There's One Free Agent Left that the Seattle Mariners Need to Sign

While the Seattle Mariners continue to be linked to free agent third baseman Matt Chapman, the real free agent the team needs to be going after is reliever Ryne Stanek.

Because of the injury situation to Luis Urias and a general worry about production at third base, the Seattle Mariners continue to be linked to free agent Matt Chapman.

In other circles, the team is still being linked to free agent pitcher Blake Snell, who is a Seattle native.

While both of those players certainly have pluses that would make them nice additions to the M's roster, the free agent that makes the most sense is the one that no one is talking about: Ryne Stanek.

In the wake of a potentially serious injury to ace reliever Matt Brash, the M's need to shore up their bullpen again, and Stanek can help accomplish that.

The 32-year-old righty is a seven-year veteran who has played for the Tampa Bay Rays, Miami Marlins and Houston Astros. He's been an integral part of the Astros' bullpen since arriving in 2021. He helped the Astros win the World Series in 2022 and has made more than 55 appearances in each of the last three seasons. His ERAs over the last three years are 3.24, 1.15 and 4.09, respectively.

If Brash is sidelined for any or all of the season, Stanek can help alleviate the blow. Given that the Mariners are constantly worried about their ability to produce runs, they need a dynamite bullpen, and Stanek aids that. He could pair with Andres Munoz and Gregory Santos to give Seattle a three-headed monster.

Furthermore, the M's have two starting pitchers in Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo that have never gone through an entire major league season. They will need a bullpen to be able to pick up the young guys.

Seattle went 88-74 a season ago and missed the playoffs by 1.0 game.

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