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July Update: 162 games, 60 games, 20 games or 300 games, it doesn’t really matter when it comes to the Mariners. There is no length of season where anybody on this roster is likely to be fantasy relevant. Seattle is still devoid of talent and the one positive out of the shortened season is the fans won’t be subjected to seeing this team lose 100-plus games. The Mariners’ new win total is set at 24.5 and that number might not be low enough.
As one of the worst teams in MLB, things could get ugly in Seattle this season. Looking through the Mariners’ roster, this is a team devoid of talent and would seemingly be a lock to lose over 100 games if the season wasn’t shortened. Even in a season with less regular season games, the Mariners could still find a way to hit triple-digit losses. Not only is this team awful, they play in an extremely difficult division. Seattle figures to finish near the bottom of the league in run scoring and run prevention. One positive note, Seattle does have one of the top farm systems in the league. The problem for this year is that the top-end prospects are not yet ready to contribute. The Mariners are years away from being years away with their current roster.
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How much fantasy value does Mallex Smith have this season?
DraftKings Sportsbook odds
— Division Winner: +10000
— League Winner: +25000
— World Series: +50000
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Key Departures:
Felix Hernandez, SP; Omar Narvaez, C; Tim Beckham, SS; Domingo Santana, OF; Wade LeBlanc, SP; Arodys Vizcaino RP; LHP Tommy Milone, SP
Key Acquisitions:
Taijuan Walker, SP; Kendall Graveman SP; Yoshihisa Hirano, RP; Carlos Gonzalez, OF; Carl Edwards Jr., RP
2020 Fantasy MVP
Mallex Smith, OF
Finding a fantasy MVP on this team is no small task. There’s a decent chance that the Mariners will be bad enough that nobody is a significant fantasy producer. The real MVP is pitchers going up against the lackluster Seattle offense. Forced to pick one player as MVP, I am landing on Smith. Stolen bases are hard to come by and this is one category that Smith thrives in. He’s swiped at least 40 bases in back-to-back seasons, so at least he has a chance to be worth holding onto in fantasy leagues. When Smith gets on base, he typically does damage. The problem with him, like so many other hitters on this team, he doesn’t get on base all that often. Smith had .227 batting average and .300 OBP last season.
2020 Fantasy LVP
Dee Gordon, 2B
The least valuable fantasy player on this team could be almost anybody in the starting lineup. It’s hard for me to knock their value when it’s so low that most of the Mariners’ players aren’t going to be getting drafted in the majority of fantasy leagues. Gordon is one guy who is going towards the end of some drafts when he probably shouldn’t. While I get the appeal of trying to get some steals late in the draft, Gordon doesn’t really provide a ton of them anymore. He stole just 22 bags last year, his lowest total since becoming a regular player at the major league level. He’s going to be 32 at the start of the season and speed doesn’t age well. Combine this with his lack of ability to get on base and a lackluster offense around him hurting his chances to get counting stats and it’s tough for me to see Gordon being a guy worth drafting or holding this season.
2020 Breakout Player
Tom Murphy, Catcher
After producing no offense during his time with the Rockies, Murphy oddly showed signs of life outside of Coors Field last season. Catcher is always a tough position to find production from and he hit 18 homers in 76 games for the Mariners last year. With Omar Narvaez now out of the picture, Murphy could end up getting more starts behind the plate. If this is the case, he has 25+ homer upside, so he’s worth taking a flier on in drafts due to positional scarcity. Only eight catchers hit more homers than Murphy last season and all of them saw way more playing time.
Final Thoughts
The Mariners are going to be the opposite of must see TV this season. There isn’t much fantasy potential here on offense and I doubt any pitchers are going to stand out either. Nobody profiles as a high strikeout guy and run support is going to be tough to come by, limiting the potential for wins. The most fantasy relevance we are going to get from the Mariners is streaming pitchers against them. Low end starters could look like top of the rotation guys when pitching against Seattle, so we are also going to want to roster pitchers against this team in DFS. The Mariners have +10000 odds to win the AL West on DraftKings Sportsbook and that number should probably be longer.
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For sports betting, head over to DraftKings Sportsbook or download the DK Sportsbook app.
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