Report: Seattle Mariners interested in signing Kris Bryant
By Josh Hill
A big offseason for the Seattle Mariners could be about to get a lot bigger with rumors that Kris Bryant is on the club’s radar.
It sounds like Kris Bryant might be staying put out west, just not in San Francisco.
According to FanSided’s Robert Murray, the Seattle Mariners are looking to continue a monster offseason by adding the former MVP and World Series star to its clubhouse this winter.
“The Seattle Mariners are among the teams interested in free-agent infielder/outfielder Kris Bryant, according to sources familiar with the situation,” Murray reported on Sunday morning. “The expectation, as of right now, is that Bryant will not sign before the potential Dec. 1 work stoppage.”
While no deal is imminent, and the looming lockout hangs over the excitement of this, the reported interest in Bryant from the Mariners is very notable.
All of this comes on the heels of the Mariners making a deal with the San Diego Padres to acquire Adam Frazier to its infield. Adding Bryant wouldn’t necessarily mean that third baseman Abraham Toro is replaced, rather Bryant has proven to be a true utility player capable of playing all anywhere defensively.
Offensively his bat speaks for itself. Seattle adding Bryant’s power to its lineup would be an obvious boost and one that directly answers some questions critics might have when it comes to how the Mariners lineup stacks up against the likes of the Astros and Angels.
The only losers in this, besides the AL West, reside on the north side of Chicago.
After Kris Bryant was traded to the Giants at the trade deadline, there was hope among Cubs fans that their hero could return in free agency. Bryant purposefully didn’t close the door to an offseason return, but it seems more and more like this was simply recency bias. Bryant could still return to Chicago, but the intense interest in him on the free agent market, coupled with how bad of shape the Cubs are in as far as being contenders, further suggests a reunion won’t be happening any time soon.