The Mariners' competition in the AL West just got even tougher.
A sleepy baseball offseason, defined by the ongoing stalemate between a slew of high-end free agents and a slew of high-end teams that seem determined to avoid them, was jolted awake Saturday night when the Houston Astros pulled off a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates for former all-star right-hander Gerrit Cole.
Once again, a high-profile team, the defending World Series champion Astros, made a splashy move without having to commit tens of million of dollars in annual salaries well into the next decade. It does little to soothe the fraying nerves of all those free agents watching the calendar creep closer to Opening Day, but more than ever, this is how baseball’s offseason talent marketplace operates.