The 15 Players Most Likely to be Traded Before the MLB Trade Deadline
Every one of us has dreamed of being a general manager. Who wouldn’t want a roster at their fingertips, pruning and shaping it to perfection like a bonsai tree? That’s part of the allure of fantasy sports and games like Out of the Park, Strat-O-Matic, or MLB The Show- pretending to have authority over real players instead of merely bits of code.
Regrettably, there are only 30 people with the authority to make real MLB trades. Almost all of them will exercise this right over the next five weeks before the July 31 trade deadline. For overactive Seattle Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto, this is better than Christmas. (We’ve covered Dipoto’s penchant for trading quite a few times at OTBB.) Here are 25 players you can expect to see in a different uniform come August.
1. RHP Mike Leake, Seattle Mariners
Who wouldn’t want a solid mid-rotation starter? Leake is a strike-thrower, perhaps to the extreme. He leads the AL with 1.5 BB/9 (good), but also 22 home runs (bad). He’s controllable through at least 2020 on a reasonable salary, thanks to the Cardinals paying a huge chunk of it.
2. OF Mitch Haniger, Seattle Mariners
Haniger is one of the best incognito players in baseball. Few realize he was worth 6.1 bWAR last season. Currently, he’s on the IL with a (checks notes) ruptured testicle!? Try reading that without cringing. Anyway, he’s really good and won’t be a free agent until 2023. The Mariners can fetch a lot in return for him.
3. INF Tim Beckham, Seattle Mariners
After a blistering hot start, Beckham has regressed to his usual levels of offense: above-average power, but sub-.300 on base percentage. He’s a versatile infielder with pop, and those have value, especially since he’s making less than $2 million and has another year of arbitration remaining.
4. OF Domingo Santana, Seattle Mariners
Anyone looking for a 26-year-old corner outfielder with an .832 OPS and three-and-a-half seasons of team control? Dipoto could easily keep Santana and build around him, but that’s just not his style.
5-7. C Omar Narvaez, OF Mallex Smith, and 1B/3B Ryon Healy, Seattle Mariners
All three of these players have skills that other teams might covet. Narvaez is a lefty-swinging catcher slashing .291/.369/.481 who might be an all-star. Smith is a deft base stealer. Healy has 69 career home runs in parts of four seasons. Most importantly, all will become arbitration eligible next year, and the Mariners might not want to pay the bill.
8. 1B/DH Edwin Encarnación, Seattle Mariners
Whoops.
8-9. 3B Kyle Seager and 2B Dee Gordon, Seattle Mariners
We have now reached the 31-year-old, expensive, not-what-they-used-to-be infielders portion of our program. The Mariners are trying to rebuild with haste, and these two are taking up valuable space on the roster and the payroll. They’ll have to eat salary to be rid of these players, but if anyone can move them, it’s Dipoto!
10-11. LHP Wade LeBlanc and LHP Tommy Milone, Seattle Mariners
Here is a video called “Pink Fluffy Unicorns Dancing on Rainbows.”
Watch it all the way through. Then watch it twelve more times. Let it seep into your brain, strangling your waking thoughts. Now, substitute the words “Soft-Tossing Versatile Journeyman Southpaws.” The entire function of dudes like LeBlanc and Milone is to be traded in July.
12-14. SS J.P. Crawford, DH/DT Daniel Vogelbach, and RHP Gerson Bautista, Seattle Mariners
Crawford and Vogelbach appear to be the core of the next contending Mariners team, whenever that will be. To a lesser extent, relief prospect Bautista is a part of the future as well, having been acquired from the Mets in the Robinson Canó deal. While most teams in a rebuild would horde their young talent, the Mariners could flip them for even more prospects. As they say, “two in the bush is worth more than a bird in hand.” Right?
15. RHP Félix Hernández, Seattle Mariners
The history of the Mariners is defined by legends. You can’t tell the narrative of the franchise without Ken Griffey, Jr., Ichiro Suzuki, Edgar Martinez, or King Felix. Having spent his entire 15-year career in Seattle, Hernández is the franchise career leader in virtually every pitching category, including bWAR, ERA, wins, strikeouts, and innings pitched.
However, not all career arcs are equal. For every late-blooming Jamie Moyer, there are several early-peaking stars whose ability abandons them too soon. Hernández was unquestionably one of baseball’s best through 2015- his age-29 season. In his thirties, he’s been just a shadow of his former glory. He’s compiled a 4.79 ERA and 4.97 FIP over the last four seasons, with both stats declining every year.
Hernández is on the IL now with a back issue, and he’s owed about $15 million more in the final year of his contract. Sadly, this looks like the end of the road. Much like Twins legend Joe Mauer last season, it’s almost expected that he should retire young rather than wear a different uniform.
***
Who cares??? To hell with trivial matters of sentiment, or even 10/5 no-trade rights! He’s gotta go. Dipoto’s on the job!
