Seattle Mariners: 5 free agents who may be the ‘mystery pitcher’

RHP JULIO TEHERÁN (2019: 174.2 IP, 3.81 ERA, 8.35 K/9, 1.6 fWAR)

Julio Teherán has seemingly fallen of the face of the earth, which is weird considering that he hasn’t been all that bad. But now that the Braves have become one of baseball’s elite clubs, Teherán has taken a back seat as he slowly slips out of his prime.

Teherán, at worst, has been mediocre over the last three seasons. For better or worse, he’s been about the pitcher Mike Leake was for the Mariners. Most importantly, much like Leake, Teherán has stayed absolutely healthy, eclipsing 170+ innings in each of the last three seasons. In fact, he set his career-low in innings pitched last year with 174.2, and has gone as high as 221.

But the wear-and-tear that pitching that many innings on a yearly basis has seemed to have caught up with his arm a bit. At the start of his career, Teherán was hanging around the mid 90s on his fastball, but now finds himself topping out at 89-90. His walk numbers have also skyrocketed over the last three years, going from 1.96 BB/9 in 2016 to 3.44 in ’17, 4.30 in ’18, and 4.28 in ’19.

Still, Teherán enters free agency at the ripe age of 28 and will pitch the 2020 season at 29. The Mariners could use a dependable piece in their rotation who can eat a ton of innings like Leake and Teherán seems to fit the bill perfectly. Plus, you can easily trade a guy like that, as long as he stays healthy. You may not get a lot for him, but José Caballero’s been a solid addition since coming over in the Leake deal with Arizona. Just sayin’.

For what it’s worth, MLB Trade Rumors mocked Teheran to the Mariners on a two-year, $18 million contract in their annual free agency prediction piece.