Seattle Mariners mailbag: Chasing Shohei Ohtani, trading George Kirby and more

Seattle Mariners are chasing Shohei Ohtani and trading George Kirby. Trey Mancini is the best option for the Mariners. The team is looking for a right-handed hitting outfielder and/or a first baseman. The Mariners continue to lose out on signing veterans like Cody Bellinger and J.D. Martinez. They are looking to fill this void through the trade market. It's not a lack of interest on their end or on the other side. There are no refunds for this week's mailbag. This week, the topics are: The Seattle Mariners and the free-agent market, current players, prospective players and organizational philosophy.

The Seattle Mariners prefer to trade players than sign them in free agency. Tim Beckham was the American League Player of the Week the first week of 2019. The CBA bars Seattle from signing free-agent position players. The team is built on draft, development and trades. It's possible the fear of contracts on the back end is why they avoid them. They are interested in Shohei Ohtani. Seattle is also interested. There is a new CPA section that explains this. Jack J. is not.

Emerson Hancock is a promising pitcher. He has good fastball, changeup and slider. The Mariners are interested in signing him. He might be in Seattle in 2023.

Andy would like to be a docent at the LBJ Library in Austin. Corey would love to trade for Luis Arraez from Minnesota. Jason doesn't trust the Seattle Mariners' bullpen.   The Mariners could use an Andrew Chafin/Taylor Rogers type. They could also use Chris Flexen, Matt Brash and Gabe Gonzalez. The team is interested in signing Shohei Ohtani. It's probably foolish to expect everything to go well in 2023. the team's bullpen the last two seasons. it's a bit foolish. to think everything will go swimmingly in 2021 and 2022.

Emily H. thinks the Seattle Mariners are positioning themselves for another run at Shohei Ohtani in 2024.