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# When Might the Mariners Part Ways With Their Weakest Link?
- URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/when-might-the-mariners-part-ways-with-their-weakest-link/
- Published: 2025-05-17T19:28:59.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-08T06:20:18.000Z
- Author: Corbin Smith
- Tags: Mariners, Donovan Solano, Tyler Locklear, Cole Young, Samad Taylor

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Donovan Solano has been one of the worst hitters in baseball this season, but the Mariners have also given him very little opportunity to find a rhythm at the plate, and now they’re at the point of no return where playing him on more of an everyday basis cannot be justified. Now he’s just a weakside platoon player who can really only play first base and can’t hit or run, which is more or less the least valuable a position player can possibly be. That doesn’t sound like someone a team with aspirations of making the playoffs this fall should be using a roster spot on two months deep into the season, does it? 

The cliff has seemingly come for the 37-year old Solano, who signed a one-year contract worth $3.5 million with the Mariners this past winter after being one of baseball’s most underrated, high-average hitters since 2019\. Just a year removed from slashing .286/.343/.417 in 96 games with the Padres, Solano currently sports a .133/.145/.150 slash line and is one of just two major-leaguers to have a negative wRC+ (-19) in over 60 plate appearances.

Parting ways with Solano should be a fairly easy decision to make, but figuring out what the corresponding move could be is where things get a bit tricky. 

The popular choice among Mariners fans is to replace Solano with prospect Tyler Locklear, who plays the same position and has posted a 107 wRC+ in 40 games with Triple-A Tacoma this year. Locklear, however, has cooled off significantly since starting out red-hot; from Opening Day to April 26, he slashed .344/.422/.533 (150 wRC+) with a modest strikeout rate of 23.5 percent, but from that point forward he has slashed .194/.275/.274 (42 wRC+) while striking out 26.1 percent of the time. Additionally, there are some concerning signs in his underlying numbers, with [Prospect Savant](https://prospectsavant.com/player/682988?ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) having him in the 23rd percentile in chase rate (32.3 percent) and 25th percentile in overall whiff rate (14.5 percent). Those numbers typically don’t go down when a player reaches the MLB level, and Locklear had glaring swing-and-miss issues during his short trip to the majors last summer, striking out in 20 of his 49 plate appearances (40.8 percent). 

Of course, it would be very hard for Locklear to be worse than Solano has been thus far. But while Locklear, 24, is getting up there in age relative to his prospect status, the Mariners likely still view him as someone in need of — and worthy of — development and patience. Therefore, Locklear cannot just fill in the role Solano has served in as a weakside platoon at first base; he wouldn’t play enough, thus stunting his ability to develop. 

That’s why the conversation shouldn’t boil down to if Locklear is a better option than Solano, but instead if he’s a better option than Rowdy Tellez, who’s had his own slew of woes this season but has at least provided some big hits in key moments. Plus, Tellez’s career splits against both right-handed and left-handed pitchers are fairly similar, which has made Seattle’s insistence on pinch-hitting Solano for him whenever a southpaw has taken the mound peculiar. The Mariners might just be better off deploying Tellez as their everyday first baseman for the time being rather than forcing Locklear onto the roster, especially if they’re not keen on playing Locklear with regularity.

So if it’s not Locklear, then what other options do the Mariners have at their disposal? If they want to move on from Solano immediately, the best answer might be someone like Samad Taylor — a player who at least carries a tool, his speed and athleticism, that can be banked on, which is more than the team can say about Solano. This could be anyone the Mariners have in the minors, though; Taylor is just an example. If Solano’s exit winds up being a bit further down the road, however, then it might come down to what happens first: Cole Young getting called up or Luke Raley (right oblique strain) returning from the injured list.

Young’s process at the plate in his first season at the Triple-A level has been consistently sound, but only now have the numbers reflected that. With a three-hit day down in Albuquerque on Friday, in which he only missed hitting for the cycle by a single, Seattle’s highly-touted prospect is now up to a .248/.360/.422 (107 wRC+) slash line with a 13.8 percent strikeout rate and an 11.1 percent walk rate. The Mariners will likely wait to see if he can maintain this level of production for a bit longer before pulling the trigger on his MLB debut, but it could happen sooner rather than later.

If/when it does, Solano may get pushed out that way. Seattle isn’t going to call up Young to play part-time; he’ll presumably be the everyday second baseman for at least a handful of weeks, allowing the club to slide Dylan Moore (267 wRC+ versus left-handed pitchers this year) into a first base platoon with Tellez while also giving him time at third, shortstop, and in the outfield. 

Given the aforementioned complications and nuances to a Locklear promotion and the general lack of organizational depth the Mariners have with all of the injuries they have accrued, Young may be the only potentially impactful move Seattle can realistically make relatively soon that would coincide with the departure of its weakest link. But again: any tool is better than no tools, so most — if not all — options available to the club may be more beneficial than continuing to carry Solano.