As teams look for starting pitching in free agency, outgoing San Diego Padres ace Blake Snell will be one of the hottest commodities. While Snell will have plenty of suitors, his hometown Seattle Mariners are at the front of his mind.

Snell wants to sign with Seattle, ‘badly,' via Chris Cotillo of MassLive. There is no word on if Snell has talked to the Mariners about a potential contract.

On the surface, Snell might not be the best fit for the Mariners; just based on the expected deal is set to receive. Seattle had the third-best ERA in all of baseball this past season with a collective 3.74. Their .237 batting average against tied for seventh while their 1,459 strikeouts ranked eighth.

Offense seems like a much bigger need for the Mariners. They ranked 12th in runs scored (758) and 22nd in batting average (.242). Furthermore, their 1,603 strikeouts were the second-most in the league.

Still, if Blake Snell truly is committed to signing with the Mariners, Seattle could do much worse. Coming off of winning the NL Cy Young, Snell pitched to a 14-9 record with a 2.25 ERA and a 234/99 K/BB ratio.

It may not lead to the most cohesive roster, but a pitching rotation led by Snell and Luis Castillo would be a major fright to everyone else in the majors. It could be the key for the Mariners to take down the AL West.

A Snell deal may stop Seattle from going all out offensively. But adding a Cy Young to their roster would never be looked at as a bad thing for the Mariners.