Mariners Moose Tracks, 3/16/22: Matt Olson, Anthony Rizzo, and Myles Turner

Good morning everyone! We’re still waiting for the major dominoes to fall in free agency, but you have to expect that we’re going to start to see some deals come through as Cactus League and Grapefruit League games are just around the corner. Let’s get to the latest from around baseball.

In Mariners news...

• Here’s some baseball eye candy courtesy of our newest Mariner.

• Patrick Dubuque at Baseball Prospectus provided his take on the M’s-Reds trade. ($)
• Jay Jaffe at Fangraphs gave his perspective on the deal as well.
• Mariners minor league deal(s) alert!

• Am I supposed to be happy or upset about this?

Around the league...

• The Braves locked inked a long-term commitment with their new first baseman in the form of an eight-year contract extension that will keep Matt Olson in Atlanta through 2029.
• Meanwhile, Anthony Rizzo is heading back to New York.

• Jon Heyman is reporting that the Cubs have agreed to a deal with Seiya Suzuki.

• Kyle Schwarber is off the board too.

• A Carlos Correa deal could jump-start the infielder market that has laid dormant since the lockout ended.

• Bad news for the Red Sox...

• The DH is in the National League, which means that our favorite Large Adult Son can continue to land contracts in the big leagues.

• Pittsburgh also bolstered its bullpen.

• The Cubs too added to their pitching corps.

• What the hell is Marlins ownership doing? The Marlins have a lot of exciting, upward-moving young talent. To handicap the squad by refusing to spend is very disappointing (but very Marlins).

• Major League Baseball is continuing to experiment with potential rule changes in the Atlantic League. One rule that they are testing is allowing batters to attempt to “steal” first base on any dropped pitch regardless of count. Another is taking away a team’s DH if their starter doesn’t go at least five innings in an outing. I think it’s much more likely we see the first idea in the big leagues eventually than the second, but both strike me as unlikely.
• This feels particularly relevant to Seattle now: C. Trent Rosecrans at The Athletic wrote about the tragic end of the Reds’ core and the fact that it didn’t need to end this way. ($)
• Fangraphs has unveiled its 2022 playoff odds, kicking off with the M’s at 26.7%. I think that seems a touch low but not completely unreasonable.
• Unvaccinated Yankees and Mets players will not be able to play in home games during the 2022 season as long as New York City maintains its current rules.
• Assuming Aaron Judge is not vaccinated, he would lose enough service time by sitting out during home games to push his free agency back by a full year.

• We’re officially on Injury Watch, and the Cardinals are surely hoping this isn’t too serious.

• Sticking in the NL Central, Cubs starter Adbert Alzolay has been diagnosed with a lat strain.
• In a case regarding wage theft from a select group of minor leaguers in 2014, a judge ruled in favor of the players in a lawsuit that would award the defendants nearly $2 million in damages. This case is expected to be appealed and could take a long time to be resolved, so I’d hold off on expecting this to be a sign of a huge sea change for now. ($)

Anders’ picks...

• I want what he has (disposable income). What I really want to know is whether he did this during the NBA season.