Ok let's bust these idiotic myths once and for all

[Seattle or Bust]

It's more a question of what would sway them all things being equal with regard to contract offers. Or do you think the Mariners are offering more than other teams for certain (position) players? I don't.

And the travel issue is probably the main one. You play in Seattle and you're going to spend a lot more time in airplanes.

Again, I'd say that the fact that Washington doesn't have a state income tax would probably far outweighs the fact that it is perceived as a liberal city.

I think that Jerry didn't want to go near Bryant, Seager or Semien's insane contracts.

I think Trevor Story's clear road struggles were a cause for concern in committing more cash than they wanted to.

I think Carlos Correa and the Mariners probably never even had a conversation. It was never a match - both personality wise and money wise.

I think Nick Castellanos is a right Handed Jesse Winker and we didn't need 2 of those.

I think Seiya Suzuki (much like Ohtani) wanted to go to place where he could establish a name for himself and not live in the shadow of Ichiro. So he chose to go to a team w. not a lot of talent so he could establish himself as "the man."

I think the M's were dead set on using the DH as a rotational spot for their OF's, so Schwarber and Cruz were never an option.

This F/A class just didn't meet what the M's aim to do with their cash.

If Trea Turner becomes an F/A this following season, I hope the M's finally drop a bomb. He's a better player than the guys listed above him.

"Oh but Correa had 7.2 fWar and Turner had 6.5 fWar!" - defensive WAR is overrated. Turner is a far better hitter than Correa and I'd value that over a bit of defensive WAR any day, which is why Correa didn't get the contract he wants.

[Case_Of_The_Runs]

It's more a question of what would sway them all things being equal with regard to contract offers. Or do you think the Mariners are offering more than other teams for certain (position) players? I don't.

Well, that's a fantastic question. I have 2 answers to this: first, I don't think all else is equal. I don't think the M's made competitive offers for reasons I outlined earlier - I think this is the penultimate year. Next year we might see some splashy moves to augment a solid, but youthful core.

Second, if all else is equal, then it likely comes down to the dozens of intangibles. I mean if two cities and 2 clubs offer you the same contract, you're going to move to your second tier of decision making. I speculated on what some of those things might be, but I'm not a MLB player, so I am guessing. And it might just come down to the same sorts of things that matter to regular folk like you and me - if we had 2 identical offers in different cities, far from home, that required moving our families - what things would matter to us?

And the travel issue is probably the main one. You play in Seattle and you're going to spend a lot more time in airplanes.

One million percent agree. The M's have the toughest travel schedule in baseball, and that matters. Or at least I have to think that it matters. This is one reason that I am in favor of restructuring divisions in baseball - keep all of the clubs in their division on the west coast. But that's a whole other kettle of fish.

[Case_Of_The_Runs]

If Trea Turner becomes an F/A this following season, I hope the M's finally drop a bomb. He's a better player than the guys listed above him.

And the heavens parted, the trumpets blared, and choirs of gilded angels sang "fuuuuuuck yeah"!

I hope they back a truck of money up if he's available. The FA class next year looks pretty thin. I'd take him any day of the week and twice on Sundays.But I expect the Dodgers will sink their meathooks into him.

[Donn Beach]

More nonsense about why FAs won't come here. Actually the Seattle school system might be a more legitimate reason. lol

School systems? They're millionaires.

They're going to be living in Medina, Kirkland, Bellevue, Sammamish or some shit where the schools are the best in the country.

You're making $20 mil a year and put your kids in public schools?

[Seattle or Bust]

More nonsense about why FAs won't come here. Actually the Seattle school system might be a more legitimate reason. lol

School systems? They're millionaires.

They're going to be living in Medina, Kirkland, Bellevue, Sammamish or some shit where the schools are the best in the country.

You're making $20 mil a year and put your kids in public schools?

I went to public school with multiple kids whose parents were pro athletes. Sonics players, Hawks players, etc.

[Donn Beach]

Doubt they were making $20 a year

[Seattle or Bust]

Doubt they were making $20 a year

Yeah no shit. 0 players in the late 90’s were making $20 million a year.

[D-train]

It's more a question of what would sway them all things being equal with regard to contract offers. Or do you think the Mariners are offering more than other teams for certain (position) players? I don't.

And the travel issue is probably the main one. You play in Seattle and you're going to spend a lot more time in airplanes.

I think the Ghost of Mather and his "Hat in hand" policy still rules the day.

The travel issue is also over blown. Its close to the same for all the teams on the West Coast.

And sure your will spend more time actually in the air on the airplane but think about how long it takes you TOTAL travel time door to door from say Houston to Boston or Seattle to Boston.

Seattle to Boston.
30 minutes drive from T Mobile to Seatac
1.5 hours from arrival at the airport until the play takes off
5 Hours flight
1 hr from landing until you get to your hotel room near Fenway
Total time: 8 hours

Houston to Boston:
30 minutes drive from Minute maid to George Bush AP
1.5 hours from arrival at the airport until the play takes off
3.5 Hour flight
1 hr from landing until you get to your hotel room near Fenway
Total time: 6.5 hours

So are you really going to decide on where to play because it takes you 20% longer to get somewhere. Its like choosing a girlfriend because she lives only 30 minutes drive away instead of 36 minutes for the other woman.

[D-train]

Oh and all things are never equal. What are the odds of two teams coincidently both offering Semien 7 $175M or Bryant 7 $182

[Donn Beach]

The local politics of Seattle are more far left than any major city with the possible exceptions of Portland and San Fran.

And you can quantify that how?

These players aren't morons. If they don't want to live in a city that's "too liberal" they can literally move to Mercer Island, Kirkland or Medina. It's a 20 minute drive to the stadium and they're back in their safe haven.

Not to mention that Washington has no state income tax... I think that would outweigh concerns over encountering a few gay people in their time around Seattle.

They are only living in Seattle because they choose to, liked Dan Wilson, he lives in central Seattle and seems to have quite progressive tendencies.