Trent Grisham would definitely give the Mariners another capable outfielder and legitimate insurance behind Julio Rodríguez in center field. But wouldn’t he make the Mariners predominantly left-handed lineup even more absurdly left-handed?
It’s immediately the first thing you’d notice when reading Bleacher Report’s way-too-early Opening Day lineup prediction. Joel Reuter has Grisham starting in left field alongside Rodríguez in center and Dominic Canzone in right. Brendan Donovan, Josh Naylor, Lazaro Montes, Cole Young and Colt Emerson fill out most of the remaining lineup.
So if you count them up, Grisham would be one of seven left-handed hitters in the starting nine. Cal Raleigh is a switch-hitter, which leaves Rodríguez as the only pure right-handed bat.
That’s not the lineup balance we’re expecting the Mariners to have going into next season. That is an open invitation for every opponent to stack lefty pitching when facing Seattle.
Trent Grisham Would Add to a Problem the Mariners Already Tried to Fix
Hey, Grisham is not a bad player. He brings some pop, though he spent half of last season hitting in Yankee Stadium. He slashed 211/.308/.395 with a 95 OPS+. He does bring two Gold Gloves to the table. His ability to handle center field would give Seattle protection whenever Rodríguez needs a day off or lands on the IL. But to say he’s the solution would be a miscalculation.
Seattle’s struggles against left-handed pitching became so pronounced in 2026 that the front office acquired Taylor Ward at the trade deadline specifically to strengthen that side of the lineup. At the time of the deal, the Mariners owned a .649 OPS against lefties, the second-worst mark in baseball. Ward arrived with an .839 OPS against them. But that still didn’t help the Mariners. Ward was terrible and it’s unlikely he’ll return to the M’s in 2027.
Randy Arozarena is most likely gone, too. So, Seattle would lose two established right-handed hitters and Bleacher Report projects them to respond by adding Grisham to a lineup already loaded with lefties. We can only assume Grisham was just a fun throw-in to the projection. Otherwise, the fit is just weird.
The Mariners Cannot Treat Handedness Like a Minor Detail
This projected group would allow teams to bring in a tough left-handed reliever and let him plow through entire sections of Seattle’s order. Donovan, Canzone, Naylor, Montes, Grisham, Young and Emerson would all be vulnerable to the same matchup. Raleigh can turn around, but one switch-hitter doesn’t rescue that construction.
They would also be putting enormous pressure on Rodríguez, and we know he doesn’t need any more than he already has. He would become the lone everyday right-handed counterpunch in a lineup filled with young hitters and left-handed bats. That’s entirely too much responsibility to dump onto one player, even a franchise guy.
The Mariners should understand by now that collecting individually reasonable players doesn’t automatically produce a complete lineup. Fit plays a role. And there is such a thing as too much redundancy.
Grisham would make sense as part of a broader overhaul that also added a dangerous right-handed hitter. As the primary replacement for Arozarena and Ward, he would push Seattle further toward an imbalance it already spent part of 2026 trying to correct.
Bleacher Report may ultimately be right about Grisham landing in Seattle. He looks like the kind of versatile, defensively reliable outfielder this front office would value. But that doesn’t make this projected lineup acceptable.
If the Mariners lose Arozarena and Ward, they cannot expect Michael Arroyo alone to replace their right-handed production. They need an established right-handed threat. Adding another lefty and expecting Rodríguez to carry that entire side of the lineup every day would be poor roster construction.
Add us as a preferred source on Google