Mariners should be first in line for former Cubs slugging prodigy DFA'd by Marlins

The Seattle Mariners have two good right-handed hitters, and one of them is on the injured list. So when somebody like Christopher Morel becomes available, you'll have to forgive us for putting on our 2023 hats and thinking he might be able to help.

Morel was with the Miami Marlins, but not anymore after the team designated him for assignment on Sunday. A strained oblique delayed the start of the 26-year-old's season until April 28, and he then hit his way out of playing time by slashing .162/.219/.206 with no homers over 73 plate appearances.

Altogether, Morel has a 79 OPS+ and -1.4 rWAR in three seasons since his breakout with the Chicago Cubs in 2023. And even that year, his 26 home runs came paired with just a .313 OBP and 1.5 rWAR, consequences of a tendency to swing and miss and no true home on defense. He's played every defensive position except catcher and pitcher, but none of them well.

Morel is still owed a little more than $1 million, and any team that claims him off waivers would be responsible for all of that. As such, the more likely outcome is him clearing waivers and electing free agency, which he has the right to do because he has over three years of major league service time.

If so, the Mariners should come calling with a minor league offer and a spot on their Triple-A roster.

Mariners don't have much to loose by bringing Christopher Morel on board at this point

If nothing else, the Mariners could hope to light a fire under Morel by reuniting him with some familiar faces in Tacoma. He'd get to play again with Patrick Wisdom, a teammate on the Cubs from 2022 to 2024. There's also Brennen Davis, who crossed paths with Morel in the minors in the 2010s.

More than that, though, the Mariners need to see Morel as a potentially dangerous right-handed bat. Because at this point, it's not as if they can do worse than the non-Randy Arozarena, non-Julio Rodríguez options they've trotted out:

• Randy Arozarena and Julio Rodríguez: 124 wRC+
• Everyone Else: 61 wRC+

This is a yikes, and the Mariners have already reached a throw-stuff-at-the-wall phase of trying to solve the problem. Unless Rob Refsnyder starts living up to his reputation as a lefty masher, this phase is ongoing until it's time to get serious about the August 3 trade deadline.

As for reasons to believe in Morel, most of them come from that breakout 2023 season. The pop was real that year, as he averaged 92.1 mph on his batted balls with a barrel rate in the 95th percentile. He's still young enough to allow for belief that maybe he can be that guy again, in which case he could be a platoon partner for Dominic Canzone, Luke Raley and/or Josh Naylor.

Granted, that was three years ago and it's hard to overstate just how downhill things have gone for Morel since then. But if he's going to be a low-risk, high-reward signing for anyone, it might as well be the Mariners.

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