3 free agents the Mariners missed out on last offseason

The 2023 Seattle Mariners season was quite a disappointment from a fan's perspective. They went from being in the playoffs in the 2022 season and looking like a team that had the pieces to compete for a World Series in 2023 if they made the right moves in the offseason. Instead, the front office decided to take a different approach and go for players who were older and hoping to bounce back from their 2022 seasons. The big acquisitions of last offseason were a trade for Teoscar Hernandez and Kolton Wong, and signing A.J. Pollock and Tommy La Stella. Only one of the four would be on the team come August.

It sucked seeing the Mariners close the gap with the Astros in the standings and miss the playoffs by one game. In a pretty average field of AL teams in the playoffs. I can't help but think that if the Mariners front office would have done more in the offseason that they could have been the AL team playing the Diamondbacks in the World Series. Let's look at three free agents the Mariners missed out on last offseason that could have helped them in 2023.

Mariners Free Agent Miss #1: Josh Bell

Josh Bell was someone I was hoping the Mariners would try to sign last offseason. He went to the Guardians on 2 year $33 million deal last offseason. He didn't have the best stats with the Guardians who at the deadline dealt him to the Marlins for their push for the postseason. He was much better in 2023 once he got to the Marlins. In 97 games with the Guardians he had an OPS+ of 96, and a slash line of .233/.318/.383, he just wasn't very good with the Indians. In 53 games with the Marlins he hit the same amount of home runs he hit with the Guardians which was 11. He had an OPS+ of 119 and a slash line of .270/.338/.480. He was much better with the Marlins and helped them make it to the playoffs.

I think having Josh Bell would have helped the Mariners in 2023 and honestly the price wasn't even that bad. For 30 year old left handed first baseman. 2 years $33 million doesn't seem that bad. He would have helped balance out our lineup, which the Mariners really needed. I am also surprised they didn't try to acquire him at the deadline when Ty France was struggling. Bell has an opt out in his contract, so maybe Jerry will try this offseason to sign him.

Mariners Free Agent Miss #2: J.D. Martinez

I remember last offseason when there were reports of J.D. Martinez being seen at a restaurant in Seattle. If memory serves, he even posted something on social media when he was at Pike Place Market and it got fans hearts racing. I was pretty pumped because I was hoping they would sign him to a deal, but then he signed a 1-year deal for $10 million with the Dodgers, Mariners signed A.J. Pollock for $3 million less...

In 2023 J.D. Martinez was a 1.9 WAR player, with a slash line of .271/.321/.572 and an OPS+ of 134. Martinez was an above-average player for the Dodgers. He had 33 homeruns, 103 RBI's, overall he had a solid year for the Dodgers, the only thing that was bad was his 31.1% K rate and his 7.1% walk rate, both below MLB average. Martinez was better than all of the free agents the Mariners brought in and could have helped the Mariners win that 1 extra game they needed to get into the playoffs.