If I Were “King” For A Day…

I don’t know who the Mariners plan on trading this season or if they even will move anyone. I’m sure we can speculate that Brandon League, Erik Bedard, Adam Kennedy could be moved, not to mention David Pauley, Jamey Wright or Jack Wilson if  someone got desperate. Speaking of desperate, if a person were to buy into Aaron Laffey‘s ERA they could have him cheap. We don’t have a ton of great pieces but they are pieces non-the-less and there are teams that could make up some interesting partners if they needed outside

I’m not suggesting that the Mariners need to trade everyone but there are scenerios in which teams could approach us and offer more than what their value is to this organization. The idea is that they could pay cheaper for say a David Pauley 7th inning guy type guy than a Mike Adams or a Joel Hanrahan.

But there are some teams in need of infield help such as the Tigers, Pirates, Brewers, Diamond Backs, Giants and even the Cardinals. Where a Jack Wilson in the late innings or a Adam Kennedy off the bench could make sense.

There isn’t a team out there that doesn’t need bullpen help… well maybe the Braves. But, even the Yankees are looking for upgrades and you can throw the Tigers, Brewers, Dbacks, Giants and even the Rays in that category too. Brandon League at a cheap $2.25 mm,  plus he’s on tap for next and likely won’t jump above $5 for his next pay increase. He could return a good piece.

Then there are teams all over the place that just need depth on the bench. A few guys to fill into a specific position. It happens every year and the Mariners are in a position with those pieces.

I started doing a long drawn out list of 8 – 12 different C+ prospects that could be interesting options going forward. It was fun to look at some of the different organizations under a microscope but to be honest I  developed a few favorites of who I would go after if I played the GM. Then I thought I do my shadow draft each year (speaking of which I still need to do a write up on that but I’ll probably wait until August once the dust settles and we know where everyone sits.)  why not do a quasi shadow trade deadline.

So I am calling it “If I were King for a day.”

If I was King for the day here are the following moves I’d make at the trade dead line.

Trade Erik Bedard to the Cleveland Indians for Nick Hagadone, Chun-Hsiu Chen and Matt Packer.

Hagadone has really cleaned up his command since being put in the bullpen and he could very well be a solid late inning guy as early as next year. His fastball is in the mid to high 90s. He has a slider that he uses primary as his out pitch along with a change.

I really like Chen. I think he has the ability to be a solid catcher with above average offensive skills. He does hit from the right side of the dish but he is a solid line drive hitter it’s not like the ball gets caught up in the air where it would hurt him in Safeco.

I do worry a bit about his on-base skills but regardless what he brings right now, even without improving his strike zone understanding, is above average offense.

Packer is an underrated pitcher in a very pitching centric Indian farm system. He gets an above average amount of ground balls, doesn’t hardly walk anyone and gets some swings-and-misses. He’s looking for a promotion soon and could very well be an able body in the rotation by mid-2012.

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Trade Jack Wilson to the Milwaukee Brewers for Brock Kjeldgaard.

Kjeldgaard is a former pitcher who didn’t work out and was converted to a first basemen under the Zduriencik regime. He is currently working out in the leftfield and has an immense amount of power but is still very raw at the plate but he’s learning and progressing slowly.

Just recently promoted to AA he’s still old for his level at 25 and he’s not much of a prospect but it’d be interesting to see if he could work out.

It’s not likely to get something in return for Wilson and while Kjeldgaard is a lottery ticket he could be a nice one to hold on too.

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Trade Brandon League and Adam Kennedy to the Detroit Tigers for Charlie Furbush and Andy Dirks.

Furbush wasn’t on many people’s radar’s prior to the season but he’s jumped back showing that he’s over the Tommy John surgery. His velocity has shown to stay in the low 90s showing solid off-speed pitches. He very well may not be much beyond a back-of-the-rotation starter but I think he’s more like a middle of the rotation.

I’m not sure how much the Tigers organization values Furbush but while they had an opening the rotation this season they chose to work him out of the bullpen. So, to me, I believe that the Tigers still see him as a 4th or 5th starter.

Andy Dirks has kind of been a guy I’ve watch for the last year and a half. When the Mariners delt Washburn to the Tigers Dirks was someone that I highlighted after his season in High A.

He was named the best defensive out fielder in the farm system by Baseball America and while I most often hear him called a 4th outfielder I think he is more. John Sickles has compared him to David DeJesus, and I think that’s a pretty good comparison but honestly I think he could be a better version. I think Dirks has a bit more power though he may not have DeJesus’ strikezone awareness.

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Trade David Pauley to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Yonata Ortega

Ortega is old for his level no doubt. But his mid 90s fastball is electric. He has little command he’s a true wild card but there are some around the scouting community that like him a lot.

I think he could be a very good 8th inning guy with improved command.

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So I traded Adam Kennedy, Jack Wilson, Erik Bedard, Brandon League and David Pauley.

Kennedy and Wilson are both free agents after this year, there is little to no reason to keep them around.

Everyone knows I would traded Bedard. That’s no surprise but look at it this way. Between Beavan, Furbush and Packer there is no reason why we couldn’t have one of them be the 5th starter out of spring training.

I just don’t see the purpose in keeping Bedard around. If he’s continues coming back on incentive laden deals, great. But, I just don’t see that. He’s going to want a more “secure” deal and there is no reason to give him a guaranteed deal when we have other options. That money can be better invested in other parts of the roster.

League’s value is about at it’s peak and while it’s no guarantee that we have a replacement Cortes has pitched well, Lueke has started finding his groove and you never know maybe Fields figures things out. Not to mention you have Kelley and Aardsma that should be back next year. The addition of Hagadone could also solidify the back of that pen. While yes there are plenty of question marks I like the reward over the risk.

These trades also net the Mariners two very interesting position players in Andy Dirks and Chun-Hsiu Chen, both with the potential to be regular players. Not to mention a couple of wild cards.

So “/end” on tonights bleacher report and out of my own fantasy land back to reality. The Mariners are going to end up with some difficult choices to make going forward and who knows what exactly will be the out come.

While we are in the thick of the All-Star break what are your some of your ideas for this trade deadline? Who are guys you like? Would you move League? What about a starter such as Fister or Vargas, what if it meant getting a + prospect back? Lots of questions should be interesting to see what happens going forward.