We’ve heard all sorts of talk about the Mariners attempting to upgrade their offense this winter, with names like Carlos Beltran and Nelson Cruz in the conversation, but ESPN’s Buster Olney writes that they might be better-positioned to land one of the top free agent starting pitchers on the market:
One of the three most prominent free-agent starting pitchers--Ubaldo Jimenez, Ervin Santana, Matt Garza--seems bound to wind up w/Seattle.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) November 30, 2013
If the Mariners are truly ready to splurge on free agents, they’d probably have an easier time convincing pitchers to come to Seattle than hitters. While moving in the fences at Safeco Field resulted in increased offense this past season, the park still played slightly pitcher-friendly and continued to limit home runs. Of course, 81 games isn’t a big sample size, but its reputation as a pitchers’ park figures to linger.
The Mariners already have Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma at the top of their rotation and young right-hander Taijuan Walker looked promising during a late-season sneak preview, so their starting pitching could be pretty scary if they are able to sign one of those guys. But they’ll be losing a lot of 2-1 and 3-2 games unless they are able to add a bat or two, as well.