Official Mariners arm-chair GM offseason thread 2018-2019

[Tapey]

 

[wazzu31]

On the flip side, how do you feel about Felix still being here? I ask because he’s an example of holding onto a blue chip star through years when you have no chance and what the end result looks like. Yeah we got to have Felix through his peak that included some filthy work on the mound, but if Jack Z knew how to build an organization we would have shipped him out and brought back prospects that could have kept us from being in the position we are now in. A lot of criticism gets thrown JeDi’s way, but I love what he’s doing. We’ll truly see if he has even a clue on player evaluation when these guys turn the corner in a few years, but the fact that they are finally tearing it down gives me hope.

Kind of an apples to orange comparison though. Felix is a once in a lifetime athlete where he takes 1/2 of what could have gotten on the open market. Felix’s contract sucks now for us but the Yankees or Red Sox would be paying him $30 million right now.

And it’s hard to blame it on Jack Z as well, Felix had a no trade clause and made it clear he wanted to be in Seattle. You can’t trade a chip that cant.

And I have zero faith in Jerry and his development team. His team couldn’t get Taylor to tweak his swing just a tiny bit yet the Dodgers could and he became a MVP candidate. Had 3 years with Zunino and couldn’t turn him into a just below average hitter. The only development he has proven was Diaz agreed to go to the bullpen and Mel forcing Paxton into tweaking his motion getting 3 MPH more on his fastball. Every thing else is a negative score on his development isn’t it?

 

[ehwq]

MLB rumors: Mariners could move Kyle Seager using similar framework to Cano-Diaz trade
Perhaps they attach Seager to Mitch Haniger or Jean Segura



We've known the Mariners were going to be going through a radical rebuild from the time they traded James Paxton and probably even before that. With the Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz trade to the Mets nearing the finish line, the Mariners can soon focus on moving more players.

Next up: Third baseman Kyle Seager, reports Buster Olney of ESPN.

Seager falls in the same category as Cano, in that he has a contract that the team finds undesirable. Seager has three years and $57.5 million left on his deal and he's trending in troubling fashion. His OPS+ went from 133 to 109 to 86 in the last three seasons, just as his WAR dropped from 6.9 to 2.5 to 0.8. In 155 games last year, he hit .221/.273/.400. He still had 36 doubles and 22 homers, but he's walking less, striking out more and his average and on-base percentage are in a total nosedive.

Teams can do three things when trying to dump salary and the Mariners just did all three with Cano.

1. Eat money. Reports indicate the Mariners will pay down $10 million per season of the remainder of Cano's deal.
2. Attach an attractive player. Edwin Diaz is an elite closer, is 24 years old and under team control through 2022.
3. Take back some unwanted contracts. The Mariners took Jay Bruce and Anthony Swarzak from the Mets.

Seager isn't nearly as good as Cano at this point, but he's owed far less money and is a few years younger.

It's possible a change of scenery and a league switch could do Seager some good. It was just 2016 when he hit .278/.359/.499 with 30 homers and 99 RBI, so it's possible a team out there would be willing to match up with the Mariners.


In looking at the Cano deal, the Mariners could look to do something similar. They could eat something like $15 million of what's left while maybe taking back a veteran that has less money left on his deal and -- if they attach Jean Segura or Mitch Haniger -- get back some prospects.

We know Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto is willing to get creative like this because it just happened.

Haniger, 27, hit .285/.366/.493 with 38 doubles, 26 homers and 93 RBI last season. He doesn't hit free agency until after the 2022 season and he's not even to arbitration yet. A Haniger-Seager package with the Mariners paying down some of Seager would absolutely land a good prospect haul.

I wonder about the Cardinals sending back Dexter Fowler here. He's owed $49.5 million over the next three seasons. The Braves could work, though they just signed Josh Donaldson to play third next season. They Cubs are probably desperate to unload Tyler Chatwood's two years and $25.5 million, but they don't have much in the way of prospects to send back. Maybe the Rockies send Ian Desmond (three years and $38 million) back and move Seager to first?


All of those teams, and more, would love to have Haniger.

