Mariners Analysis: Early Assessment Montgomery/Vogelbach Trade

Mike Montgomery got the last out for the Cubs in the World Series, what has Dan Vogelbach done?  Well, nothing…yet.

If I had told you back in April that Mike Montgomery would be the who pitcher closed out game 7 of the 2016 World Series, you would be extremely excited because that would have meant that the Seattle Mariners won the World Series.  That, unfortunately, is not the case as Montgomery was pitching for the now, world champion Chicago Cubs.

Mike Montgomery arguably recorded the most important final out in baseball history.  With two outs and a 0-1 count in the bottom of the 10^th inning of game 7 of the World Series, Montgomery threw a curveball to Cleveland Indians second basemen, Michael Martinez (no relation to Edgar).

I say this is the most powerful out in out in baseball history because the Cubs had not won a World Series in 108 years, which many broadcasters made sure we all were aware of. Montgomery ended that curse by getting that one big out.

Montgomery shouldn’t have even been in this situation, but flame-throwing closer Aroldis Chapman gave up a game-tying two-run home run in the bottom of the 8^th inning to one of the most unlikely power sources, Cleveland’s Rajai Davis.

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Even more, in the bottom of the 10^th inning Cubs reliever, Carl Edwards Jr. was unable to get through the inning -to many Mariners fans delight- opening the door for Cubs manager, Joe Maddon to bring in our old friend, Mike Montgomery.

Unfortunately, to my disbelief, just because one of your team’s former pitchers closes out the World Series does not mean that your team won the World Series, but there’s always next year, right?

Montgomery may never have to pay for anything in Chicago again.

Now, the man who was traded for Montgomery, Dan Vogelbach, has a lot to live up to after what Montgomery accomplished.  That trade occurred on July 20^th, a time in which many Mariners fans were quite unsure of the direction the team was taking with the rest of the season, were they going to be buyers or sellers?

This trade made them seem like sellers, but as the season went on, we learned that wasn’t the case.  The M’s shipped Montgomery and minor league pitcher Jordan Pries to the Cubs in exchange for Vogelbach and another minor league pitcher, Paul Blackburn.

Vogelbach is rated as the Mariners seventh best prospect according to mlb.com.  The Montgomery and Vogelbach trade did make some sense as the beloved Dae-Ho Lee and “Indiana’s Finest”, Adam Lind were both going to be free agents this offseason.

Depending on if the Mariners decide to bring in a new first baseman or re-sign Lee and/or Lind, there will be a good competition for the M’s first base spot.

Vogelbach could be the left-handed hitting first baseman who faces right-handed pitchers if the Mariners decide to continue with the platoon method at first base.

After being traded to the Mariners organization, Vogelbach spent 44 games down with the AAA Tacoma Rainiers. He hit .240 with 7 home runs and 32 RBI.  Dan then appeared in 8 games with the Mariners at the end of the season, but had a rough time, going 1-12 with 6 strikeouts.

Dan Vogelbach is a big human being, he is 6 feet tall weighing in at 250 lbs. and his forearms are huge!  There is no guarantee that Vogelbach will be on the Mariners roster come opening day.  If

not, then he will continue to get his at-bats in Tacoma which should only help him in the long run.  Whenever Vogelbach does re-join the M’,s he will be able to supply even more power to a Mariner’s lineup that surprisingly hit 223 home runs last season.

Vogelbach does have a lot to live up to after what Montgomery did for the Cubs to end the season, and that pressure is unwarranted.

It was only one out that Montgomery got for the Cubs in game 7, but that one out ended a 108 years curse for the Cubs so anything associated with that final out is going to be heightened.

Hopefully one day in the not so distant future Dan Vogelbach is ending a game 7 of the World Series for the Mariners, it could be from getting the final out while pitching, that would be rather odd, though. I don’t think any Mariner fan would mind that, but they would probably prefer a walk-off home run to win a World Series from Vogelbach as that makes much more sense.

Next: Aoki and Iannetta Gone

As for the other two players in this trade, Paul Blackburn started 7 games for the Mariners, then was sent to the AA Jackson Generals.  He threw 40.2 innings, recording 27 strikeouts with a 3.54 ERA.  After being traded to the Cubs organization Jordan Pries started 9 games for the Cubs AAA affiliate in Iowa.  Pries pitched 46.2 innings, striking out 35 batters while possessing a 5.21 ERA.

It is hard to see which team will have gotten the better part of the deal in the long term, but as of this moment, it looks as though the Cubs have won the trade.