The Athletic makes a controversial claim about Cal Raleigh's Mariners extension

Nobody needed reminder that getting Cal Raleigh signed to a six-year, $105 million extension was an extremely smart piece of business by the Seattle Mariners. They got one over the weekend anyway, as Raleigh homered in all three games of a sweep of the Texas Rangers.

Raleigh's home run on Friday was the 96th of his Major League career, breaking a tie with Mike Zunino for the most in franchise history by a catcher. At the age of 28 and combined with the aforementioned contract extension, he figures to have the record out of sight and hard to catch by the time he's finished with the Mariners in Seattle.

This brings us to a recent article by The Athletic's Jim Bowden (subscription required), which ranked 11 recent MLB extensions and used factors such as which teams had the best deals and who overpaid. The former Cincinnati Reds general manager ranked Raleigh's contract seventh, but that isn't even the main reason for bringing up the article.

Time for the Mariners to move on from Harry Ford?

What stood out most was one sentence in particular which Bowden wrote: "The signing also allows them to use their top catching prospect, Harry Ford, as trade bait at some point as they try to improve their offense."

The thinking from Bowden does make some sense when it comes to Ford who, according to MLB Pipeline, is the No. 4 prospect in the Mariners' farm system and projected to make his Major League debut at some point this season. Is it really fair to expect someone as talented as the 22-year-old to have to settle for backing up Raleigh for the next six years?

At the same time — and of course pending what kind of offensive help the Mariners could theoretically get in return — Ford doesn't necessarily have to just play catcher. He is athletic, has speed and actually played some games last year in left field at the Double-A level for the organization.

A positive comparison for the Mariners resides in Toronto

This brings to mind the Toronto Blue Jays' Daulton Varsho, who was originally drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks as a catcher. He went on to make the transition to the outfield and last year won a Gold Glove after leading all Major League players with 28 Defensive Runs Saved.

We're not claiming Ford will definitely have the same level of success as Varsho in the outfield, but it's certainly one option to consider among other positions the young prospect could play. Plus, it's not as if he has to forgo playing catcher full stop, with him capable of providing better depth at the position compared to Mitch Garver, who is more than likely gone after this season as things stand.

Overall, while we appreciate Bowden's perspective, there is a strong argument to be made for keeping Ford around, assuming he is going to be as good as projected. There are few better catchers in the game to learn from than Raleigh, even if the 2021 12th overall draft pick also has to see playing time at other positions in order to get on the field.

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