After dealing away Seth Smith today, the Mariners are looking to acquire another outfielder, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). The team doesn’t have a strong preference between a right-handed and left-handed-hitting piece, per the report, though it’s not immediately clear whether the M’s are looking at a particular target.
While Seattle’s trade of Smith bolstered the organization’s rotation depth by returning Yovani Gallardo, it’s hard to say that was the sole motivation. The club had reportedly been looking to move Smith for some time, after all, perhaps due to an inclination to make better use of payroll space and perhaps also due to the addition late last year of lefty corner piece Ben Gamel.
It’s fair to wonder, though, whether the Mariners have their eye on a strike to add a regular or semi-regular hitter that they like better than Smith. With a variety of big bats still floating around in free agency, there are any number of interesting possibilities.
Mark Trumbo is the top-rated free agent still left unsigned, but the former Mariner has already been traded away twice by GM Jerry Dipoto (once when the two were with the Angels). Jose Bautista would certainly represent an intriguing target to put into the middle of the lineup along with fellow Dominican stars Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz, though adding him (as with Trumbo) would mean sacrificing a first-round pick (currently, the 17th selection). Neither is a likely addition for Seattle, though, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter).
Other open-market outfield bats include another former Mariner, Michael Saunders, and big lefty slugger Brandon Moss. It’s imaginable, too, that Seattle would prefer to pick up a player capable of spending some time in center. While Leonys Martin was strong there in 2016, he’d look even better with a solid platoon option available as needed. Right-handed, center-field capable hitters still on the market include Austin Jackson and Desmond Jennings.
Of course, that’s just scratching the surface of the options. The M’s have already struck one significant trade this offseason and could pursue another with heavy hitters such as Ryan Braun, J.D. Martinez, and Andrew McCutchen all potentially available. Or, they might find value on a part-time player through a swap. Regardless, it seems that the Smith trade will set up more moves, rather than representing a capstone to the heavy winter lifting for Dipoto and his team.
Hmmm I wonder why…
Gardner
He’s next to worthless.
Your worthless
You Clearly know nothing about baseball. Gardner is far from worthless.
You’re just making yourself look like a fool davbee
You guys can have Jay Bruce
M’s are focused on defense..
Hmm, that makes the Segura acquisition a little odd, doncha think?
Trade whatever for McCutch please
Having McCuthen, Cruz, Cano, Seager… in the lineup would be tough for any apposing pitcher.
A lineup of, Segura, Mcutchen/Braun or Puig, Cano, Cruz, Seager would be killer.
Cutch is no longer clutch. I wouldn’t trade for him. Now JD, well … hitting the prime time.
I agree, Cutch is not the player he once was. It would be an over pay to get him and then he put up mediocre numbers.
Lol, you realize JD and McCuthen are only 1 year apart!? So by that logic JD will have a bad year at 29 like McCuthen did las year. smh.
There no way in the world the M’s sign Trumbo
Dipoto would be a laughing stock a bad trade and then compounded with coughing up a draft choice…..M’s fans would have a fit.
Plus, the M’s absorbed a Contract in Gallardo, so they don’t have as much money and as for pieces to complete a trade, I don’t know
They were one of the better teams in baseball in August and September, Dipoto is just going to have to figure out what took them so long to warm up and then find that player that will help them.
The mariners added 4 million for this year and 1 for next year with gallardo. That’s nothing
And Orioles sent like 2 mil in the trade
M Saunders. Showed some promise in first stint with M’s and got better north of the border. He’s fairly young, athletic like Dipoto prefers, and should come at a decent price following a poor second half last season. Probably not a future all star but could be a solid right fielder who is already familiar with Safeco.
Michael Saunders is not athletic. He’s a lumbering LF with a reconstructed knee who should probably be DH’ing.
It’s the west coast…. Braun is available and potentially open to a trade.
Dodgers have a good surplus of outfielders, wonder if Mariners would be a good trade partner for a 2B?
We allready traded Marte, he’s the only 2B I could see the dodgers wanting.
Marte is a SS not a 2B.
Marte moved to short after cano was signed.
I don’t think it would be Bautista or Saunders, they need somebody who can play a little defence in the outfield.
Puig Eithier? I’m sure the dodgers would love a salary dump for next to nothing.
