with centre fielder Julio Rodriguez and catcher Cal Raleigh, but outside of the trio, the bats are lacking in comparison to the pitching staff.

The Mariners have a plethora of talented starters, led by Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Luis Castillo, Bryan Woo, and Bryce Miller, with Emerson Hancock in the mix as well. They also have an excellent closer in Andrés Muñoz and will regain Matt Brash this season as well, but overall, the lack of acquiring offseason bats leaves something to be desired.

” I wouldn’t say we’re frustrated,” said Logan Gilbert. “We were just kind of waiting to see what happened. You kept hearing rumors, and whether we’d sign somebody. Really, I think we were more curious than anything.”