Mariners trade deadline: The top candidates to be dealt by Seattle

As was expected heading into the 2020 season – 60 games or 162 games – the Mariners aren’t in playoff contention and are likely to be sellers at the upcoming MLB trade deadline if they make any deals.

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With no minor league season, it’s unclear how much activity will go down before the 1 p.m. Pacific trade deadline next Monday, Aug. 31, but “Trader” Jerry Dipoto has some players who could be moved in exchange for more prospects to add one of the best farm systems in baseball, though the Mariners general manager has said he expects a more quiet deadline than normal, including with his club.

(Note: To read what Dipoto had to say about the trade deadline, check out this story from Shannon Drayer on Dipoto’s interview with 710 ESPN Seattle’s Danny and Gallant).

So who is most likely to be moved and why? Let’s loom at the Mariners players who could be trade chips.

Top chip

RHP Taijuan Walker

Walker has thrown the ball well this year and has a 2-2 record, 4.00 ERA, 1.074 WHIP, 25 strikeouts and eight walks. He signed with the Mariners on a one-year deal last offseason as he hoped to show he’s recovered from Tommy John surgery, and he’s done just that. Starting pitching is critical for contending teams and many teams in 2020 are implementing six-man rotations. Additionally, 16 teams will make the playoffs rather than the typical 10.

According to MLB Network’s Jon Morosi, a regular guest on 710 ESPN Seattle, Walker has been drawing interest.

#Mariners RHP Taijuan Walker, 28, is drawing trade interest after back-to-back quality starts, including last night’s impressive win over the #Dodgers, as I reported on @MLBNetwork this morning. Free agent after the season, earning less than $400k for September.

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) August 20, 2020

A contending team with injury troubles in the rotation such as the Yankees or Braves could certainly use a reliable arm for the final month of the regular season and into the playoffs.

Walker is easily the most likely member of the starting rotation to be moved. Marco Gonzales is the staff’s leader and recently signed an extension, Yusei Kikuchi has shown flashes this year and is only in his second MLB season, and Justus Sheffield and Justin Dunn are both in their first “full” seasons in an MLB rotation.

The other starter who could have been a trade candidate is Kendall Graveman, who like Walker is a veteran coming back from Tommy John surgery. His spot in the rotation has been taken over by Nick Margevicius, however, as Graveman is on the injured list recovering from a sore neck due to a benign tumor. Margevicius, meanwhile, is young, has been sharp and is under team control for quite some time.

Relievers

The Mariners’ bullpen as a whole has struggled, but a few relievers may have shown enough to drum up some interest – and relievers are always a hot commodity at the deadline.

RHP Matt Magill

Magill’s 4.66 ERA and 1.241 WHIP don’t tell the whole story of how he’s pitched.

Before he gave up five runs while recording just two outs against the Dodgers earlier this week, he’d been Seattle’s best reliever, having not given up a run and only a handful of baserunners. His next outing was on Friday against the Rangers, and he threw a perfect inning and struck out one batter.

Magill, 30, was also good for the Mariners in 2019 with a 3.63 ERA in 22 outings after coming over from Minnesota. He will be entering his first year of arbitration next offseason, per Spotrac.

RHP Taylor Williams

A local product from Camas, the 28-year-old Williams has emerged as the closer for the Mariners with a team-high six saves.

Possessing a good fastball-slider combo, Williams has given up four runs in 12 innings (3.00 ERA), and has 17 strikeouts to four walks (one intentional). He’s shown he can handle pressure situations, which could be big for a team looking for late-inning help in the bullpen.

Like Magill, Williams will be entering his first year of arbitration per Spotrac.

LHP Anthony Misiewicz

Misiewicz, 25, has been one of Seattle’s most reliable relievers this season. In 10 1/3 innings, he has 13 strikeouts, three walks and has given up five runs (4.35 ERA).

Given Misiewicz is younger than most of the other relievers that may draw some interest, it wouldn’t be too shocking to see him stick around with the Mariners, but keep in mind that teams are always looking for left-handed relievers to combat their opponents’ best left-handed hitters.

RHP Yoshihisa Hirano

Moving Hirano, 36, would be interesting because he’s appeared in just one game this season after being activated Friday, throwing a scoreless ninth inning in Saturday’s win over the Rangers. It wouldn’t necessarily be unprecedented, though – Dipoto dealt reliever Hunter Strickland to Washington just prior to the 2019 trade deadline despite the right-hander being limited to four appearances for the Mariners due to an early-season injury.

Working in the favor of Hirano being tradeable is his contract (a one-year deal) and the fact that he’s been effective in his two MLB seasons since coming to the U.S. from Japan. For his career, he has a 9-8 record, 3.47 ERA and four saves in 137 games (119 1/3 innings) with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Maybe another sharp appearance or two ahead of Aug. 31 can stir up some interest in the veteran right-hander.

