The Seattle Mariners just saw the Texas Rangers make some big moves in the division and have responded with a huge splash of their own in free agency. The Mariners are bringing in reigning AL Cy Young winner Robbie Ray on a five-year, $115 million deal, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan.
Ray's new deal with the Mariners has an opt-out after the third season.
Seattle fell just shy of the AL Wild Card Game last season with a 90-72 record. The Mariners went on a late surge to get to that record, and they're hoping to use that strong finish to the 2021 campaign as a jumping-off point for a big 2022.
Getting Ray should certainly help those efforts after Seattle had a middle-of-the-road pitching staff in 2021. The lefty just had the best season of his career with the Toronto Blue Jays en route to the AL Cy Young Award. Ray tossed 193 1/3 innings and struck out a whopping 248 batters. He posted an impressive 2.84 ERA and finished with a 13-7 record.
While the Blue Jays surely would have loved to have re-signed the 30-year-old, they're instead losing him to Seattle after giving Kevin Gausman a five-year, $110 million deal. Toronto also lost Marcus Semien to an AL West team, with the Texas Rangers splurging on Semien to the tune of seven years, $175 million.
The Houston Astros have dominated the AL West in recent years, but it looks like they're going to have some serious competition as their rivals spend big money to bolster their rosters. The stove is hot!
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