The prevailing emotion among Seattle Mariners fans these days is frustration, and it’s hard to blame them.
Seattle has one of the best pitching staffs in all of baseball, and most of it is cost-controlled. They’re in a great position to make the playoffs every year, but they’ve failed to do so in each of the last two seasons.
Meanwhile, the Mariners’ offense is, in a word, reprehensible. And last winter, instead of pushing to sign a big-name free agent, they tried to revamp that offense by bringing in Mitch Garver, Mitch Haniger, and Jorge Polanco.
Needless to say, that didn’t work out, and the Mariners haven’t even signed a minor contract to help out their offense yet this winter. But they could reverse all that ill will if they ponied up for former New York Mets All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso.
On Friday, Trevor Plouffe of Jomboy Media predicted that the Mariners would sign Alonso, finally giving them the power bat they’ve been searching for. Plouffe and his co-host, Chris Rose, also came to the consensus that a three-year, $90 million contract was the most likely scenario.
“We’re looking at this Seattle Mariners team, and obviously we know everything about their pitching staff,” Plouffe said. “But they’ve needed offense for many years… (Alonso is) instant offense.”
“I just think at that rate, three years is not a long term… I think he’s going to be productive for those three years. Why not, Seattle?”
Alonso, 30, has 226 home runs in his six-year career, second-most in baseball behind Aaron Judge (232) in that time frame. He’d instantly make the middle of the Mariners’ order a lot scarier, while offering protection for superstar Julio Rodríguez after a disappointing down year.
Only the Mariners know what their maximum budget for this season is and whether or not Alonso will fit into it. But as long as he remains unsigned, Seattle’s hopes of his price tag falling into a range they’re comfortable with will continue to grow.
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