Free Agency: What MLB Trade Rumors predicts Mariners will do

Every year, Free Agency Predictions and Rumors reign supreme in the baseball world as the season wraps up. They span from that one person in your friend’s group who swears they saw a legit rumor somewhere (No, Verlander isn’t going back to Detroit) all the way up to ESPN and their published list. For our purposes, the only ones we really care about involve the Mariners.

I really like following MLB Trade Rumors. They do a great job covering legit rumors as they come along and can give you a pretty good idea of what is happening. Of course, they aren’t as good as our own Robert Murray, but they still do a pretty good job. What I wanted to do was take a look at their top 50, and see what all they had the Mariners involved in.

Let’s check out some of the Mariners Free Agency Predictions from MLBTR

Before we get into the ones that they actually predict, here are some of the ones that they mention they think the Mariners will be involved in.

Carlos Correa, Trea Turner – Whether you like Carlos Correa or you don’t, the Mariners are likely going to be involved with all the top SS options.

Kodai Senga – Would round out the Mariners rotation, and give them arguably the strongest rotation in baseball

Brandon Drury – He’s a versatile player that puts up pretty good numbers, and someone that would be a great addition to the Mariners if it works out.

Those are only the players that they expect the Mariners to be involved with, but to eventually fall short of. Now, let’s get to the actual predictions, and see who MLBTR thinks will end up on the Seattle Mariners this year.

Mariners sign SS Xander Bogaerts

Bogaerts might be 3rd in the SS rankings for Free Agents, a tier behind Correa and Turner. He would still be an incredible signing, and his bat would be a massive addition to the Mariners. Throwing him in with France, Suarez, Big Dumper, and Julio? Yes, please.

Mariners sign 1B/DH Jose Abreu

This is one that I totally agree with. Personally, I would love to see the Mariners sign Jose Abreu to play 1B/DH. He’s got the potential for a rare mix of power and batting average and would be a massive upgrade over Carlos Santana.

Mariners re-sign OF Mitch Haniger

Some people really want Mitch Haniger to come back to the Mariners (me). I’ve seen others, and even some of the people who contribute here at Sodo Mojo, that don’t really want him to come back, hoping for either an upgrade or at least a healthier player. I’m down to run through a wall for Haniger, and his fire and passion would be welcomed back with open arms.

Mariners sign OF/DH JD Martinez

If the Mariners sign Martinez, it would have to be solely as a DH. He hasn’t been good in the OF and isn’t going to get any better. Maybe we could get a bit of late-career Nelson Cruz from Martinez, and staying out of the field and focusing on the bat could lead to a strong resurgence from him.

Mariners sign reliever Andrew Chafin

We’ve talked about Chafin in the past as a target for the Mariners. He had another great season in 2022 and could make a strong Mariners bullpen even more dominant. It can be tough to pay for a reliever, but as we saw with the Mariners in the 2022 playoffs, you can never have enough relievers… that way you don’t have to throw a starter with no relief experience.

Mariners sign 2B Jean Segura

This is the odd one to me. Has enough time passed that Segura and the supposed falling out have been forgotten in the Mariners clubhouse? He’s still a decent defender, has low double-digit pop, and saw a nice uptick in speed this year. He’s not anywhere near the same level as the core four middle infielders, but could still be a nice low-cost addition.

Lastly, there was no mention of Adam Frazier, Carlos Santana, Matt Boyd, or Curt Casali. The only one I could possibly see coming back is Matt Boyd. We are all hopeful that the Mariners make a call and receive some serious interest from either Aaron Judge or Brandon Nimmo, but if we can sign a couple of the guys on this list, the Mariners lineup should be much better off in 2023.