Jerry Crasnick tweeted earlier today that “Two agents say the #Mariners are claiming they only have $3-4 million left to spend on the roster this winter” and that “[a]ccording to one of those agents, Prince Fielder-to-Seattle speculation is “extremely overblown.” Plenty have jumped on the bandwagon, interpreting the new information as evidence that the Mariners aren’t in on Fielder.

Now, it’s entirely possible that “Fielder-to-Seattle speculation is entirely overblown.” But, if that agent believes it’s overblown because the Mariners claim to only have $3-4m left to spend, then that agent should be a little less confident.

The $3-4m figure is entirely consistent with pursuit of Fielder, since if the Mariners believed they were going to sign  Fielder, or were planning as if they were, they would not have very much money left to spend after such a deal. In fact, $3-4m seems like exactly the right number. It seems perfectly reasonable that Mariners would budget a small amount of money for filling in holes.

In that context, the $3-4m figure could be spun as the most concrete evidence yet that they’re in on Fielder. They’re so determined to get him that they’re refusing to sign even medium sized $5m contracts that might interfere with their ability to make a competitive offer. Or, one could say the Mariners are so confident that they will sign Fielder that they’re willing to risk losing out on other affordable free agents.

There’s no guarantee that the above interpretation is accurate. However, if the agent cited by Crasnick believes the Mariners are out on Fielder because of this “$3-4m” quote, then I think that the above and hypothetical pro-Fielder interpretation is far more plausible, especially since the Mariners are well below last years payroll.