In a recent episode of the Refuse to Lose podcast, Buster Olney discussed the Mariners' recent deal with Patrick Wisdom
The Seattle Mariners added some veteran depth to their organization on Wednesday by signing corner infielder Patrick Wisdom to a minor league contract with a spring training invite attached.
The 34-year-old infielder will join the Mariners after spending this past season overseas in the Korean Baseball Organization. He hit 35 home runs for the KBO's Korea Tigers in 2025.
A seven-year major league veteran, Wisdom has played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs. He has three seasons of 20 homers or more under his belt, but his low average and high strikeout rate have hampered him.
Wisdom was with the Mariners organization briefly in 2019 and 2020, but he never appeared in an official game for the organization because the minor league season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the surface, Wisdom's signing doesn't look it means much, but could there be more to the story?
In a recent episode of the "Refuse to Lose" podcast, hosted by Roundtable Sports' own Brady Farkas, ESPN insider Buster Olney discussed the move and shared the belief Wisdom could have a slightly bigger role with the M's in 2026:
"(Wisdom's) an Eugenio Suarez-lite in terms of what he potentially could do. He's a high-strikeout guy. He's not gonna have the highest batting average but he is gonna hit some home runs and he does have experience. I've talked to Patrick many times throughout the years. He's highly-regarded as a team player. ... They just need someone to be the stop-gap until (Colt Emerson's) promoted."
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Wisdom does have a power tool that makes the comps to Suarez easy to see.
In his best season in the major leagues in 2021, Wisdom slashed .231/.305/.518 with an .823 OPS. He hit 13 doubles and 28 home runs with 61 RBIs.
As alluded to by Olney, Wisdom could also keep third base warm until Emerson is ready to make his major league debut.
Currently, the plan is for Ben Williamson and Emerson to compete to be the team's everyday starter at the hot corner in spring training. Williamson was the team's starting third baseman for most of the first half of last season before the Mariners acquired Suarez at the trade deadline July 31.
Emerson is the team's No. 1 prospect and an almost universal top-15 prospect in baseball. He ended this past season on the team's playoff taxi squad and is considered the team's shortstop of the future.
Neither Williamson nor Emerson possess the power profile of Wisdom or Suarez.
Wisdom might end up spending the majority of the season in the minor leagues but at the least he's a veteran power-hitter Seattle can fall back on if it's not willing to hand the reins to either of its young infielders right away.
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