Patrick Wisdom might be more than an interesting flier.
Earlier this week, the Seattle Mariners came to terms with former Chicago Cubs slugger Patrick Wisdom. A seven-year big-league veteran, Wisdom spent the 2025 campaign in Korea, doing what Wisdom does: Hitting a lot of home runs, and striking out a lot.
Now 34 years old, Wisdom has three seasons of 23 homers or more in the big leagues, but he's a career .209 hitter with a 36.7 percent strikeout rate.
On the surface, the deal looks like a low-budget flier for the M's on a guy with one really interesting trait, but as we explained on the 'Refuse to Lose' podcast, it could have a deeper meaning than just "minor league depth."
He's got to think he has a chance to make the team, right?
I don't want to speak for Patrick Wisdom, but financially, he would have done much better staying in Korea than coming back to the United States to just sit in someone's farm system. If he's coming back, there's probably a reasonable expectation on his part that he could make a roster, and get a big-league contract. Again, that's speculative: He could want to come back for any number of reasons, but the point still stands. If he's giving up a more (likely) lucrative deal in Korea, then he has to think he has a chance to make this team.
Is Wisdom a stop gap for Colt Emerson?
Wisdom plays the corner infield, where it just so happens that top prospect Colt Emerson is expected to contribute for the Mariners in 2026. If Emerson is not ready by Opening Day for a big-league contribution, or if the M's want to hold him back for service time reasons, might Wisdom be the guy who can serve as the bridge until they want to go to the top prospect?
It's unclear if Wisdom can play every day, and Ben Williamson is still in the mix, but you can't dismiss the idea that Wisdom could be that stop-gap. Of course, Wisdom could also just be part of that solution, as he can also DH or play first base, if needed.
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What does it mean for Eugenio Suarez?
Earlier this week, ESPN's Buster Olney had this to say about Wisdom's signing:
"(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."
So, Olney agrees that there's a chance that Wisdom could be a stop-gap for Emerson, but then I took it a step further as it relates to a possible reunion signing of Eugenio Suarez.
The thing about Geno, you just heard Buster: He called Patrick Wisdom 'Eugenio Suarez-lite.' So if you've acquired a cheaper version of Eugenio Suarez, why do you need to go out and sign actual Eugenio Suarez?
Like, that, to me, is a very interesting kind of product of this signing here. If you have signed a guy with the exact same skill set as Geno, who's gonna cost, 1/15th of the price, then I think that the Mariners have no reason to go out and actually bring Geno back, especially if they really do want to give the job to Colt Emerson for a lot of the year, and they don't want Geno there to be a roadblock for him.
Like, Wisdom is much more easily replaceable than Geno is. Wisdom, on a minor league deal, on a league minimum deal, is far more replaceable than Geno is. So, if you're only looking for a stop-gap and you're not looking for a season long roadblock, which is what Geno would be in some regards, a likable roadblock, but a roadblock nonetheless. So if you're not looking for that, if you don't want to get somebody that's in Emerson's way, Patrick Wisdom is the perfect kind of disposable stop- gap guy.
One last comparison
Rowdy Tellez joined the Mariners on a minor league deal in 2025 - and made the Opening Day roster. Just food for thought.
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