"The money follows winning" – MLB insider encourages Pirates and Mariners to invest boldly in offense for sustained success

The Seattle Mariners and Pittsburgh Pirates have not spent a lot this offseason. In fact, they have both combined to do virtually nothing in free agency or trades. They both feature dominant starting pitching, with the Mariners having arguably the deepest and best five-man rotation in baseball.

Both teams need offense in the estimation of former MLB GM Jim Bowden. With some impactful free agents still available, the insider said now is the time to get aggressive for both teams.

Bowden said:

"Small markets aren't going to be able to go spend money on a starting rotation. You have to develop it. ... The Pirates have done it. They have Paul Skenes and Jared Jones. I found that offense was the easiest to get."

He believes the Pirates should've gone after Josh Naylor even if it's just for one year of improved offense:

"When you win, the money goes up. The money follows. The money doesn't come before you win. The money follows winning every single time. ...

"If you're a team like the Pirates, like the Mariners and all of a sudden, you have the pitching and you're not making the effort to get the offense to win, you don't even understand the mistake you're making for your fan base."

Both teams have developed the pitching and have it under team control for a long time. Now, according to Bowden, is the time to improve the offense, be it in trades or free agency.

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Mariners avoid arbitration with rare offensive addition

To Seattle's credit, it did try to add some offense last year. The Mariners brought in star outfielder Randy Arozarena from the Tampa Bay Rays. It wasn't enough to get them into the playoffs, but they did give it a shot.

Randy Arozarena settled with the Mariners (Imagn)

The two sides were able to avoid arbitration by settling on a one-year, $11.3 million deal. Free agency awaits down the road, but the Mariners did ensure they kept one of the few prolific bats they have in the lineup.

Cal Raleigh, Logan Gilbert, George Kirby and Trent Thornton were among the others who also settled before arbitration with Seattle.