Seattle Mariners Listed as ‘Logical’ Landing Spot For Top Remaining Offensive Free Agent
With spring training set to start in less than a week for teams, several top free agents remain unsigned, including Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, Jorge Soler and Cody Bellinger.
In a column on Friday, Jon Heyman of the New York Post listed some logical landing spots for Bellinger, who most recently played for the Chicago Cubs.
The Giants, Mariners and Angels are also logical for Bellinger. And here’s one completely speculative landing spot: Philadelphia. The Phillies are consistently successful in free agency, and they got almost nothing offensively out of center field in October.
We had heard another report from Bob Nightengale of USA Today that suggested that Bellinger could be a dark horse for Philadelphia. Heyman also mentioned the incumbent Cubs as a possibility as well.
Let's stick with the Mariners here. Heyman is right. By virtue of their need for offense to support their pitching staff, they make perfect sense. But given that Seattle has appeared cash-strapped all offseason, and that they've made trades for Mitch Haniger, Luke Raley and Jorge Polanco this offseason, they would seem to be tapped out of the Bellinger market.
Bellinger is thought to want at least $200 million.
In 2023, as he hit .307 with 26 home runs and 97 RBI for the Cubs - in just 130 games.
Bellinger won the National League MVP in 2019, hitting 47 home runs for the Dodgers, but then he scuffled massively through injury and poor performance in 2020-2022. That led to him being non-tendered by LA and signing the one-year deal with the Cubs.
Perhaps the history of inconsistency is why Bellinger hasn't found a home yet.
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