Mariners should reunite with reliever whose departure once torpedoed chemistry

As much as plenty of Seattle Mariners fans (and local media) are not satisfied with the outcome, the likely reality is that the front office has concluded their efforts to resolve the infield. With the signing of Donovan Solano and the return of Jorge Polanco, the club has made the best of a situation which saw other moves not come to fruition during an extremely frustrating offseason for all concerned.

A significant part of the reason the Mariners are compromised in making any more moves is because of the apparent budget of $15 million of spare payroll to upgrade the roster. With Solano and Polanco coming in on one-year deals worth $3.5 million and $7.75 million, respectively, this, in theory, leaves the club with around $3.75 million remaining to spend (if we assume this doesn't take into account the reported $3.5 million of available incentives also contained within Polanco's contract).

The thing is, though, there is another area on the team which could use some more depth: the bullpen. And that's despite it being reasonably effective for the majority of last season, finishing the campaign ranked ninth with a 3.71 ERA, fourth with a 1.17 WHIP, and second-best with 184 walks and a .215 opposing team batting average.

Consider that the bullpen relied too much on Andrés Muñoz at times and seemed to lose their way towards the end of the 2024 season, finishing with a 60.7 percent success rate in save opportunities, which was eighth-worst in the majors. In addition, Matt Brash won't return until sometime in May -- and with no guarantees of how effective he will be -- while no one can be sure of what version of Gregory Santos we will see in Seattle, assuming he can remain healthy.

A bullpen arm who offers positive and painful memories to Mariners fans is available

With all of this in mind, there might be a reasonably priced option out there for the Mariners who can help the bullpen, albeit not without risk and a painful trip down memory lane. We're talking about free agent Kendall Graveman, who pitched in Seattle during the 2020 season and for just over half of the 2021 campaign.

Graveman might not have spent long with the Mariners, but it was undoubtedly an eventful tenure in the Pacific Northwest. Originally brought in to be a starter, a benign bone tumor was discovered in his cervical spine and he was subsequently moved to the bullpen following a stint on the injured list.

As a result of all this upheaval, it's no surprise the righty never felt settled during 2020, and he would finish with a 5.79 ERA, 4.26 FIP and 1.232 WHIP in 18.2 combined innings. However, even though the Mariners declined their club option for the 2021 season, he was re-signed the very next day to a lesser figure.

This turned out to be an excellent decision for club and player alike, as Graveman produced arguably the best form of his Major League career during the first few months of the 2021 campaign. He produced a barely believable 0.82 ERA and 0.697 WHIP, along with a 2.90 FIP, in 33.0 combined innings over 30 appearances.

Recalling Mariners' inexplicable decision to trade Kendall Graveman

However, then came a move which to this day still perplexes Mariners fans everywhere, as Jerry Dipoto decided to trade Graveman to the Houston Astros on July 27. Despite attempts to justify the move, it defied logic to get rid of your hottest reliever while you were in playoff contention, especially to a divisional rival which was already stacked.

The anger and dismay within the Mariners club house was evident, with the team feeling betrayed by Dipoto's decision to trade Graveman. As reported at the time by Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times, some of the pitchers had tears in their eyes, equipment was broken and one player went absolutely mad.

The trade had a detrimental affect on team morale, with players believing the organization was not genuinely invested in contending. By season's end, the Mariners missed a Wild Card spot by two games, with plenty of people wondering about what could have been as the club's Major League-worst postseason drought extended to 20 years. (Fortunately for fans, it would finally be ended the following year.)

Since leaving Seattle, Graveman has not been able to reach the same heights, but has still proven to be useful and (mostly) durable in two stints with the Astros, with some time in Chicago with the White Sox sandwiched in between. However, he had to sit out all of last season after undergoing shoulder surgery to his throwing arm, and decided to become a free agent at the conclusion of the 2024 campaign.

Kendall Graveman fully recovered and ready to go

Allowing for any understandable concerns, the news is that the 34-year-old is recovered and healthy, and he's apparently receiving plenty of attention from clubs around the league. It is our humble opinion that the Mariners should get into the mix, assuming they haven't done so already.

Even though Graveman's most recent contract had an average annual value of $8 million, the thinking is that he will be available at a reasonable price. This becomes more feasible when combining his age and return from injury, which opens the door for the Mariners to make their pitch (pun unintended).

The key to all of this will be Graveman's history with the Mariners, and it really could tip their chances either way. Does the Alexander City, Alabama native look on his time in Seattle fondly, or does he hold it against Dipoto and the rest of the front office that they were prepared to discard him seemingly so easily? Again, as per Divish, Graveman was stunned and upset himself about being traded when things were going so well for everyone in Seattle.

Irrespective, as far as we're concerned, the Mariners need to shoot their shot and attempt to bring back a player who also offers invaluable leadership. The front office should view it as a roundabout way of apologizing to Graveman, while also adding a proven commodity to a bullpen that needs more quality depth.

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