Luis Arraez's Giants deal probably helped Mariners finish offseason in style

Seattle Mariners fans got some good news on Saturday, namely in that Luis Arraez's free agency ended with him signing with a team that was notably not the Mariners.

This is one of those "reasonable minds can disagree" takes, but the official position of SoDo Mojo was that the Mariners should not touch Arraez with a 10-foot pole. Because when even a three-time batting champion posts back-to-back seasons of 1-ish WAR, alarm bells go off.

They apparently did not for the San Francisco Giants, who signed Arraez on Saturday to a one-year deal worth $12 million. The plan is to play him at second base, thus granting his wish after recent seasons had pigeonholed him as a first baseman.

Despite the Jorge Polanco-shaped hole they still had at second base at the time, it doesn't seem like the Mariners were ever seriously in on Arraez. Again, that was a good thing. And even better, the Giants solving their own second base need with Arraez took them out of the market for other options.

Luis Arraez's Giants deal probably helped Mariners' pursuit of Brendan Donovan

Before they landed on Arraez, the Giants were rumored to be aggressively pursuing two second basemen on the trade market: Brendan Donovan of the St. Louis Cardinals and Nico Hoerner of the Chicago Cubs.

This was relevant to the Mariners, particularly where Donovan was concerned. Seattle and San Francisco were rumored to be the favorites for the 2025 All-Star at one point, yet the report on the Giants' aggressiveness seemed to signal they had something the Mariners didn't: urgency.

But then the Giants signed Arraez, and the Mariners pulled off a three-team trade for Donovan two days later. Coincidence?

That could be the case, though the Giants did not exactly do the Cardinals a favor by taking themselves out of the bidding for Donovan. They had been holding firm on a tough stance with Donovan, which included a big asking price and a timeline that was not open-ended. They were waiting to be blown away, which usually only happens if one or more teams are forcing each other to up the ante.

For their part, the Mariners were sending mixed messages as recently as the weekend. President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto was openly talking about adding another player at FanFest. General manager Justin Hollander, on the other hand, said the team is more so "open-minded" to adding someone.

Donovan's name wasn't spoken amid all that, but was very obviously in the air in Seattle. But whereas it had seemed to be Donovan-or-bust for the Mariners for a while, it might well have been Mariners-or-bust for the Cardinals as soon as they no longer had the Giants to barter with.

In the end, the resulting trade feels like the best possible deal the Mariners could have made for Donovan.

Whereas the Cardinals were rumored to like Lazaro Montes earlier in the winter, they ultimately had to settle for Jurrangelo Cijntje, who sits 48 spots lower on MLB Pipeline's top 100. The trade otherwise cost Seattle Ben Williamson, Tai Peete and a draft pick, all three of which are acceptable losses. Though Williamson and Peete have recognizable names, the former is a glove-only player and the latter has been a disappointment since going to Seattle in the first round of the 2023 draft.

If one had to take a wild guess, the Mariners probably put this offer (or at least the framework of it) on the table a while ago, and then refused to budge when the Cardinals pressed for more. That could have backfired if the Giants had chosen to blow St. Louis away, but they apparently couldn't resist the call of Arraez.

So, all's well that ends well. The Giants got their guy and the Mariners got theirs, and Seattle has every reason to feel like theirs is the better end of that arrangement.