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Could a big name Free Agent fall in Love with Seattle and sign with the Mariners for Valentine's Day?
There are four big free agents still on the market without a partner. Could one of them fall for the Mariners on Valentine's Day and want to sign with Seattle?
The free agent market has been slow this winter and there are still multiple big name free agents out there who need a team for the 2024 season. Four big free agents need a partner to fall in love with them and offer them a home for the 2024 season: third baseman Matt Chapman, outfielder/first baseman Cody Bellinger, and lefties Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery. Could one of these four be the missing link to completing the Seattle Mariners offseason?
With Spring Training starting for the Seattle Mariners on Valentine's Day, it is fun to dream about the idea of one of the four big name free agents falling in love with Seattle and wanting to sign with them. All of these four players are experienced big leaguers who have had success and could push the Mariners into division favorite territory if they were to sign with Seattle.
Matt Chapman
Matt Chapman has long been a nemesis of the Mariners dating back to his days with the Oakland Athletics. He is one of the best defensive third baseman in the league and has been for years. Adding his premier defense to the hot corner would surely be worthwhile, but the questions come with his bat. He had some great years before the pandemic where he was worth 12 WAR in 2018 and 2019, but the last three years his offense has been lacking.
In 2023 Chapman only slashed .240/.330/.424 with 17 home runs, but he did have a 110 wRC+. He did this in a hitter-friendly ballpark in Toronto and still hit the ball hard last year, but the expected batting average was lower than his results. Chapman also strikes out a lot and does not dominate the zone. He has the potential to be a 120 wRC+ type of hitter, but I would be worried that he has a Teoscar Hernandez type of season in Seattle.
I do not see Chapman as a fit in Seattle because the Mariners have already committed resources to third base in the form of Luis Urias and Josh Rojas. Does the former Blue Jay have a better resume than those two? Yes, of course, but it does not make sense to have a platoon at third base then add someone who needs to play every day. It just does not seem like the best use of resources at the current moment and I doubt these two would match on a dating app right now.
Jordan Montgomery
One of the best pitchers during the playoffs last year was Jordan Montgomery. He had a 2.90 ERA in 31 innings last October and was a leader on the World Series winning Texas Rangers. He has still not signed a contract this offseason. Many might think that the Mariners don't need another starting pitcher because they have five starting pitchers ready to start spring training with Luis Castillo, George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, Bryce Miller, and Bryan Woo.
It is impossible to expect that those five righties will pitch every fifth day and pitch 200 innings each. Maybe the Mariners think that Bryan Woo or Bryce Miller could use more time developing pitches to get lefties out in Triple-A and that Jordan Montgomery, an experienced big leaguer, gives them a better chance to win games right now. That could give the Mariners insurance because then Woo could fill in for any injury that happens instead of Austin Voth or Emerson Hancock.
Montgomery could be waiting for someone to get injured and hope a team gets desperate and pays up for his services, but the Mariners could look to match with the lefty. The former Ranger could also want to play for Seattle because they could help make him better like they have done with countless other pitchers.
Blake Snell
Blake Snell is a Washington native and he has been seen at local sporting events this offseason, begging the question, does he want to come home to Seattle? He is coming off of his second Cy Young Award and has not gotten the contract he was hoping for because he is still waiting for someone to fall in love with him this February.
Similar to the rationale for signing Jordan Montgomery, the Mariners would be able to push one of their young starters to the minor leagues with the addition of Blake Snell. He would add a left handed element to the Mariners rotation that they do not currently have. The Mariners could also go to a six-man rotation if they wanted to with Snell slotting in behind Castillo, Kirby, and Gilbert.
In 2023, Snell had a fantastic season for the San Diego Padres. He started 32 games, pitched 180 innings, and had a 2.25 ERA which earned him a 4.1 WAR according to Fangraphs. Snell is a strikeout pitcher who gets lots of swings and misses but does struggle with walking too many batters. The Mariners' pitching brain trust could possibly fix that issue and help him walk fewer hitters and stay in ballgames longer.
This possible marriage seems the most likely because of the hometown connection between Snell and Seattle. He could be ready to come back home and settle down with the Mariners and try to bring a World Series trophy to his hometown.
Cody Bellinger
Cody Bellinger wanting to be the Mariners' Valentine would be the absolute dream scenario for Seattle. He is a former MVP who brings a lot to the table for whichever team ends up signing him. He has a 7.8 WAR season under his belt earlier in his career and has four years of 3.5 WAR or more. The downside is he has a negative WAR season and a few very mediocre seasons in his rearview mirror as well.
His 2019 MVP campaign was incredible. He hit .305/.406/.629 with 47 homers, 121 runs, 115 RBI, and a 161 wRC+. That type of season is very hard to repeat, and he went through a valley of struggles after that but he did appear to find himself last season in Chicago with the Cubs. He hit .307/.356/.525 with 26 home runs and a 134 wRC+. He may never return to that no-doubt MVP level again, but he proved last year he could be a star for a team.
Imagine a Mariners lineup of JP Crawford, Julio Rodriguez, Cody Bellinger, Jorge Polanco, Mitch Garver, Cal Raleigh, Ty France, Luke Raley, and Josh Rojas. That lineup is very deep and the top is going to rival a lot of teams with elite offenses. The Mariners could legitimately be American League West favorites with that lineup. Bellinger would certainly make Julio Rodriguez better because of the threat of him hitting behind him.
It might be a pipe dream to think that the Mariners have the kind of money needed to sign Bellinger, but no one has met his demands yet, and maybe he wants to play next to another MVP-caliber premier player like Julio Rodriguez. These four players could all end up signing big contracts with large market teams, but it is fun to dream about the Mariners adding one of the final premier free agents on the market to their squad for a 2024 playoff push.