Forgotten Mariners ace should be sought for a reunion after Cubs release

The Seattle Mariners suddenly have a need for a long man in their bullpen after Trent Thornton tore his Achilles last week. As if on cue, the Chicago Cubs gave them a potential option on Monday by releasing Chris Flexen.

The news of the former Mariner's release was picked up on by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors, who further reported that the 31-year-old declined an outright assignment to the minors following his designation for assignment last week. He will be paid the remainder of his $1.5 million salary.

Any team that wants to sign Flexen on a major league deal would only have to pay him a prorated portion of the $760,000 minimum salary. For the Mariners, this is just another excuse to bring the right-hander back to Seattle.

Chris Flexen could fill Trent Thornton's spot in the Mariners' bullpen

Though it got somewhat lost in the shuffle of last week's trade deadline excitement, the loss of Thornton for the rest of the year was a significant blow to the Mariners.

He had been working as the de facto long man out of the bullpen for manager Dan Wilson, and had lately been doing a solid job of it. His last 15 appearances had covered 23.2 innings and resulted in a 2.28 ERA.

With Thornton out, Casey Legumina seems to be the next man up for the long relief role. He has the arm for it, but major league hitters have figured him out in recent weeks. Go back to the start of July, and his last 10 appearances have yielded a 13.50 ERA.

For his part, it's been four years since Flexen returned from a stint in Korea to become a surprise success story for the Mariners in 2021. He was functionally their ace that year, making 31 starts and pitching to a 3.61 ERA. He easily led the team's pitchers with 3.4 rWAR, though this was notably before Seattle's current staff began to take shape in 2022.

Flexen ended up being a bit player on the '22 squad, beginning the year in the rotation only to move to the bullpen later in the season. The Mariners DFA'd him and traded him to the New York Mets the following July, though he never actually suited up for them. He then pitched for the Colorado Rockies and Chicago White Sox before hooking up with the Cubs in free agency this February.

Flexen had a sub-1.00 ERA through his first 17 appearances as a Cub, but then hit a wall in allowing 14 runs (12 earned) over his next four outings. As a fly-ball pitcher with whiff and strikeout rates in the 1st percentile, that was probably inevitable.

What should matter to the Mariners, though, is that his 21 appearances for the North Siders covered 43.2 innings. He was thus even more of a bulk guy than Thornton, and having a guy like that for the stretch run could only help keep Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryan Woo, and Luis Castillo from undue wear and tear. And besides, if a whiff-light, fly ball-heavy pitcher is going to find success anywhere, it'll be in Seattle.

Jerry Dipoto should still have Flexen's number somewhere in his phone, and all we're saying is that it wouldn't hurt to give him a call.