A Way Too Early Look At Seattle Mariners 2015 Free Agency (Part 2)

Notable Free Agents

• SP Chris Young, RP Joe Beimel, RF Corey Hart, DH Kendrys Morales, RF Chris Denorfia, RF Endy Chavez

Happy Friday everyone! In case you missed my post last week, this is a continuation of my thoughts on what the Seattle Mariners should do in this up coming offseason.

I know I know, it is hard to see past September at this point because of everything that is going on surrounding our club but we are not that far away from the MLB’s winter meetings.

Last week I covered potential options in the corner outfield with the possible addition of Nelson Cruz.

A good way to start off this Friday is to talk about the most well oiled part of this machine, the pitching staff.

Seattle’s starting rotation has been one of the best in the majors this season. GM Jack Zduriencik will have a couple of tough decisions to make over the next year or two in regards to contract situations.

In my opinion, our best free agent approaching this offseason is SP Chris Young.

Young is wrapping up this season with pretty good numbers. He reached the 12 win mark for the first time since 2005 and is posting a very respectable 3.17 ERA in 25 starts.

Not bad for a 35 year old guy coming off of a one year  break from baseball. He has not shown the M’s one sign of rust after not playing in the 2013 season due to a shoulder issue.

Will the Mariners re sign him?

Young clearly has a lot left in the tank and has shown he is durable enough to ride out the number three spot in our starting rotation.

But… as much as I like him, if we didn’t re sign him I would not lose any sleep over it. James Paxton will fit in just fine at number 3.

The message to the league prior to the deadline is that the Mariners will not sacrifice their futures for a win-now scenario. We will likely retain Young and continue to work on our prospects like Taijuan Walker, Danny Hultzen, and Erasmo Ramirez.

But IF the Mariners do decide to let Young go, there are other not-so-expensive veteran pitchers out there.

2nd Tier Options

• Brandon McCarthy, Ryan Dempster, Chris Capuano, Aaron Harang

Not the sexiest names but they are all guys that could become a cheap rental and bring a lot of experience to the locker room.

Maybe J-Z will convince ownership to spend money on James Shields or Max Scherzer…

Anything is possible, right?

How many of you thought the Mariners would end up signing Robinson Cano at this point last season?

(crickets)…