Mariners close to trade for Padres outfielder Seth Smith

Just a quick blog update for those of you who may not follow me on Twitter. I Tweeted this morning that the Mariners are closing in on a deal for outfielder Seth Smith from the Padres.

While I reported Monday that with the majority of offices throughout baseball closed for the holidays it would be unlikely that we saw anything before next week, I am now hearing that we could have an announcement on Smith today or tomorrow.

Sources tell me that the Mariners would send a reliever to the Padres in exchange for Smith. Bob Nightengale of USA Today Tweeted earlier that Brandon Maurer has been of interest to the Padres. This appears to be the player who would be traded but I do not have confirmation on this name.

This trade has been in the works for some time now with the Mariners needing a platoon partner in right field for Justin Ruggiano and the Padres having an excess of outfielders after the acquisitions of Wil Myers, Matt Kemp and Justin Upton. Again, the deal is not final, but I am told is very close.

Related

Mariners’ Colt Emerson to 10-day IL instead of Tacoma; Brock Rodden to debutSalk: What’s enlightening about Seahawks going into this seasonSeahawks QB Sam Darnold makes big climb in NFL Top 1003 reasons why Brock likes Seahawks’ Terrion Arnold signingWyman & Bob react to Seahawks’ Terrion Arnold signingWhy Brock says UW Huskies will be ‘very relevant’ in CFP conversation