harmony

The Cubs and Seattle Mariners face similar questions on whether to upgrade from a current rookie third baseman. The Cubs have received 1.3 bWAR in 70 games from Matt Shaw while the Mariners have received 1.2 bWAR in 80 games from Ben Williamson. Shaw has 6 Defensive Runs Saves in 562.2 innings while Williamson has 7 DRS in 662 inninngs. Shaw has posted a wRC+ of 82 in 252 plate appearances while Williamson has posted a wRC+ of 75 in 279 plate appearances. ZiPS projects Shaw and Williamson with 0.6 WAR each the remainder of the season, Shaw in 42 games and Williamson in 47 games. The Cubs selected Shaw out of the University of Maryland with the 13th overall pick in the 2023 draft while Seattle took Williamson out of William & Mary 44 picks later. Shaw is a year younger than Williamson, who played four years at the college level to Shaw's three years.

No Seattle Mariners? With Seattle's trade for the lefthand-hitting Josh Naylor, speculation is that the Mariners might make available the lefthanded bat of Luke Raley or Dominic Canzone. Raley, who comes with three more years of team control, has posted 6.3 bWAR and an OPS+ of 124 since the start of the 2023 season. Canzone, who comes with four or five years of team control, has posted 0.8 bWAR and an OPS+ of 147 in 36 games this year after posting a .296/.360/.564/.925 line in 45 games at Triple A Tacoma.

The third Wild Card berth is becoming a blight on the trade deadline—perhaps more with each passing year. Is it a bad thing that mediocre teams are discouraged from tanking by becoming sellers at the trade deadline? Does the expanded postseason format encourage clubs to build long-term during the offseason instead of depending on a two-month fix by poaching off struggling teams at the trade deadline?

Thanks. The previous post has been clarified.

Despite the "fringe garbage bats in the Mariners' lineup," Seattle ranks second in the American League with a team OPS+ of 111: https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/2025.shtml

Since the start of the 2022 season Cal Raleigh ranks ninth among all hitters with an fWAR of 18.3, ahead of Dansby Swanson and Kyle Tucker, among others: https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=8&month=0&ind=0&startdate=&enddate=&season1=2022&season=2025 Swanson and Tucker made a combined five All Star appearances over that period while Raleigh made none. Heading into Friday's game, Raleigh had posted 4.4 fWAR in 72 games this season while Pete Crow-Armstrong had posted 4.1 fWAR in 73 games: https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=8&month=0&ind=0&startdate=&enddate=&season1=2025&season=2025

Before the series with the Cubs, the White Sox had taken two of three from the Reds and the Marlins (not the Mariners). Sweeps are indeed sweet. Coming off a 1-5 homestand, this weekend the Mariners swept the Padres, who entered the series in San Diego with a 27-15 record.

Seattle seems short one starter currently and is unlikely to trade from the rotation coming off a 5-1 homestand. Through Saturday's games the Mariners had posted an OPS+ of 105 and an ERA+ of 99.

The Red Sox reportedly will sign Alex Bregman to a three-year, $120 million contract: https://x.com/Chandler_Rome/status/1889878592005480904 Can this redundant post be deleted?

Hours have passed since this obscure source reported that Alex Bregman and the Detroit Tigers have reached a contract agreement: https://bsky.app/profile/alvingarcia.bsky.social/post/3lhwj5vnqk22h The lack of confirming news renders the report unreliable (but interesting).

FanGraphs currently ranks the Cubs seventh in the National League in projected 2025 WAR overall, including fifth in the league in position player WAR and 11th in the league in pitching WAR: https://www.fangraphs.com/depthcharts.aspx?position=ALL&teamid=17

Feedback is always welcome. Thank you.

Indeed the Cubs have moved ahead of the Seattle Mariners in FanGraphs' projected position player WAR: https://www.fangraphs.com/depthcharts.aspx?position=ALL&teamid=3 ... while still trailing the Mariners in overall projected 2025 WAR.

Last year the Cubs posted a team wRC+ of 101 while the Seattle Mariners posted a team wRC+ of 104, including a league-leading wRC+ of 118 after August 15.

According to Roster Resource, the current Seattle first baseman is Luke Raley, who this year posted 3.2 bWAR in 137 games to Cody Bellinger's 2.2 bWAR in 130 games.