Arizona insider: Mariners trade fit D-backs still likely sellers

Over the last few months of MLB trade deadline speculation, one team has kept coming up as an ideal fit as a trade partner for the Seattle Mariners: the Arizona Diamondbacks.

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A potential wrench has been thrown into the equation, however, and it’s that the D-backs have been winning. Entering Monday, Arizona has won four straight including a weekend sweep over the St. Louis Cardinals, bring the Diamondbacks back to .500 at 50-50 on the year.

Does that mean the Mariners need to forget about making a run at third baseman Eugenio Suárez or first baseman Josh Naylor before the July 31 deadline? According to a Diamondbacks insider, not at all – or at least not yet.

John Gambadoro, a longtime host of Burns and Gambo on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM in Phoenix, joined Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Monday morning and had some good news for Mariners fans hoping to see Suárez back in the Emerald City or Naylor manning first in Northwest Green.

“I did speak with the Diamondbacks today, and what I can tell you is that even after sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals, they are still more sellers than buyers,” Gambadoro told Brock Huard and guest host Mike Lefko. “Now, if they sweep the Astros (this week), things may change. The problem is they’re 4 1/2 games out (of a playoff spot in the National League), but there’s four teams ahead of them. They’ve got to pass four teams in order to get into a playoff spot with 60 games left.

“They’re devastated with injuries to starting pitching and the bullpen. So as of today, even after the sweep, I wanted to know: You swept the Cardinals, do you think you’re more in it now? I’m still being told that they are more sellers than they are buyers, so they could have a field day because they’ve got about four or five really good players they could move for prospects.”

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The D-backs are just a couple years removed from a surprise run to the World Series, so why wouldn’t they keep the team together through the deadline just as it appears to be getting hot? Gambadoro explained the circumstances.

“There’s been a lot of excitement about Diamondbacks baseball. The owner is committed to spending, he’s spent more money on this team the last two years than ever has been spent on the team,” he said. “The deal is that these guys are all on expiring contracts, right? They’re not going to be trading players that are under contract for the next three or four years. They’re gonna be trading guys that have expiring contracts.

“Geno Suárez, expiring contract. Josh Naylor, expiring contract. (Starting pitchers) Merrill Kelly, Zac Gallen, expiring contracts. So I think it’s a little bit different than trading a guy that’s got four years left on his deal. They’re not trading that type of player. They’re trading a guy that they may not even be able to bring back next year anyway, so that’s why I think it actually makes a lot of sense.”

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If Arizona does indeed sell over the next 10 days, the Mariners can expect competition on the market, especially when it comes to Suárez. In his second season with the Diamondbacks since an offseason trade from the Mariners, the 34-year-old slugger is slashing .257/.328/.601 for a .929 OPS, and he leads MLB with 85 RBIs and the National League with 35 homers.

It’s been quite the turnaround considering something Gambadoro mentioned about how Suárez’s tenure in Arizona started.

“They almost cut the guy twice last year. I’m serious,” Gambadoro said. “He was so bad the first two months of the season they had internal discussions about just waiving him outright. But he got hot, he figured it out and he’s played some great baseball.”

Gambadoro mentioned two teams the Mariners would have to contend with in order to reunite with Suárez.

“Geno is on a tear right now. Two home runs yesterday, two home runs Saturday, he’s on pace to hit 57 home runs,” he said. “… What you worry about is he is the No. 1 target for for a lot of teams. The Yankees want him, the Cubs want him, there’s Seattle. So you’re going to be able to parlay him into some good prospects.

“We’re not talking about a lottery ticket for a guy on an expiring contract, which sometimes happens. We’re talking about getting top-10 players in a team’s organization prospect-wise for Geno Suárez, because he’s a guy that right now makes a difference in a lot of baseball games.”

Hear the full Brock and Salk conversation with Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro in the podcast at this link or in the player near the top of this post. Catch Brock and Salk live from 6-10 a.m. weekdays on Seattle Sports.

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