Prince Fielder Sweepstakes: Why the Mariners Needed to Push Harder to Get Him

The Prince Fielder sweepstakes are still underway, and now is the time for the Seattle Mariners to make a huge push for the free-agent first baseman.

The Mariners have been relatively quiet this offseason, but their name has surfaced with many rumors surrounding Fielder.

With no team having solid footing in the door for Fielder, the Mariners must put themselves in position to land the big left-handed batter.

It wouldn't be cheap for the Mariners, but it is necessary. Here's why.

Justin Smoak Isn't a Lock at First Base

When the Seattle Mariners dealt Cliff Lee to the Texas Rangers, they received Justin Smoak, who is now 25 years old.

This past season, Smoak played in his most games as a Mariner—appearing in 123 games. Smoak wasn't all that impressive, batting only .234 with 15 home runs and 55 RBI. 

While the club could keep Smoak on board after bringing in Fielder, Jon Morosi of Fox Sports stated that the Mariners would be interested in dealing Smoak to acquire Fielder.

The Mariners could move Smoak to the designated hitter role, but there is no reason to believe that he will prevent the Mariners from exploring other options.

They Need a Designated Hitter

This past season, the Seattle Mariners were using Jack Cust as their DH. He didn't exactly take off in the role, as he only appeared in 63 games. On the season, Cust batted a .213 with three home runs and 23 RBI.

In all likelihood, Cust won't be brought back next season. With that, the Mariners will be needing to fill their void at designated hitter. They have a lot of options on their bench, but none really provide the pop that a guy like Prince Fielder provides.

The DH position is ideal to be filled by a power hitter anyways, so inserting Fielder would be the perfect fit.

If Fielder refused to just hit, the Mariners could likely move the previously mentioned Justin Smoak to DH, while allowing Fielder to take the field.

They Could Use a Power Hitter

The Seattle Mariners didn't have one hitter last year who had over 20 home runs. The closest was catcher Miguel Olivio, who had 19.

If the Mariners added a bat like Fielder, as he is a proven 30 HR-a-year player.

While it could be argued that Fielder has played in a dome for much of his career, he has actually done a fine job hitting the long-ball outdoors. After his 123 home runs at Miller Park, Fielder's next nine best home run stadiums were all outdoors.

In four of his last five seasons, Fielder has had over 100 RBI. The Mariners could use a run producer badly, as Olivio was the highest last season with 62.

Fielder Gets on Base

One thing that Prince Fielder does extremely well is get on base. 

This past season with the Milwaukee Brewers, Fielder had an on-base percentage of .415. In comparison, that was 49 points higher than Albert Pujols this past season.

Fielder has shown the ability for base on balls—he has been walked over 100 times in each of the last three seasons. While Fielder is a strike out machine with at least 100 strikeouts in each of his last six seasons, Fielder's ability to draw the walk is important.

This year also marked the second time Fielder essentially hit for .300, as he had 170 hits in 569 at-bats.

With Fielder, they Mariners would be adding a guy who can get on the base many different ways, always presenting a unique challenge to the opposition.

Ichiro Is Getting Old

In his 11-year career, 2011 marked the first time that Seattle Mariners' outfielder Ichiro Suzuki batted under .300.

While it is not time to write off one of the greatest hitters to ever play the game, Ichiro is clearly on the tail end of his great career. This coming season, he will be 39 years old. While there is no reason to assume Ichiro won't bounce back, one has to wonder if he could be on a steady decline.

Ichiro has been the face of the Mariners for pretty much the last 11 years, so without him around down the line, the Mariners will need to have a superstar player like Prince Fielder ready to keep this team marketable.

The addition of Fielder will also take some of the weight off of Ichiro, as well as adding a player who could help drive in one of the best hitters in the game.

They Need Improvement

There is no beating around the bush: the Seattle Mariners were just terrible last season. They only won 67 games, which put them in the bottom five of the entire MLB.

Considering the team only won 61 games just the season before, one could assume that the addition of Prince Fielder wouldn't be enough. Which is probably true.

What they do need is help in scoring, a stat that they led the MLB in the wrong way. Last season, the Mariners only managed to score 556 times, which was 37 less times in comparison to the San Diego Padres.

Prince Fielder isn't going to change the overall production of this team, but he could help in pushing their run total to over 600. The entire team combined for a batting average of .233—25 points worse then the American League average.

It goes without saying, Fielder would definitely help the Mariners improve their production on offense.

They Have Increased Competition Within Their Division

Unfortunately for the Seattle Mariners, their competition became even tougher this offseason. The division champion Texas Rangers added Japanese pitching phenom Yu Darvish, while the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim went out and got Albert Pujols and CJ Wilson.

Both of the Mariners' biggest worries became even tougher this offseason, so it is imperative that they make a move for a player like Prince Fielder.

While Fielder won't put them on the same level as their competition, considering they were already a step behind, they will continue building while staying competitive.

If the Mariners fail to counter the additions their rivals, they will be way behind in talent.

As previously mentioned, the Mariners still need to make many other moves in order to catch up. Nonetheless, adding Fielder is the best first step for that direction.