Could Seattle build a super rotation with Kodai Senga or Chris Bassitt?
Kodai Senga and Chris Bassitt are two interesting arms that would certainly be luxurious for Seattle this offseason. If they lose out in other areas is a super rotation an option?
While middle infield and corner outfield will surely steal most of the headlines this offseason, starting pitching is a sneaky fun position to watch for the 2023 roster. Chris Flexen and Marco Gonzales are both still on the roster, but both players have good odds to be dealt this offseason.
Chris Flexen is probably one of the first dominos to go this offseason for the Mariners. He has been highly thought of around the league and Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times said he believes it is likely Flexen is included in a package that includes a position player this offseason.
We know Marco Gonzales was sought after at the deadline by the Phillies, although with his contract and reliability it may be smarter to keep him as the fifth starter. If Gonzales is dealt in addition to Flexen it likely means Seattle has an interest in adding more impact at the bottom of their rotation than we previously thought.
Enter Kodai Senga. President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto said he believes Senga is an “impact pitcher” adding that his team has done a lot of work on the Japanese right-hander. If Senga was to come to the US he would have many potential suitors, but we know Seattle has a pull with Japanese players.
Close to a dozen teams including the Chicago Cubs and Toronto Blue Jays have been linked to Senga and for good reason. The right-hander has a power fastball that approaches triple digits to go along with a “ghost-fork” splitter that has tremendous depth. He also has two breaking balls that could use some work but could be fixed by the Mariners’ pitching development system.
He was one of the best pitchers in the NPB and my guess is his production could translate to a high-end fourth starter or a low-end third starter. If Seattle could add him to their fifth spot in the rotation they would have one of the best rotations in baseball.
Another option for this spot is veteran Chris Bassitt, a pitcher who the Mariners are very familiar with. Bassitt spent much of his career with the Oakland Athletics and Dipoto tried to deal for him last offseason but it was deemed too expensive by the A’s pushing an inter-division tax for the right-hander.
Bassitt has a very good season for the Mets last year with 181 innings and a 3.42 ERA. He should be relatively inexpensive too especially if Seattle can unload Marco Gonzales and Chris Flexen’s money for next season.
He could slide in and immediately be the best fifth starter in baseball, creating nice depth for the Mariners in combination with young pitchers like Taylor Dollard and Bryce Miller.
I believe this is a real option for Seattle, as they may want to improve this team in as many ways as possible. They have put themselves in a good position to do so, it will be interesting to see how they approach things.
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