Seattle Mariners pitching coach Pete Woodworth, already an important part of the team's coaching staff, is going to become even more integral for the group in 2027.

Why?

Because he's the only member of the team's new-look coaching staff with a pitching background.

I'll be honest: I'm a fan of the team's hiring of Jason Kanzler as manager and I liked a lot of what I heard in his first press conference on Wednesday. I'm also a fan of the team's hiring of CJ Gillman at hitting coach, and I'm a fan of the Tanner Swanson hire as bench coach.

However, Kanzler is a hitting guy at heart. Swanson is a catching guy at heart. Neither one of them have managed at the big league level. One of the most difficult things for a manager is handling in-game pitching decisions, from when to get a guy ready, to how long to leave a guy in, to who exactly to bring in. Kanzler and Swanson will need some help on that front, and they will need time to learn how to do it on their own.

Enter Woodworth, who has been with the Mariners since 2019. He knows the M's pitchers after years of coaching. He knows when guys are starting to fade, when guys are struggling mentally and how long it takes certain relievers to get ready.

He will be integral for Kanzler and Co. to lean on, especially early in his managerial tenure.

Buster Olney of ESPN mentioned the difficulty of handling in-game pitching decisions on the most recent "Refuse to Lose Territory" podcast.

The Mariners' contingent will head to the MLB general managers meetings next week (Monday-Thursday). That will represent the first chance for the team to talk with other teams about potential trades, and it will also represent the first chance for the Mariners to talk with agents for free agents.

The Mariners enter the offseason with needs in left field and the bullpen, and they also need to replace JP Crawford, who is a free agent.

Of course, all of the M's work is complicated by the looming labor lockout, which will hit on Dec. 1 at 8:59 p.m. PT. At that point, we don't know when baseball will return.

Seattle is coming off a season in which it went 76-86 and missed the playoffs just one year after winning the American League West for the first time since 2001.