One of Baseball's Top Free Agents Reportedly Wants to Sign with the Seattle Mariners This Offseason
Former San Diego Padres and Tampa Bay Rays left-hander Blake Snell reportedly wants to sign with the Seattle Mariners this offseason.
Per Bob Nightengale of USA Today:
Free agent starter Blake Snell would love to sign with his hometown team, the Seattle Mariners, but they don’t have a need for starting pitching. The Philadelphia Phillies are the favorite to sign him while letting Aaron Nola walk away.
It certainly seems reasonable that Snell, a Seattle native, would like to sign with the M's. The Mariners also are coming off three straight seasons of 88 wins or more, so they are a good team that likely fits a player's desire to win.
Nightengale's point is well taken, though. Armed with George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, Luis Castillo, Bryce Miller, Bryan Woo, Robbie Ray and Marco Gonzales, the Mariners don't truly need starting pitcher.
However, the other day, Jon Morosi of MLB Network raised an interesting point. He said that if the M's sign a frontline starter, they could use one of their current arms in a trade to go acquire a bat. The M's haven't had much luck enticing free agent hitters to Seattle, so using an arm to get one might be the best way to go about it.
If the M's were to trade a pitcher, the St. Louis Cardinals could be a perfect match.
As for Snell, he's coming off a year in which he went 14-9 with a 2.25 ERA for the San Diego Padres. He's the presumptive favorite to win the National League Cy Young award. He also won the AL Cy Young award in 2018.
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