The Mariners made one of the first moves of trade season when they acquired Josh Naylor from the Diamondbacks earlier this week, and with a 55-49 record that puts them firmly in playoff contention. That should make them a clear buyer in the coming days, and several reports have already suggested they have interest in reuniting Naylor with his corner infield partner from Arizona, third baseman Eugenio Suarez. That doesn’t mean they wouldn’t consider dealing from their big league roster, however, as Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes that Seattle has made utility man Dylan Moore available in trade talks.
Rosenthal adds that the Mariners might be especially willing to part with Moore if they manage to swing a deal for Suarez. That makes plenty of sense, seeing as Moore is a player who has gotten the majority of his work this year on the infield against left-handed pitching. Suarez, meanwhile, would slot is as Seattle’s everyday third baseman and sports a career 126 wRC+ against left-handed pitching. A revamped infield that has both Naylor and Suarez in the mix at the corners would seemingly leave little room for Moore to get playing time, particularly with J.P. Crawford locked in at shortstop on a regular basis and top prospect Cole Young getting an extended look at the keystone.
With that being said, it’s worth noting that the Mariners may not be in position to get much of anything meaningful in return for Moore’s services. While the utility man’s versatility, respectable career numbers against left-handed pitching, and Gold Glove caliber defense last year are all attractive assets on paper, Moore has been mired in a brutal slump for well over a month at this point that figures to limit his trade value. He’s hitting .201/.264/.374 (83 wRC+) overall this year, a slash line that would be perfectly acceptable for a bench piece on a contender. Since the start of June, however, Moore has slashed an anemic .040/.111/.100 at the plate.
Those brutal numbers come across a sample of just 54 plate appearances, of course, but a 2-for-50 stretch is hard to write off as just a cold streak and would likely leave most prospective buyers unwilling to do more than take the remainder of Moore’s $3.66MM salary off of Seattle’s hands. Perhaps a deal could still come together if a team with weak bench options is willing to take a gamble on Moore and the Mariners are motivated to move his salary, however. The Mariners added minimal salary to their roster this winter, and while there have been signals that ownership is open to increasing payroll this summer it’s not entirely clear how far that expanded budget will go.
No teams have been directly connected to Moore, but he could make sense for teams with weak bench mixes who could value his versatility. The Yankees, Cubs, Brewers, and Astros are among the contenders with at least one bench piece who has been less productive than Moore’s overall numbers this year, although the Astros would be a tricky fit as the Mariners’ primary rival in the AL West and a team already loaded with right-handed bats. The Yankees in particular could be an intriguing fit for Moore’s services given that his right-handed bat could serve as a solid complement to the recently-added Ryan McMahon at third base, to say nothing of other lefties in the lineup like Trent Grisham and Ben Rice.
