The Mariners haven’t always had the easiest time signing free agents. They landed two big names after 2003 in Richie Sexson and Adrián Beltré, back when the team still had some shine on them, having won at least 90 games in each of the prior four years. Since then, it’s been slim pickings, and when they have been the winner, it’s usually required massively outbidding the rest of the market.
The Mariners can’t do much to make the travel schedule more appealing. Nor can they relocate to the prep baseball hotbeds of California, Texas, or Florida, or earn a regular Sunday Night Baseball berth, or position themselves any closer to many players’ hometowns in the Dominican Republic.