RHP Carl Edwards Jr.

Edwards, 28, is currently on the 10-day injured list win a forearm strain, which makes it unlikely he will be moved. He was placed on the IL roughly two weeks ago and is technically eligible to be activated at any time.

If he can get in a game in the next week, he like Hirano could provide a veteran presence to a contender’s bullpen. In 4 2/3 innings this season, Edwards has a 1.93 ERA, one save, six strikeouts, one walk and two hits allowed.

Position players

A lot of the position players the Mariners are putting in the lineup figure to be fixtures for the next few years at the very least and won’t be moved this season. Those players are headlined by the names of Kyle Lewis, Evan White, J.P. Crawford and Shed Long.

There are some other hitters who could be intriguing to opposing clubs, though, and for the most part they have some positional flexibility.

UT Dylan Moore

Moore, 27, has been one of the better surprises for the Mariners and has emerged as an everyday player, routinely hitting in the second spot of manager Scott Servais’ lineup. He’s played all over the field, though most of his time has come in the outfield despite Moore being a natural infielder.

Moore is hitting .282 and has five home runs, which trails only Lewis’ seven for the team lead. He also has a team-leading six stolen bases.

Moore may very well be someone the team wants to keep going forward, especially if his bat continues to shine as it has, but his defensive flexibility, newfound power and speed on the bases has to be of interest to other teams. He was recently placed on the 10-day injured list with a sore wrist, though, making it even less likely he’s moved.

UT Tim Lopes

Like Moore, Lopes, 26, has been playing at different spots for the Mariners this year, with a lot of time coming in the corner outfield positions.

He’s slowed down after a torrid start but still hitting a respectable .238. Like Moore, Lopes has showed off his wheels on the bases, stealing five bags in five attempts.

Moore would likely draw more interest because of his bat, but Lopes is an interesting player as well.

UT Dee Gordon

Gordon, 32, has struggled at the plate in the 16 games he’s appeared in, hitting .130. He’s still fast, though, and despite being a natural second baseman has spent most of his time in 2020 in left field. He also has experience at shortstop and played a lot of center field as well when the Mariners first acquired him in 2018.

Gordon is a free agent at the end of the season, so that could make him more attractive to a contender that wants a veteran with defensive flexibility and/or a speedy option off the bench for late-inning baserunning scenarios.

OF Braden Bishop

Bishop, 26, is a Seattle favorite from his days at UW as well as for his work combating Alzheimer’s with his 4Mom charity. He’s also maybe the Mariners’ best defensive outfielder.

His bat hasn’t materialized so far at the MLB level (.108 in 30 games), but he is a career .291 hitter in the minors and can handle all three outfield spots. He also is a good runner, having stolen 50 bases in the minors.

Bishop could have value to a playoff contender as a late-inning defensive replacement or pinch runner.

While the Mariners may not want to part with one of their top prospects (Bishop is No. 19 on MLB Pipeline), outfield is an area of strength in the system with Kelenic, Julio Rodríguez, Jake Fraley and 2020 second-round pick Zach DeLoach all in the team’s top 15 for prospects. That list doesn’t even include Lewis, who no longer has prospect status but is the top candidate to win American League Rookie of the Year this season.

Bishop was just recently recalled to the MLB roster from the alternate training site in Tacoma and is only one of three “true outfielders” on Seattle’s MLB roster, along with Lewis and Fraley, who was recalled on Saturday. Seattle’s corner outfielders this season have typically been utility players like Moore, Lopes, Gordon and most recently Sam Haggerty.

The elephant in the room

3B Kyle Seager

By now, many Mariners fans know about the “poison pill” in Seager’s contract. But for those who don’t, if Seager, who is signed through at least 2021 and set to make $18.5 million that year, is traded, a $15 million club option for 2022 would then become a player option. The expectation is that if Seager is traded, it is a certainty that he would accept the player option.

Poison pill or not, Seager is having arguably the best season of his career in 2020, hitting .291 with five home runs and a team-leading 23 RBIs, but he is set to make a lot of money next year and, if traded, the year after.

As Drayer noted in her story, Seager is looking like the player that earned the seven-year, $100 million deal in the first place. Naturally, Dipoto has liked what he’s seen from his veteran third baseman and told Danny and Gallant on Thursday that he’d prefer to hold on to the 32 year old.

“We are not just encouraged by what Kyle is doing, we appreciate the contribution,” Dipoto said. “He’s been a good example of how you go about your business. There was really never an alternative for us. We don’t really have a great deal of depth at third base. We see Kyle Seager as the best third baseman in the history of the organization. We are going to hold onto him and see where it takes us from here.”

Though Dipoto added that Seager is seen in a similar light to Gonzales as core veterans the team is less inclined to trade, as Drayer noted, “Dipoto will never not listen on an offer for a player.”

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