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The Mariners free agency game plan going into the off-season was the talk of the town in Seattle when we heard Dipoto’s vision back on July 1st. In his weekly radio spot with Seattle Sports, Dipoto was asked how aggressive the M’s were going to be this offseason and this was his response:
"“Absolutely, in a word. And I think that’s the message I’ve been trying to send both to our team and most especially to our fans. When it’s time and you know where you’re adding, that’s when you go fire your bullets and we feel like that’s coming for us this off season.”"
With bats like Correa, Baez, Seager, Story, Bryant, and Semien all looking like tremendous fits, it was easy for M’s fans to get excited. What proceeded was a painful process of not only watching these talented players sign elsewhere, but we also had to watch Seager and Semien, a near perfect match for what they needed, sign with the division rival Texas Rangers, owners of a fresh 102 loss season. The pain was real, and you could feel Mariners fans start to panic.
The pain on December 1st was eased by shock and excitement as the Mariners snagged the reigning AL Cy Young winner and strikeout king Robbie Ray. Signing such a potentially dominant front of rotation starter, and at a tremendous contract that is basically a 3 year deal worth around $23 million, the M’s first splash was a big one.
On March 23rd, the Mariners signed 39-year-old reliever Sergio Romo to a major league deal to make up for the loss of Casey Sadler and his season ending injury.
That’s it…that’s all the major league deals…
We may never know exactly what transpired between Mariners leadership and the prized offensive weapons in this year’s free agent class. What we do know is that ownership has stated multiple times that they were willing to spend and that they “Want to make our lineup longer. We would like to add offense.” They did not spend a single dollar in free agency to help the offense.
That’s just not acceptable.
Free Agency Grade: C-