As a Mariners fan I like it. We need athletes who are good defensively
This is why this was a good trade for the M’s and less so for the O’s: There are a billion outfielders on the market, some available for huge discounts, but no starting pitchers. O’s now have to deal with Ubaldo starting every 5th day with no alternative, AND with two lefty corner OF who need platoon partners. But the M’s can browse a stocked OF market at their ease, and put the Gallardo lottery ticket (he was good in the AL West just one year ago) in their pocket.
Those of you who think the O’s did well here aren’t thinking this through.
Gallardo was a dumpster fire last year, and Seth Smith crushed RHP.
Platoon hitters who are bad in the field aren’t terribly valuable. M’s picked one up (Valencia) for literally nothing earlier in the off-season. And even on his strong side, he only did 117 wRC+. That’s nice but not even average for a corner OF. And to repeat: Ubaldo Jimenez has to pitch every 5th day. No options.
Meanwhile, Gallardo was a 2.5 fWAR pitcher just a year ago in the AL West, where he now returns.
Platoon hitters who crush RHP are much more valuable than guys who hit LHP. And Valencia has been a clubhouse cancer in 3 organizations. It’s not analogous.
First of all, no he hasn’t (his teammates love him). And second, yes, you’re right a long half platoon is more useful than a short half, but Smith was only a 118 wRC+ on his good half last year. For a corner OF, that’s very mediocre. Watched him for years in Colorado. Can really only hit fastballs and hangers for right handers, and was never a good fielder.
There were a ton of SPs though. Tyson? Holland? if Mariners wanted to add one they coulda just signed one, and that guy would be better than Gallardo and they’d still have Smith.
All of the spelling in these comments is the worst I’ve seen
MLBTR commenters did not have rave reviews at spelling or at grammar
legend has it if you say his name 3 times he’ll be traded to the Mariners: Andrew McCutchen Andrew McCutchen Andrew McCutchen
Ryan Divish the Seattle Times reporter for the M’s said they were asking for Paxton, O’Neil and Diaz. If that’s true there’s no way I make that deal.
Will it work for Wade Miley? Wade Miley Wade Miley Wade Miley
Does anyone else get the ad that says, “trainers hate him” with the picture of an old guy that is absolutely ripped? It’s actually pretty funny.
Travis Jankowski for Drew Jackson
Add Jose Bautista, to sacrifice their first round pick for 2017 makes the most sense to me. Add that into the equation, then you you get a ‘heavy’ hitting lineup of: Bautista, Cano, Cruz, Segura and Valencia.
Just wait for it…!
Dipoto is putting all of his chips forward this season
Adding O’neill midseason into a corner OF spot to platoon with Gamel or Haniger would further bolster an already dangerous hitting lineup.
I wonder if they’d be interested in Brett Gardner. Maybe something like Andrew Moore or Max Povse for Brett Gardner and cash?
Can someone please inform the MLBTR staff that Mariners are on Braun’s no-trade list? The only teams not on his list are Angels, Dodgers, Giants, Diamondbacks and Padres.
This is the 2nd time this week, MLBTR has suggested Braun to a team not on his list. Earlier it was the Phillies.
Braun’s been pretty adamant he’s not interested in being dealt to any team other than those he’s indicated he’d accept.
They just got Dyson from the Royals, hasn’t been reported on here yet.
Woah. Nice, if true.
I bet it will be Jarrod Dyson…..
for say, Nate Karns…..
Good pick-up for the M’s. Speed, defense and coming off career highest OBP,OPS and WAR season of his career.
This is why I could never be a MLB GM. In 2016, Yovani Gallardo was the 2nd worst SP in the AL (MIN Tyler Duffy was the worst SP in MLB) to go along with a high salary. Maybe the Mariners have a corner OF in mind, but, what possessed the mariner to trade Seth Smith for Gallardo?
Jarrod Dyson.
Smith isn’t/wasn’t worth his current salary of $7M/yr as a mediocre-average platoon player who adds no value defensively. M’s needed a veteran right-handed SP to fill the hole in their rotation, and it also provided them with another trade piece in Nate Karns (at a time when the market has no SP’s) since Gallardo will take his rotation spot. So then Dipoto takes Karns and shops him around, and ends up swapping him for OF Jarrod Dyson… Pretty impressive maneuvering by Dipoto if you ask me. He filled the M’s starting-pitcher need by unloading an underproducing & overpaid Seth Smith for a veteran right-hander, then swaps a mediocre SP for an average hitting OF who is unbelievably fast and very good defensively. Dipoto continues to impress me with his under-the-radar signings and sneaky trades that tend to always give them more value than what they gave away.
I bet they trade Karns for Dyson