M’s acquire OF Seth Smith from Padres for RHP Brandon Maurer

The Mariners have picked up the final piece for their outfield, trading reliever Brandon Maurer to the San Diego Padres for Seth Smith on Tuesday.

Smith, a veteran of eight Major League seasons with the Rockies, A’s and Padres, hit .266/.367/.440/.807 in 2014. He became available when the Padres added Wil Myers, Matt Kemp and Justin Upton in trades earlier this offseason.

The Mariners will most likely platoon Smith with Justin Ruggiano. Smith is no stranger to the platoon, having just started two games against left-handers last year. The Ruggiano/Smith pairing looks like a good match on paper (via Baseball Reference).

Seth Smith’s splits

Justin Ruggiano’s splits

Smith has two years remaining on his contract and will be paid $6 million in 2015 and $6.75 million in 2016. There is a $7 million club option with a $250,000 buyout in 2017.

In Maurer, the Mariners are giving up a possible future closer with five years of club control remaining. It is a position of depth, however, and with the emergence of Carson Smith last year there was going to be a battle for spots in the pen in Spring Training.

One note of interest, this trade follows a trend I pointed out a few weeks ago: It is another one-for-one deal by Jack Zduriencik. Four pieces of what will be the regular lineup were acquired this way – Smith for Maurer, Ruggiano for minor league reliever Matt Brazis, Logan Morrison for Carter Capps and Austin Jackson for Nick Franklin.

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