After Suárez/Winker, will Mariners add on?

PEORIA, Ariz. -- Even after the Mariners landed two impact bats and created more roster clarity, with just three-plus weeks until Opening Day, the question of the hour for every hour remains: Are they done adding?

Seattle’s clearest area of need, after acquiring Eugenio Suárez and Jesse Winker from the Reds on Monday, is for a starting pitcher to round out a rotation that already looks like one of the more formidable in the American League, sans the final piece.

The one through four currently: Robbie Ray is coming off a Cy Young Award-winning season; Marco Gonzales had one of the league’s strongest second halves (the Mariners won 10 of his final 14 starts); Logan Gilbert experienced a few rookie hiccups but his best days were arguably the best on the staff; and Chris Flexen surprised everyone, even the front office, by emerging as their most consistent starter, which led to him winning the club’s top pitching award.

But that fifth spot, at least when eyeing the early leg of the season, looks like a notable void.

Mariners No. 3 prospect George Kirby will be in the Majors this season and, barring injury, pitch through September. Yet they’ll need to delicately monitor his innings of probably no more than 120-130 after he topped out at 67 2/3 last year. Levi Stoudt (No. 8) is moving fast, and Matt Brash (No. 9) is on the 40-man roster and should reach the big leagues this year, but there’s a possibility that he profiles as a reliever.

Justus Sheffield, who finished last year in the bullpen, is being stretched out to a starter’s workload, but after a season of injuries and inconsistencies, his consideration is far from guaranteed -- perhaps only if there aren’t other options. Justin Dunn and Brandon Williamson, who would’ve been other in-house candidates, were among the returns in Monday’s trade.

The starting-pitching market at this stage is fairly limited, and the Mariners’ avenue to another arm would likely require a trade. The top available free agents -- Tyler Anderson, Michael Pineda, Danny Duffy and Zack Greinke et al -- are of the more backend ilk that Jerry Dipoto has said that the club wasn’t in the market for.

“We feel like we have a lot of young pitching that can contribute sooner than later, which likely results in us focusing on mid-rotation to higher starters, if we're going to do anything in our starting rotation,” said Dipoto, the club's president of baseball operations.

Among the arms believed to be available are Cincinnati’s Luis Castillo and Tyler Mahle, and Oakland’s Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea. Both teams have been offloading their star talent. The Marlins made Elieser Hernandez and Pablo López, a former Mariners prospect, available ahead of last year’s Trade Deadline, but it’s unclear if Miami is selling ahead of 2022. The Marlins are reportedly seeking an MLB-ready center fielder ahead of Opening Day.

“We're always in contact with other teams and with the agents, and if we can do something in that role, or even upgrade closer to the top of the rotation, we'd love to do it,” Dipoto said. “I just don't know how realistic it is because at this point, and it would almost certainly require a trade.”

Seattle’s prospect capital took a hit, albeit not a drastic one, after parting with Williamson (who ranked No. 7). And now that the club has added the two bats it was seeking -- its top priorities -- and that it did so without parting with Noelvi Marte (No. 2), it seems more likely that the Mariners will hold onto the blue-chip infield prospect. Dipoto has alluded that Marte is fringe untouchable but not 100% off the table.

As for those clamoring for Kris Bryant and Trevor Story, Dipoto said that many of the Mariners’ free-agent negotiations since the lockout ended last week hit “dead ends.”

With just three weeks until the regular season, the Mariners would like to finalize their roster ASAP to allow the group to mesh, a logic that in part triggered Monday’s trade. That leads back to the question of the hour: Will that urgency lead to the next big domino, or will Seattle stand pat?