Injury updates should have Mariners underlining ESPN's 'best fit' for bullpen

Fans won't appreciate Tuesday's injury update by Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times, noting that Matt Brash, Cooper Criswell and Carlos Vargas aren’t expected back until around the trade deadline. To say the Mariners could use a quality reliever would be an understatement and one such option is apparently available, in Aroldis Chapman.

As much as the Mariners bullpen is doing well as a collective to rank sixth in the majors with a 3.43 ERA, it's at a point where they're barely hanging on. And with ESPN's Kiley McDaniel and Jeff Passan advising there's a 90 percent chance of the Red Sox trading Chapman, Jerry Dipoto should make that long-distance call to Boston. He might now be 38, but he's pitching as well as ever.

Now in his 17th year of Major League action, Chapman knows his way around the ballparks and is proving himself to be a wily veteran. His ridiculous 0.44 ERA projects as a career low, while his 1.84 FIP and 0.919 WHIP are also pretty damn impressive. And while he might not be throwing quite as hard as in his younger days, he still ranks in the 90th percentile for Fastball Velo.

It helps that Chapman's game has developed over the years, with McDaniel and Passan noting he now has four distinct and effective pitches. In fact he's undergone a renaissance which last season saw him tie a career-high 3.4 bWAR, as he finished seventh in AL Cy Young voting and garnered some MVP consideration.

Aroldis Chapman can also act as security against the erratic Andrés Muñoz

ESPN does have the Mariners as a prime fit for the eight-time All-Star, and we know they have enough assets to entice the Red Sox into speaking. Certainly you won't find us disagreeing with the M's if they do get in touch. As SoDo Mojo's Jason Wang wrote last week, Chapman could also provide excellent insurance for Andrés Muñoz, who's not exactly been reliable as a closer this season in Seattle.

On the subject of Seattle, we appreciate there's no guarantee Chapman's tremendous production would translate to the Pacific Northwest. However, given the success he's had at Fenway Park, we'd like to think he'll thrive at the more pitcher-friendly atmosphere of T-Mobile Park.

From a contract perspective, the two-time World Series champion is on a one-year, $13.3 million deal with a vesting/mutual option for 2027. However, as much as he's not cheap and likely gone after this season, he's worth it -- and sooner than later. Brash, Criswell and Vargas all being out until the beginning of August is bad enough, with the added possibility that one or more could be absent even longer.

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