SEATTLE MARINERS

Mariners Trade Targets: Three Marlins to keep an eye on

Jun 23, 2024, 9:33 AM | Updated: 9:43 am

Mariners Trade Targets Jazz Chisholm...

Jazz Chisholm Jr. of the Miami Marlins hits an RBI single against the San Diego Padres on May 29. (Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)

(Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)

The Seattle Mariners are excepted to be one of the more active teams ahead of MLB’s July 30 trade deadline, but the list of potential suitors is currently short due to a logjam of National League teams remaining right in the thick of the wild card race.

Seattle Mariners Trade Target: A versatile infielder from the Rockies

However, the Mariners are currently facing one of the two teams in the league that appear destined to be sellers this weekend during their three-game series against the Miami Marlins.

With Seattle getting an up-close look at a likely seller at the deadline, let’s take a look at a few Marlins who could be targets for the Mariners.

Jazz Chisholm Jr., 2B/OF

Chisholm would be the biggest splash in terms of name value. He was the cover athlete for San Diego Studio’s MLB The Show video game series last year and was rated as a top-100 prospect by MLB Pipeline upon debuting for the Marlins in 2020.

The charismatic 26 year old was an All-Star in 2022, but has struggled to stay healthy during his brief career. He had multiple stints on the injured list in 2021, missed the final three months of 2022 with a stress fracture in his lower back and spent about two months on the IL last season between two stints.

When he has been healthy, Chisholm has been a good player in the majors. He holds a career .249/.309/.449 slash line and a slightly above average 104 OPS+. He pairs that with 83rd percentile sprint speed, per Statcast, and the ability to play both the outfield and infield. The left-handed batter is currently Miami’s everyday center fielder, but he’s also played second base and some shortstop.

Chisholm would likely be an expensive add due to having two years of club control beyond 2024. Plus, he’s putting together a solid 2024 thus far, slashing .262/.329/.440 with 11 doubles, four triples, 10 home runs, 36 RBIs, 13 stolen bases and a 113 OPS+ in 73 games entering Saturday.

Jake Burger, 3B/1B

Burger would be a bat-only add that the Mariners would be hoping can turn things around after a poor start to 2024. The right-handed hitting Burger entered Saturday hitting just .216/.257/.341 with six doubles, six home runs, 24 RBIs and a 66 OPS+. However, he’d been an above league average bat in 207 MLB games before this season. That includes breaking out for 34 home runs and a .518 slugging percentage in his first full season in the majors last year.

One fun aspect of Burger’s game is his surprising speed. At 6 foot 2 and 230 pounds, Burger doesn’t look like the most fleet of foot, but he has a 73rd percentile sprint speed. That hasn’t resulted in many stolen bases, though, as he has just one in three career attempts.

The 28 year old has played both corner infield spots and second base, but he’s posted a minus-10 outs above average in less than one and a half seasons worth of games played in the field during his career. So he may not be the best for the Mariners considering he’s better suited as a designated hitter, or his deceptive athleticism could make him a prime candidate to improve under the tutelage of touted Mariners infield coach Perry Hill.

Burger, a first-round draft pick in 2017, enters his first year of arbitration next season and has four seasons of club control left after this year, which means the asking price likely wouldn’t be cheap despite his struggles this season.

Huascar Brazobán, RHP

It took 10 years for Brazobán to reach the big leagues after signing with the Colorado Rockies as an international free agent, but he has quietly been one of baseball’s better relievers since he debuted in 2022, holding a 3.53 ERA and 127 ERA+ over 104 2/3 innings.

The 34-year-old right-hander doesn’t fit the Mariners’ pitching mold when it comes to control. He has a 13.2% career walk rate and ranked below the 10th percentile in walk rate in all three seasons in the majors, but his ability to avoid hard contact, get batters to chase and induce ground balls have all been stellar in his three seasons.

Brazobán features a four-pitch mix with a cutter, sinker, changeup and four-seamer. The cutter, changeup and four-seamer have all been effective pitches, and it’s easy to see why the hard changeup works so well with a vertical break of 3.4 inches above average and an 89.4 mph average velocity. The sinker features a somewhat similar profile in that it’s thrown hard (95.3 mph average) and sports plus break (2.2 inches above average horizontally), but it’s been problematic. Batters are hitting .500 off the pitch this season and hit .436 against it last season, and he throws it over 20% of the time. The underlying numbers do suggest there should be some positive regression to the mean, with opponents clearing the expected batting average on the pitch by 100 points last season and over 200 so far this season.

More on the Seattle Mariners

ESPN’s Buster Olney: Mariners ‘incredibly dangerous’ — even to NYY and O’s
The Seattle Mariners’ less-talked-about trade deadline need
• ESPN insider breaks down projected Mariners first-round pick
Morosi: The familiar Mariners trade partner to keep an eye on
• Bob’s Baseball Breakdown: What M’s offense needs to show

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