Marlon Byrd Still A Possibility For The Mariners

Hell of an offensive showing by the Seattle Mariners in the last couple of games. How long will it last? Have the M’s bats finally woken up?

Since the All Star Break, the Mariners offense has been virtually non existant. To put in perspective how rare this offensive burst is by the Mariners; since the All Star break we have scored 67 runs. 24 of them have come in the last three games.

Do the math people. Even with how dominant our pitching has been, we still need help offensively.

The aquisitions of Austin Jackson and Chris Denoforia was good, but not good enough.

Aquiring veteran outfielder Marlon Byrd should be a high priority for the Mariners.

We still need help at the bottom of the order by means of a right handed bat.

36 year old Marlon Byrd has put up decent numbers this season for the Phillies, owning a triple slash of .272/.320/.479 with 21 home runs. He also still holds value as a defender having started 110 games in the outfield this year.

There had been many rumors about Byrd being traded prior to the July 31st deadline; some of those rumors were linked to the Seattle Mariners.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports said that Byrd had cleared waivers earlier this week and had already been claimed by a team not yet named.

Byrd revealed prior to the deadline that the Mariners, Royals, Blue Jays, and Rays as the 4 teams he could block being traded to.

In a report by Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly, he wrote:

"Byrd said he does not view his no-trade clause as ironclad. He would consider a trade to any of the teams on his list if the Phillies asked him to."

Byrd also told CSNPhilly that “There would have to be a conversation with me, my agent and Ruben (Amaro Jr., the Phillies’ GM) if it gets to that point”.

He signed a 2 year, $16 million dollar deal including a 3rd year $8 million dollar vesting option with the Phillies this offseason and planned on retiring with the team, but sometimes baseball can be a tough business and owners must plan for the future.

More from Mariners Rumors

• Could the Mariners Acquire AL Batting Champion, Luis Arraez?
• How the Mariners could swing a trade for Fernando Tatis Jr
• What it would take for the Mariners to trade for Randy Arozarena
• Mariners News: Everything from Day One of the Winter Meetings
• Is Xander Bogaerts Still An Option For The Seattle Mariners?

If the Mariners do try and grab Byrd from the Phillies, expect the Mariners to have to pay Byrd that option for 2016 in order to get him to lift the block he put agains the Mariners in his contract.

We will without a doubt be giving up some youth in this deal, but at this point, I cannot put my finger on who might be dealt.

Nick Franklin would have worked. Brad Miller should be included some how. The good thing Seattle is they will have many options to present the Phillies with because of the many aging vets on their roster.

Lets hope the M’s can make this happen, we need all the help we can get going down the stretch.