It had been a quiet offseason for the Mariners. That was until recently when they claimed a pair of relief pitchers off waivers. Now, the M’s have signed their first player of the 2024-25 offseason. On Monday while everyone else was worried about Roki Sasaki, the Seattle Mariners announced the signing of Donovan Solano.
Solano, who can play around the infield, will make $3.5 million in 2025. With the chance to earn an additional $1 million in performance bonuses. At 37 years old, it might not be likely that Solano plays everyday but he would likely slot into a platoon with Luke Raley at first and still provide some flexibility to play second and third if needed.
Last year in San Diego, Solano slashed .286/.343/.417 (.760 OPS) with a career-high eight homers, 13 doubles and 35 RBIs in 309 plate appearances across 96 games. Which was good enough for 0.8 WAR and a 118 wRC+. Solano is more of a contact hitter, which is something that the Mariners need in their lineup.
Throughout his career, Solano has hit .279/.335/.381 with 764 hits in 2735 ABs. The move comes as a nice payday for Donovan Solano late in his career. According to ESPN, the performance bonus will come in increments of $200,000 per amount of plate appearances. It would start at 300 and go up by 50 to 500.
“Donovan has been among the most underrated hitters in the game over the past six years,” Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said in a statement. “His veteran presence, consistent performance and positional versatility bring a lot to our roster.”
With Solano agreeing to $3.5 million, it creates some financial flexibility for Dipoto and General Manager Justin Hollander. According to many reports, they only had $15 million to work with this offseason.
To make room on the 40-man roster, the Mariners DFA’d Austin Kitchen in a corresponding move.
