Rumor: Rosenthal Has Mariners as Team to Watch; Cubs Could Be Fit a Few Ways

[Matthew Trueblood]

In Ken Rosenthal's latest notes column at The Athletic, he focuses on the Mariners, who might be in an even weirder, more challenging spot than the Cubs. According to Rosenthal, Jerry Dipoto is open to trading one of the team's several good, controllable, young starting pitchers, but only in a deal that would increase (or at least preserve) the team's chances for 2023.

What I’m hearing: https://t.co/Y7dNEiajcU

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 28, 2023

Good luck, Jerry. That's a reasonable position to take, hut it makes an actual move involving any of Seattle's starters unlikely. Still, if such a move were to happen, the Cubs could be a fascinating fit. They could make Marcus Stroman an important (though secondary) piece of a deal for, say, Logan Gilbert. 

The Cubs have young pitching almost as promising as the Mariners' stuff, but a year or two behind them. One of those guys (Cade Horton, Ben Brown, Jordan Wicks, or even Hayden Wesneski) could be the foundation of a trade. There are other, even wilder fits, too. Christopher Morel could play second base for the Mariners, and that seems to be his best defensive home, by a mile.

The Cubs could also inquire on the (presumably very high) price of closer Paul Sewald, who'd be a superb addition to their bullpen and is under team control for 2024, and on the (likely much more realistic) cost of Teoscar Hernandez, who would be a strong right-handed bat for the middle of the lineup. 

We're going to see fewer pure buy/sell trades this deadline, because there are several teams right where the Cubs and Mariners are. That could make for some interesting trades (and trade rumors) over the coming days, though.

View full rumor

[Derwood]

6 minutes ago, Matt Trueblood said:

 

We're going to see fewer pure buy/sell trades this deadline, because there are several teams right where the Cubs and Mariners are. That could make for some interesting trades (and trade rumors) over the coming days, though.

 

 

Exactly what the league was hoping for when they made July 31 the hard deadline

[Derwood]

Seattle has 4 teams in front of them for the WC, including LAA who is already loading up. 

[JD94]

39 minutes ago, TomtheBombadil said:

Eugenio Suarez, please! 

What’s the fascination with him? He’s 32 and has a 104 wRC+. He’s pretty meh and doesn’t really move the needle. 

[CubinNY]

3 minutes ago, JD94 said:

What’s the fascination with him? He’s 32 and has a 104 wRC+. He’s pretty meh and doesn’t really move the needle. 

He's a Cub killer. 

[Ding Dong Johnson]

1 minute ago, CubinNY said:

He's a Cub killer. 

And we already have Jed Hoyer for that.

[JD94]

6 minutes ago, TomtheBombadil said:

He’s an all around fit. Age is just one number! I esp don’t see the big deal about 31 when half the site will be falling over themselves for Matt Chapman this offseason 

- Cubs have posted an 89 wRC+ at 3B

- Flyball hitter with 90 MPH avg EVs, lg avg maxes

- Contract runs cheap ($9.4 AAV) through 2024

- Plus defensive player 

Plus he’d be moving out of a cavernous home park, though he doesn’t have huge splits 

I agree 3B is a problem. I also know the underlying numbers and baseball savant page suggests Suarez should be better, but he’s still been meh. I’m not sure he ages well, so him being 32 is more of a concern to me than others players. I’m also not big on Chapman. IIRC he was white hot for a month and if you take that out, he’s been awful with the bat. That’s just my opinion though. I feel like we should shoot hire than Suarez to upgrade 3B. I don’t have the who or the how, but it’s a problem that needs to be fixed. 

[Derwood]

21 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

He's a Cub killer. 

Just like Jeff Blauser before him

[Derwood]

16 minutes ago, TomtheBombadil said:

He’s an all around fit. Age is just one number! I esp don’t see the big deal about 31 when half the site will be falling over themselves for Matt Chapman this offseason 

 

Aren't you the one who says that players peak at 23?

[Outshined_One]

Does this team even have a 3B worth a damn in the farm system who'll be ready opening day 2024?

I'm fine with meh at 3B this season and next if it means going from "actively hurting the team" to "non-descript".

[Transmogrified Tiger]

The Mariners hitting lags their pitching and they don't have any real alternative to Suarez, if they did they'd probably try them out at 2B or DH.  Tough to see how trading away Suarez is their preferred outcome unless they're really and truly giving up on 2023.

[Bobson Dugnutt]

It’s still taking some getting used to hearing North Side Baseball referenced by other media outlets. Last week BN referenced one of Matt’s articles. Right now they’re discussing this Mariners idea on the Score.

 

It took a couple decades, but this place is finally earning some credibility around town!

[ILMindState]

1 hour ago, Bobson Dugnutt said:

It’s still taking some getting used to hearing North Side Baseball referenced by other media outlets. Last week BN referenced one of Matt’s articles. Right now they’re discussing this Mariners idea on the Score.

 

It took a couple decades, but this place is finally earning some credibility around town!

When NSBB and PSD unite

[Rob]

1 hour ago, Bobson Dugnutt said:

It’s still taking some getting used to hearing North Side Baseball referenced by other media outlets. Last week BN referenced one of Matt’s articles. Right now they’re discussing this Mariners idea on the Score.

 

It took a couple decades, but this place is finally earning some credibility around town!

Way back during my aborted attempt to write here, I remember hearing that something I'd written had been discussed on Boers and Bernstein. That was kinda fun.

 

ETA: I just want to point out again that I was right about Jim Edmonds having something left in the tank.

Edited July 28, 2023 by Rob

[Matthew Trueblood]

Here’s something interesting, given the Rosenthal stuff yesterday: