Rob's Baseball Blog

The Mariners made a trade today sending all-star reliever Alex Colome to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for catcher Omar Narváez. My initial reaction is that this is a fair trade. Colome is a good reliever with two years of control left, while Narváez is a young catcher who is team controllable until 2023(!). Narváez is better known for his hitting than his defense; although his defense is decent, he's no Mike Zunino. Offensively he doesn't have as much power as Zunino, but is an overall better hitter with a higher average and on-base percentage. Last year Narváez put up a .275 / .366 / .429 slash line, with an OPS+ of 120. Offensively, that's quite an improvement over Zunino. Narváez's weakness, though, seems to be in pitch framing. Perhaps Dan Wilson can work with him and Narváez can improve in this area. With the Mariners in rebuilding mode for the next several years, Narváez has ample time and opportunity to work on framing as well as his defe...

Dan O'Dowd, a former MLB general manager and current analyst for MLB Network, proposed a trade between the Mets and Mariners: The trade is being heralded by Mets fans, while being scorned by Mariners fans, including myself.  While the trade was concocted entirely by unreliable sources and has no actual potential of happening in a manner similar to what O'Dowd has proposed, it is still garnering a lot of attention, since baseball fans love trade talk.  Mets fans are wishing and hoping the trade comes true, while Mariners fans know that, in spite of however inept of an organization the Mariners might be, they would still never do something as stupid as this trade. Mets fans seem to think that the Mariners are desperate to dump Cano's salary, which is not the case. Cano still delivers All Star quality production, and in spite of his large salary, is a productive player. What the Mariners are really interested in is, since they are now starting a re...

A good article by Baseball America about the top 10 Mariners prospects that Jerry Dipoto has traded away. Baseball America's Top 10 Prospects the Mariners traded away under Jerry Dipoto

Rumor has it that the Seattle Mariners and the San Diego Padres are talking about a potential trade that would involve Seattle sending RHP Mike Leake and shortstop Jean Segura to the Padres, with Wil Myers among the players heading to the Mariners. No word yet on who else might accompany Myers to Seattle.  This is an interesting trade for the Mariners in rebuilding mode. Leake is essentially being swapped for Myers, both of whom have long, expensive contracts. But Myers is quite a bit younger than Leake, and will still be in his prime when the Mariners finish rebuilding a couple of years from now. While Leake is a solid mid-to-back of the rotation innings eater, with the M's in rebuilding mode, his role doesn't quite fit with the team anymore. He would be much more useful with an organization that hopes to contend for a playoff spot more immediately. Myers is a versatile player who has spent ample time at all three outfield positions, first base, and third ba...

Bye-bye Paxton Earlier today the Seattle Mariners traded James Paxton to the New York Yankees in exchange for Justus Sheffield, Erik Swanson, and Dom Thompson-Williams.  The trade looks great for the Yankees. It gets them a first-rate starting pitcher in his prime with two years of arbitration remaining. Though Paxton has battled injuries throughout his career, he has so far avoided anything as serious as Tommy John, and as long as he can continue to stay clear of it for the next two years, he will likely be a huge asset for the Yankees. Paxton has a high ceiling and a high floor. At worst, he could be a 3 rd starter for New York. At best, he could be a Cy-Young candidate. Regardless, he will in all likelihood help the Yankees make a couple of runs into the postseason. The Yankees got a top-tier low-cost starting pitcher without having to dig into the free agent market, and without giving up any particularly valuable assets. For the Yankees, this was a very smart baseb...