This story was excerpted from Daniel Kramer¡¯s Mariners Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

SEATTLE -- The Winter Meetings are nearly here, and with the offseason¡¯s premier event, this year in Dallas, perhaps the Mariners¡¯ mostly stagnant transactional front will gain traction as the club looks to round out its 2025 roster. Because other than signing a few relievers to Minor League deals and non-tendering Josh Rojas and three others last month, it¡¯s been mostly quiet.

This is Jerry Dipoto¡¯s time to shine, and Seattle¡¯s president of baseball operations has regularly been among the game¡¯s most active early in offseasons throughout his tenure. But some of the quietude this winter has been expected.

Dipoto made it clear in September that, despite the team¡¯s shortcomings, most of the 2024 core will remain intact. Aside from Rojas, who was non-tendered in part due to cost (a salary increase from $3.1 million to roughly $4 million-$5 million) and other personnel acquired (trading for the Rays¡¯ lefty-hitting infielder Austin Shenton), the Mariners also moved on from Jorge Polanco (declining his $12 million club option) among their position-player nucleus.

That¡¯s left them with needs for at least two infield bats, unless they get creative and shuffle personnel elsewhere, which is highly unlikely.

Beyond shortstop J.P. Crawford, from whom the Mariners are banking on a bounceback, the depth chart currently consists of Luke Raley in a hybrid first-base role whose only supplement would be Tyler Locklear, and a combination of Dylan Moore, Leo Rivas, Ryan Bliss and Shenton at second and third base. Consider, too, that Raley wasn¡¯t nearly as comfortable at first than in the outfield, and that his breakout should see him in a more everyday-type role next season.

A case could be made that they also need a few legitimate back-end relievers, though general manager Justin Hollander indicated last month that they view that as an in-house area with the expected returns from injuries from Matt Brash and Gregory Santos.

All of this is to say that there¡¯s no way the current roster construction is Plan A, but the Winter Meetings could be the prime time for Dipoto and Hollander to make headway on addressing these offseason needs.

The Mariners aren¡¯t operating with as much payroll uncertainty as they were last winter, when they were forced to make massive trades to clear money in an effort to reshape their offense, but sources have suggested that payroll won¡¯t rise substantially from its roughly $145 million figure in '24. For context, it was roughly $140 million the year prior.

In a window of contention, the Mariners entered each of the past three years with a percentage of their payroll earmarked toward the Trade Deadline -- taking on the salaries of Randy Arozarena and Justin Turner last July being a prime example. The club is operating with that logic for '25, sources have said.

Most projections estimate their 2025 payroll currently in the $135 million-$140 million range -- accounting for Polanco¡¯s $750,000 buyout and the significant raises slated for arbitration-eligible players like Arozarena, Logan Gilbert, George Kirby and Cal Raleigh, among others.

If Seattle is operating with a year-end target in the $150 million-$155 million range, which would be in line with its inflationary increases over each of the past two years, that¡¯d leave it with roughly $15 million-$20 million to spend. While these may seem like revelations, the front office has been operating with far more clarity toward its budget than at this time last year, when uncertainty mounted over the revenue stream from its TV deal.

The Mariners are not expected to spend aggressively in free agency this winter, a strategy that managing general partner John Stanton outlined to MLB.com in early October, reiterating the club¡¯s ¡°draft, develop and trade¡± philosophies. A reunion with free agents Turner and Carlos Santana, however, could be more palatable, especially given Seattle¡¯s first-base need and Dipoto preaching the value of veteran presence more than ever. The club has been actively engaged with each, according to sources.

But again, the trade market will be the Mariners' most realistic avenue for upgrades, and that takes more time to develop, usually after many of the higher-profile free agents sign.

Dipoto has typically struck early in offseasons past, but peeling back the layers to this winter¡¯s markets reveals that, from where Seattle sits, the long game might be more conducive to the club¡¯s situation -- but things could certainly pick up at the Winter Meetings.