Potential Mariners free-agent target is chasing rare MLB history

As the Seattle Mariners enjoy a tremendous season at the plate, even Jerry Dipoto must be able to admit the offensive production has been better than he expected. Yet it's not too early to give some thought as to potential offseason pursuits, including Luis Arraez as a solution at first base.

Arraez has won three consecutive batting titles, including 2022 in the AL and in the NL in each of the past two seasons. Now, as per Jason Foster of MLB.com, the chase is on for the 28-year-old to lead his league in batting average for a fourth straight year and really leave his mark in the Major League record books.

Luis Arraez takes aim at history

If successful in his mission, Arraez would become just the seventh ever player to achieve four consecutive batting average titles, as well as just the 15th with four or more batting crowns overall. Although, one look at the current batting average leaders in the NL ahead of Monday's games might have you thinking he doesn't have much of a chance this year.

At the time of writing, the three-time Silver Slugger sits 16th in the NL among all qualifying hitters with a batting average of .289. This is well off the pace from San Diego Padres teammate Manny Machado, who leads the way with a .324 batting average.

The thing is, though, this kind of scenario is just a repeat of last season when Arraez was averaging just .263 through the first 20 games before turning it around. He proceeded to hit .321 the rest of the way — including after he was traded from the Miami Marlins to the Padres — to finish the year with a .314 batting average.

Never count Luis Arraez out

Similarly, the Venezuela native endured a nightmare 2-for-23 start at the plate this year, but has been hitting .330 ever since. Are you really going to bet against his ability to continue climbing up the batting average charts as the season progresses?

Regardless of if Arraez succeeds in his quest for a fourth consecutive batting title, it's imperative the Mariners seriously consider pursuing him once this season concludes. Aside from his actual hitting, the guy just doesn't strike out. He has only three K's through 33 games, something which would benefit the M's no matter how much they've improved in this area from last season.

And for anyone who believes the three-time All-Star might not be a realistic target for the Mariners, the market for him might not be as significant as you would think. His hard-hit rate and bat speed are both in the 1st percentile while, as noted by Rymer, he did only have a 1.0 WAR last season.

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