Passan: Why Pete Alonso is best trade fit for Mariners
Jun 25, 2024, 10:58 AM | Updated: 11:22 am
With a struggling offense that remains near the bottom of the majors in most statistical categories, there’s great intrigue as to how the first-place Seattle Mariners will approach the upcoming July 30 MLB trade deadline.
Mariners Trade Targets: Rays who could address M’s needs
One popular trade target that continues to be floated for Seattle is New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso, who would provide some much-needed thump in the middle of the Mariners’ lineup.
Over six seasons with the Mets, Alonso has a career .250 batting average with a .862 OPS, a 136 OPS+ and 208 home runs in 760 games. The 29-year-old slugger has hit 35-plus home runs in each of his four full-length seasons, including 40 in 2022 and 46 last year. This season, he is batting .241/.323/.469 with 16 homers and a .793 OPS in 76 games.
Alonso is on a one-year, $20.5 million contract, which means he could potentially just be a half-season rental. Seattle has typically traded for players with additional years of club control, but ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan believes the Mariners’ current situation warrants making a big splash like Alonso. In an ESPN.com article published Tuesday morning, Passan listed Alonso as the ideal trade acquisition for Seattle.
“I want a guy in that lineup who’s gonna hit a bunch of home runs, or at the very least is a consistent power threat,” Passan said Tuesday on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk. “… To me, Alonso just makes the most sense because he provides what you need right now.”
The problem is that the Mets have surged back into the muddled NL wild card race by winning nine of their past 11 games, which means there’s a chance they might not be the clear-cut trade deadline seller that everyone expected a couple weeks ago. New York is now 37-39, sitting just 1.5 games out of the third and final wild card spot.
At the moment, 13 of the 15 teams in the NL are within three games of a playoff spot, which has created has created a definite seller’s market.
“This is an extreme seller’s market,” Passan said. “The prices are going to be sky-high, and I think it’s gonna test a team like the Mariners. I think that the question for them is going to be when you have an opportunity to get a Pete Alonso – (or) if potentially (Toronto Blue Jays slugger) Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is out there, if (Tampa Bay Rays third baseman) Isaac Paredes is out there – do you get them or do you get (Los Angeles Angels outfielder) Taylor Ward?
“And Taylor Ward, by the way, is a really good player and I think would be a good fit, frankly, for this Mariners team, but he’s not that bopper in the middle of a good order. He’s batting third for the Angels, but on a contending team he’s probably a fifth or sixth hitter. He’s not that guy like Alonso or Guerrero who you’re gonna put at two, three or four.”
Listen to the full conversation with Jeff Passan at this link or in the audio player near the middle of this story. Tune in to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
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