Could the Mariners Sign Dellin Betances to a Multiyear deal?

One way that Major League Baseball teams have started to use in the last few years to get more value out of injured players, is by signing them to multiyear deals. These deals have been done mostly with pitchers since they can easily miss up to a year and a half, but return to form once they recover from a major arm surgery. We saw the Mariners do this with Ken Giles, who figures to be a big part of their 2022 bullpen, so could they do it again with Dellin Betances?

Dellin Betances was one of the most dominant relievers in baseball for a long stretch of time. From 2014-to 2016, he had a WAR of 3.0, 2.4, and 2.9 in those three years and pitched in 247 innings. He was truly special, and was one of the absolute best relievers in the game. He wasn’t always the closer, but he was a great fireman for the Yankees bullpen.

He then still was very good in 2017 and 2018, putting up about 80% of the numbers he did in his previous few seasons. He uses a fastball and a curveball at about 40% each but mixed in a slider as well. He gets a lot of swings and missed on his two plus pitches. His Baseball Savant page is dark red in 13 of 14 categories from his 2018 stats. Those numbers are insane, and if he can get back to them, he could be an absolute steal.

So, why is Dellin Betances a free agent then?

The reason that Betances is a free agent right now is because of some major injuries that have plagued him since 2019. He only pitched 13.1 innings in the last three seasons because of various injuries, including a shoulder injury most recently. He was reportedly close to getting some rehab work started back in August, according to a CBS article.

The Mariners could look at signing Betances to a two year deal, just like they did with Ken Giles, who did not pitch in the first year of his contract. Signing Betances could be a cheap way to get a really good reliever in 2023. He did not have Tommy John surgery, so he may be able to pitch in 2022, but that would be a bonus. If the Mariners were able to add Betances to the late inning mix in 2023, that would make their bullpen even stronger.

We have seen the best teams that compete deep into the playoffs, have some of the deepest bullpens in the game. Since the M’s plan to compete for the division title in 2023, then they will need to have a really deep bullpen. Adding Betances for ’23 would be an excellent way to do it. It could be just like what they did with Ken Giles, and Betances would offer similar value in the future as a back-end reliever.