Thinking about “what-ifs” too often is a sure-fire way to make a trip down anxiety and sleep deprivation lane. At our best, we try to avoid it and focus on the good things we have in life. At our weakest, we can be consumed by thinking about the things we’ve missed out on or the things we’ve lost. Since it’s Friday and we’re about to get Mariners baseball back in our lives again most days until early October (unless....[pleading emoji]), I’ve decided to temporarily inflict some violence upon LL’s collective psyche and I’m not sorry.

What if Shohei Ohtani had signed with the Seattle Mariners in 2018?

Let’s be honest, we’ve all thought about this more often than we’d like to admit, even before this season where Ohtani’s highlight reel homers have been crammed down our throats by MLB who are finally realizing just what kind of star they have on their hands and are finally trying to market him like they should. So, it’s usually top of mind these days, since every other night it seems like Ohtani is mashing a 450+ foot dinger and throwing 99 mph heat while the Angels lose 9-3 and it really makes you think: what if Ohtani was having this incredible season with the 2021 Mariners instead?

Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

So, that’s the prompt. You can write a whole FanPost and take us through what you think would have happened in 2018, 2019, 2020, and this current season. You can pretend the arm injury didn’t happen or you can embrace it as part of your narrative. I want to hear some real specifics and wild stuff. Did the 2018 Mariners make the playoffs because of Ohtani’s presence? Did that prevent the rebuild from happening? Where are the Mariners now as a result? Was Shohei Ohtani sent into the past by John Connor to ruthlessly torment Mariners fan and cause Judgement Day? Much to think about.