With still available as we enter late February, writes that the Mariners have discu sed the po sibility of signing the free agent third baseman. It isnt clear if these discu sions could be due-diligence explorations within the front office, or whether or not president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto might have reached out to Chapmans camp about a potential contract. was seemingly locked in at Seattles third baseman when the offseason began, yet the Ms created a vacancy at the hot corner when Suarez was to the Diamondbacks in November. Since was acquired in another with the Red Sox about a week before the Suarez deal, the initial expectation was that Urias could potentially take over for Suarez, yet that situation was further altered after another trade with the Twins that brought to the Pacific Northwest. With Polanco now established as the new every second baseman, third base looked to be covered by Urias and in a platoon, with utilityman also providing more depth. Signing Chapman would deliver yet another shakeup to the infield picture, and push Rojas, Urias, and Moore firmly into backup roles unle s any got some at-bats spelling at first base. Since public defensive metrics havent traditionally been impre sed by the glovework of France, Polanco, or shortstop , adding a multi-time Gold and Platinum Glove winner like Chapman would go a long way towards helping the Mariners run prevention. There would also be an offensive upgrade, though not as much as one might imagine. Since , Chapman has posted a 110 wRC+ over 1824 plate appearances, while Urias has a Luke Jackson Jersey 107 wRC+ in 1219 PA and Rojas a 99 wRC+ in 1410 PA. Urias and Rojas both hit so poorly in 2023 that it obscures their very solid numbers in the previous two years, albeit in le s playing time than Chapman received as a true everyday player with the As and Blue Jays. That said, Chapmans 2023 campaign was also a mixed bag at best at the plate. He got off to a scorching start that won him the AL Player of the Month Award for April, but Chapman then hit only .205/.298/.361 over 467 PA from May 1 to the end of the regular season. A finger injury particularly hampered Chapman over the last couple of months and he ended up with a 110 wRC+ (from 17 homers and a .240/.330/.424 slash line in 581 PA), yet this shaky platform year is quite likely the reason why Chapman has lingered so long on the open market. Chapman is also a free swinger at the plate, which would seemingly run counter to the Mariners offseason goal of improving the lineups contact hitting. Seattles 25.9% strikeout rate was the second highest of any team in baseball in 2023, yet Chapman has averaged a 29.9% strikeout rate since the start of the 2020 season. Chapman has generally been able to offset his strikeouts by doing a lot of damage when he did make contact, and his barrel and hard-hit ball rates were among the best in the league last year, even if his bottom-line numbers didnt reflect the quality of his contact. Beyond the on-field questions, there is also the more practical matter of whether the Mariners can even meet Chapmans contract demands. It is po sible Chapman and agent Scott Boras might have lowered or been willing to lower the asking price this deep into the offseason, yet if that is the case, other rumored suitors as the Giants or Cubs might still be in a better position than the Ms to take advantage, to say nothing or any other mystery teams. The Mariners of the ROOT Sports Northwest regional sports network has put some added expenses onto the organizations books, and seemingly limited what the front office has had available to spend this offseason. projects Seattle for a $135MM payroll in 2024, and though Dipoto that the Mariners were able to spend beyond their $140MM payroll from last season, there doesnt appear to be a lot of wiggle room available. Chapman would still require a hefty average annual value even on a shorter-term deal with opt-outs involved, and as mentioned earlier, another club might well be able to outbid Seattle within that kind of unique structure. There is also the fact that Dipoto has traditionally been much more open to trades than pricey free agent signings as a roster-building strategy, as s five-year, $115MM contract from the 2021-22 offseason is far and away the biggest deal given to a free agent in Dipotos tenure. As Divish notes, the Mariners have had interest in Chapman , back when the As were shopping the third baseman as part of their wide-ranging fire sale after the 2021 season. The Athletics reportedly wanted as part of any trade package involving Chapman, and the Ms instead held onto Marte only to eventually move him in the deal at the 2022 deadline. Hank Aaron Jersey