Chris Flexen Reaches 300 Innings With Mariners, Earns Vesting Option
On Tuesday night, the Mariners offense finally exploded for some much-needed offense. But perhaps the best moment from the 9-3 win over the Tigers came from a pitcher we hadn't seen in nearly two full weeks.
Chris Flexen, who had not thrown a pitch since August 19, got a chance to shut down Detroit for four innings of relief out of the bullpen. The first out of Flexen's appearance was by far the most important, giving him 300 career innings in a Mariners uniform, thus triggering an $8 million vesting option for the 2023 season.
A vesting option indicates the club cannot override the option, but the player could decline in favor of testing the market. In either case, Flexen has earned every penny he will get.
Flexen has been worth 3.5 fWAR over his two seasons in Seattle; and although he has regressed from 2021 to 2022, he has still been a valuable player.
This is an incredible accomplishment for a player Seattle plucked out of the Korean Baseball Organization. While he has lost his spot in the rotation for now, Flexen will be needed down the stretch, especially if Logan Gilbert and George Kirby show signs of fatigue due to career highs in playing time.
Whether or not Flexen is long for Seattle remains to be seen, but president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto and his staff should be more than happy with the returns on their discovery and subsequent investment. Flexen has been worth every penny and then some thus far.
