This Weekend Will Be Quieter Than You’d Think

The MLB trading deadline is Sunday at 1:00 pm. The Mariners have a lot of parts they’d like to move. They have a lot of needs that need filled. They’ll take on talent at every level from A ball to the major leagues, so they’re aren’t that picky. All of this means that the Mariners are going to be very busy over the next few days, right? Don’t count on it.

Look down the list of players that the M’s will be looking to move: Figgins, Kennedy, Cust, Wilson, Ray, Wright, Laffey. All of those will be able to pass through trade waivers, and thus are likely to be traded after Sunday’s deadline.

Why wait? There are a couple of reasons. The first is that the players listed aren’t likely to be primary targets of contending teams. Not with better players like Heath Bell and B.J. Upton still available. The Mariners are will probably be able to get a better return by waiting until the top players have been moved and then dealing with those teams still looking for players.

The other reason why I think they’ll wait to deal most of their veteran players is simply because the Mariners want to avoid losing 100 games again. No matter how much we don’t want to admit it, most of those vets do help the M’s win games, and they’ll lose more without them on the roster. So holding on to a few of them for a couple of extra weeks will help the team’s win total.

I know what you’re thinking. “Who cares? Does it really matter if the team loses 90 games instead of 95?” You bet it does. While those of you reading this blog probably don’t care, I can tell you the bulk of Mariner fans do care. The team must show progress. Otherwise, attendance will take another drop, and the M’s can’t afford to let that happen. On the other hand, if they finish up with 90 or less losses, they’ll be able to sell to the casual fans that they are a team on the rise. As silly as it sounds, it really does matter to the team’s bottom line.

I do think that there will be moves made this weekend. Erik Bedard should find a new home if he pitches well Friday. Brandon League could be moved as well providing Chuck Armstrong gets out of Jack Zduriencik’s way and lets him do his job. (This is topic for another post, but in case you haven’t heard, Armstrong has mentioned that he might not approve a League trade.) So I do think there will be a few moves, but not the flurry of moves that everyone expects.