When the faces of your franchise are in their mid-to-late 30's, you have a couple of choices. You can kick off a rebuild by trying to move those veterans while they still have value, or you can keep adding pieces to that core for one more run. The Mariners opted for the latter path this offseason, adding Dee Gordon and Ryon Healy (though they did strike out on Shohei Ohtani) in their quest to finally get over the hump.

That core hasn't been able to get the job done for the Mariners, but it's been a pretty productive one for Fantasy purposes, and should remain so. They feature five consensus top-100 Fantasy options, and a bevy of other productive players to fill out your roster, though there isn't much here beyond that. The cupboard is largely bare when it comes to prospects, and this remains a top-heavy roster with little in the way of notable depth. 

That means that there isn't a big margin for error. You know the headliners here, but the Mariners won't provide much reason to get excited beyond them. 

Ranking the Mariners' Fantasy Assets
PlayerRoto RankH2H RankRoto POSH2H POS
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Dee Gordon SEA 2B
31 78 4 7
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Nelson Cruz SEA DH
50 44 2 2
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Robinson Cano SEA 2B
80 77 8 6
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James Paxton SEA SP
83 66 20 24
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Jean Segura SEA SS
88 93 8 8
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Kyle Seager SEA 3B
126 116 15 12
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Edwin Diaz SEA RP
156 120 12 13
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Mike Zunino SEA C
173 239 13 15
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Mitch Haniger SEA RF
175 210 48 49
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Ryon Healy SEA 1B
249 263 28 31
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Mike Leake SEA SP
285 231 74 72

Players in Scott's Top 100 Prospects

Mariners Prospects
50 Kyle Lewis
Lewis tore his ACL just 30 games into his professional career, and though he made it back last June, it's fair to say he's not yet all the way back. The 11th pick in the 2016 draft projects to hit for both average and power, but he'll need to rein in the strikeouts to make it happen. Scott's 2018 Fantasy impact: don't count on it

Things to Know

  • Let's start with the first of the three old main guys: Can you still trust Nelson Cruz? He clubbed 39 homers in 2017, making him the 13th player to hit at least 35 homers in his age-36 season. How did the rest of that crew fair? Seven of the 12 prior followed it up with at least 34 homers the following season; the other five averaged 14.4 homers between them. That's a pretty high attrition rate, but not so high that Cruz isn't worth taking at a discount. 
  • Is Robinson Cano still worth his lofty status? He remains a solid source of RBI, but sipped to 23 homers and 79 runs in 2017, the third time in the past four seasons he has finished with fewer than 83 runs or 24 homers. Those aren't bad numbers, but they might not be worth paying the brand-name price anymore. 
  • Does Felix Hernandez have anything left? Injuries limited him to just 86 2/3 innings in 2017, and he posted a 4.36 ERA, his worst mark since 2006. Hernandez did see his strikeout rate increase while lowering his walk rate, but he seemed to sacrifice some of his homer prevention skills to do it. All told, his 4.36 ERA came with a 5.02 FIP, not a great sign. He's not worth much more than a late-round pick, but the sticker price may cost you more than that. 
  • Mike Zunino's 2017 saw him start to live up to some of the long-gone hype, as he hit 25 homers with a respectable .251 average. That average may have been a mirage, however, as it was spurred by a .355 BABIP. He's probably close to a Mendoza line-level hitter, and though the power is real, it's hard to stomach a .200 average.
  • An oblique injury derailed his hot start, but Mitch Haniger showed why people were so excited about him last season. Even though he wasn't able to sustain his strong April, Haniger still finished the season with a .282/.352/.491 line, and his 150-game pace of 25 homers, 90 runs and 73 RBI is more than respectable. Haniger might be cheaper than he should be on Draft Day. 

Lineup & Rotation

Batting order    
                
1 Dee Gordon CF
2 Jean Segura SS
3 Robinson Cano 2B
4 Nelson Cruz DH
5 Kyle Seager 3B
6 Mitch Haniger RF
7 Mike Zunino C
8 Ben Gamel LF
9 Ryon Healy 1B
Pitchers                             
SP Felix Hernandez
SP James Paxton
SP Mike Leake
SP Erasmo Ramirez
SP Marco Gonzales
CL Edwin Diaz
RP Juan Nicasio
RP Nick Vincent