The Seattle Mariners are already planning for all times with out Randy Arozarena. The star outfielder is now a free agent and isn’t prone to return to Seattle. Whereas Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto would like to maintain the veteran slugger, his price ticket is seemingly simply too excessive. Consequently, the membership is different outfielder choices.
MLB insider Jon Morosi is now reporting that the Seattle Mariners are fascinated by signing Ian Happ. In line with the reporter, the membership desires to land the free agent for a number of causes. For starters, Dipoto desires to enhance his protection this winter. The membership dedicated 88 errors this previous season, simply above the league common. The free-agent slugger, nonetheless, beforehand collected 4 Gold Glove awards with the Chicago Cubs.
On prime of this, new Seattle Mariners supervisor Jason Kanzler is kind of aware of the star outfielder due to his time in Chicago. Kanzler was most lately the director of the Cubs’ farm system. Whereas a number of groups are anticipated to be within the combine for Happ, the Mariners may have an higher hand within the scenario attributable to these ties.
Happ, nonetheless, is greater than only a standout defender. The outfielder has a profession .783 OPS within the large leagues and is approaching 200 complete house runs. Though his 2026 stats dipped a bit, he nonetheless hit 24 house runs and scored 89 runs. The slugger simply completed off a three-year, $61 million contract in Chicago.
Focusing on Ian Happ Would Save the Seattle Mariners Cash
Regardless of his comparatively down yr, Happ is predicted to earn an identical deal this winter. The Athletic’s Tim Britton lately projected that the previous Cubs star will obtain a three-year, $63 million supply in free company. Britton’s colleague, Jim Bowden, beforehand predicted the slugger will get a two-year, $45 million contract. Each AAVs in these two projections are considerably related.
Whereas actually not a small contract, the Seattle Mariners would save a bit of cash signing Happ over Arozarena. Britton claims that the Cuban star ought to earn a four-year, $108 million contract this winter. Assuming Dipoto goes on this path, he would seemingly have cash left over to handle different roster wants.
Though this might be true, Seattle Mariners followers didn’t precisely react warmly to Morosi’s report. In spite of everything, Happ is extensively seen as a reasonably vital downgrade offensively to Arozarena. When evaluating their 2026 stats, the Cuban slugger outperformed the Cubs veteran in nearly each class.
Seattle Doesn’t Should Quit Draft Decide to Signal Slugger
However, the Seattle Mariners may actually do worse than signing Happ. The veteran is considered because the third-best outfielder in MLB’s free company. Arozarena tops most lists on this explicit class, with fellow Cubs star Seiya Suzuki coming in second. Suzuki, nonetheless, is predicted to price across the similar cash because the soon-to-be-former Mariners slugger.
Seattle may additionally signal Happ with out giving up a draft decide. Chicago opted to not give the previous Gold Glover a qualifying supply. They did, nonetheless, prolong a proposal to Suzuki. Due to this, any staff signing the Japanese star has to forfeit a excessive draft decide sooner or later.
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