Mariners were cheap once again and didn't sign Trevor May... despite him wanting to play in Seattle

I try my best. I really do. I want to defend this team, and try and invest in the long-term strategy that they say that they have. Sometimes though, they make it really difficult. That happened again this week when it was made known that they were too cheap to sign Trevor May before the 2023 season... even though he wanted to come to Seattle to play for the Mariners.

In fact, check out what he said while on Twitch...

"I didn't fit because of the nature of what my contract would've been, and that pisses me off, because I would've taken whatever to play on that team."

He only ended up signing a one year deal with the Athletics for $7M. That's a bit of money, but it sounds like, at least according to May, that he would've taken less to come and play for Seattle. I'm sure he doesn't mean that he would've taken a MLN minimum or anything crazy like that, but there is no reason that the team shouldn't have signed him to a $4-5M deal if that's what he was looking for.

May isn't just some bum reliever, either. Yes, he struggled in 2022, but he had a good career up to that point, and you could argue that it had even been great. From 2018-2021, he threw in 181 games, amassing 175.2 IP, a 3.33 ERA, a 3.63 FIP, a WHIP of 1.144, and nice splits of 3.2 BB/9 and 12.1 K/9.

He did well in 2023, which makes it look even worse. In throwing for one of the worst teams in baseball, he still logged 46.2 IP across 49 appearances, with an ERA of 3.28. He likely overperformed, as his BB/9, wHIP, and FIP weren't great, but for the time being, ERA is all that matters. It can be a precursor of a down year incoming, but it still shows how many people crossed the plate, and the Mariners could've used that number, and appearances, in their pen this season.

I really do hope that this all isn't the case. that May is possibly overreacting or stretching what happened. It seems like a wierd case to make though, as it was his "hometown" team, and would've made for a fitting end to his career to be able to finish out in Seattle. If the Mariners really did cheap out on a good reliever over ~$2M, then shame on them. Shame. Shame. Shame.