Mariners News: Introducing Nate Karns

It’s fall in the northwest and what does that mean?  It means that most northwest fans are focused on the Seahawks.  But, that’s not the only thing going on.  The Mariners are making trades.  Sound familiar?  Of course it does.  Every year this team goes through changes.  Especially when there’s a new sheriff in town.  Jerry DiPoto, the new Seattle Mariners GM has modified the current roster by sending 3 players to Tampa Bay in exchange for 3 players.  Before this trade the only roster change he had made was picking up Gonzaga product Cody Martin (RHP) from the waiver wire.  However this move is indicative of the changes to come.  Just a few weeks ago Jerry mentioned in his opening news conference that his priorities are balance, leadership, young athleticism, and pitching depth.  With this move he begins to address that.

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One of the players we are welcoming to Seattle is Nathan Karns.  He is the crown jewel of this trade for Jerry DiPoto.  A solid right handed pitcher to add to the starting staff.  A pitcher out of Texas Tech who was drafted by the Nationals in the 12th round of the 2009 draft.  The Nationals converted him to a starting pitcher.  Andrew Friedman, the Tampa Bay GM traded the Washington Nationals 3 players for Nathan Karns.  Yes, you read that right.  A three for one trade.  At the time he was 9th best prospect in the Washington Nationals system.  At 6’3″ 225lbs he was thought to be quite a get for Tampa Bay.  And today he is a Seattle Mariner.

Baseball Prospectus states that Nate has a 91-95 mph fastball, a sharp two-plane break curve ball at 83-84 mph, and a change up at 84-86 mph.   In addition his strengths are that the curveball is a high-end offering and his fastball velocity.  His statistics over at Baseball Reference show an very good strikeout to walk ratio of 2.59.  He had 145 strikeouts and 56 walks in 147 innings this past season.  And that was his first season in the major leagues.  He also hit a home run last year.  Sounds to me like Felix will have some competition at the plate on the pitching staff.  So now we have Nate the Great joining King Felix and his staff.

This trade signals the beginning of the Jerry DiPoto era in Seattle. This team will be different. It may very well be exactly what this team needs. The team will begin to get younger, faster, and have a higher on base percentage. Surrounding the power hitters on this team with on base guys is going to be exciting to say the least. If you watched the World Series, the one element that the Royals brought to the table is the ability to get men on base consistently.  It will be very interesting to see this roster change over the next few months.