Segura, 28, hit .304/.341/.415 with 29 doubles, 10 homers, 20 steals and 91 runs last season. He's a quality shortstop who has also shown he can handle second base in his career. He's a fine table-setter and could work as a leadoff man on a contender. Attaching him to Seager, again, would likely get prospects back, though not as high quality as Haniger, because Segura is on a five-year, $70 million deal through 2022 with a club option for 2023.

You know who makes a ton of sense here? The Phillies. If they miss out on both Manny Machado and Bryce Harper, they could even try to grab Haniger and Segura with Seager. We've seen the Mariners connected to Phillies' shortstop J.P. Crawford in rumors.

Lots of other teams can work here, too.

The bottom line is that the Mariners are now reportedly motivated to move Seager next and constructing a deal similar to one that rids them of Cano by using Haniger and/or Segura makes a lot of sense.

 

[EVille3]

 

[EVille3]

 

[Tapey]

Gross

 

[Cloud]

Stings though, he's so young and coulda been here closing for a long time... Who are we getting in return exactly, I still don't know, Jay Bruce is the only one I know of...

And what good is this other than wasting his talent and not maximizing the return? Keep in mind, he is a closer and they are easily replaced.

M’s are very fortunate to have an elite closer to get some talent in return

 

[Tapey]

Bye Bye Jean

 

[ulmax]

idk on who else they got but
just for fun ill take a wild guess

and say
leftwich
irvin
for two
daily double...lol
.

feels like guessing how many games the mariners would win
lololol

 

[ulmax]

i want pivetta or valasquez of course
but the chance are not good in
at least a three player deal

 

[Tapey]

ill be honest if its just Segura for Crawford and Santana ill be pretty fucking pissed

 

[ulmax]

yeah...im with ya


cuz why would they take on
a salery of santana unless
saeger was in there as well

 

[ulmax]

ill up the anny and go
crawford.pivetta or valasquez and santana
for segura and seager

a RF prospect is interesting jose pujols

 

[PolarVortex]

If the Segura trade is Segura for Santana and Crawford then it flat out sucks. They would be wise to wait for Machado to sign before trading Segura. Dipoto is way to eager.

 

[PolarVortex]

If the Segura trade is Segura for Santana and Crawford then it flat out sucks. They would be wise to wait for Machado to sign before trading Segura. Dipoto is way to eager.

I understood his sense of urgency with Cano and somewhat with Zunino and Colome, but there was need for urgency with Segura and Paxton. If he waited until after Corbin, Happ and Keuchel signed, he would have gotten a better deal for Paxton.

 

[SeattleCoug]

Basically I think the Mariners somewhat torpedo'd some of the trade value for Segura with how things went down last year. They somewhat made him a scapegoat for a lot of things that happened. That being said everyone knew they were looking to deal him this winter and I'm sure there was a huge market for him anyway

 

[Cloud]

I would agree that they could probably get something better in return for Segura if Dipoto wait a little longer. Just because 1 team respond with an offer doesn't mean you should go with it.

Crawford appears to be a guy with decent OBP with minimum power. This trade is pretty meh, but consider all the clubhouse issues last season surrounding Segura, guess he needed to go.

 

[seahawksfan234]

Wow, any optimism I had about the previous trade is completely gone.

Maybe I'm just overreacting and I will come around, but this makes zero sense. Absolutely none.

Carlos Santana is old and massively overpaid. Mariners must really have a lot of faith in J.P. Crawford.


Good job Dipoto.

 

[seahawksfan234]

Really hoping that Jean Segura vetos the trade or something comes up in the physical.

 

[Cloud]

Wow, any optimism I had about the previous trade is completely gone.

Maybe I'm just overreacting and I will come around, but this makes zero sense. Absolutely none.

Carlos Santana is old and massively overpaid. Mariners must really have a lot of faith in J.P. Crawford.


Good job Dipoto.

This is something that is very concerning to me, in the previous thread I mentioned that this is the first time in nearly 2 decades where they are in full rebuild mode. However, some of the contracts they are taking in return for these recent trades are astounding. Santana signed a 3 years 60mil contract with the Phillies and is due 17mil+ until 2021. There is no freaking way they are this high on Crawford that they are willing to take on Santana's contract as well. Pick one direction and stick with it, if you're gonna go young, go young and stick with it.

This is stupid.