Mariners: Buy or Don’t Buy these Free Agent Starting Pitchers

BALTIMORE, MD - APRIL 15: Justin Dunn #35 of the Seattle Mariners pitches. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

At the onset of the 2021 season, the Mariners announced their starting rotation: Marco Gonzalez (2020: 7-2, 3.10 ERA), Big Maple (James Paxton, 2020: 1-1, 6.64 ERA), Justus Sheffield (4-3, 3.58 ERA), Chris Flexen (2020 w/ Doosan Bears: 8-4, 3.01 ERA), Yusei Kikuchi (2020: 2-4, 5.17 ERA), and Justin Dunn (2020: 4-1, 4.34 ERA).

I don’t think many Mariners fans would have expected Kikuchi and Dunn to be our strongest starting pitchers going into mid-June. As a result, starting pitching is likely going to be an area where the organization commits to spending a large amount in the…