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.