MLB.com’s Jon Morosi: Where the Mariners still need to add
Jun 15, 2018, 3:52 PM | Updated: 6:11 pm
Could the Mariners add a starting pitcher by the MLB trade deadline? (AP)
(AP)
With the MLB’s non-waiver trade deadline just under six weeks away, MLB.com’s Jon Morosi joined Brock Huard and Mike Salk on 710 ESPN Seattle to explore potential targets for the Seattle Mariners.
What will the Mariners be doing between now and July 31?
“I think (adding) one more starting pitcher,” Morosi said. “And again, we’ll see how Félix (Hernández) does. But that to me is the most natural thing to do, is to pursue one more starter. You can always swing different guys into roles and accommodate that depending on the caliber of the pitcher that you bring in. But there’s going to be enough out there in terms of inventory of rental-type starters. (Padres RHP) Tyson Ross. Former Mariner J.A. Happ is, I think, another possibility.”
Off to one of their best starts in franchise history, the Mariners could be looking for someone that could help them in the more immediate future. What would it take to get a pitcher, like the Rays’ Chris Archer or Rangers’ Cole Hamels, who could be a difference-maker now?
It’s within reach, says Morosi. But it’ll likely cost you a top-prospect.
“I think in the case of Archer, I saw Ken Rosenthal’s report recently that the Rays are increasingly likely to trade him, which is good for the market overall. But he has not been healthy lately, nor has he been that effective this year. The difficult part with an Archer is how much do you price based on the way that he’s pitching right now, or the way he has pitched in the past?
“Hamels didn’t have a great outing this week against the Dodgers. You’d be in the same division, so you know how he matches up. I think one thing you’d get with Hamels is you’d have some pretty recent information about, ‘OK, how does he pitch against the Astros and the Angels?’ That’s why you’re getting him… the price would be a little cheaper, probably, for him that it would be for Archer. But you’re still going to get asked for a Kyle Lewis … it’s going to hurt to get a pitcher that really makes a difference.”
Morosi, who is in Seattle to be part of the FOX broadcast of Saturday’s Mariners-Red Sox game, joined Brock and Salk for a full hour on 710 ESPN Seattle to talk all things Mariners. Listen to the entire podcast here.
