Trade Nelson Cruz
Cruz is one of the Mariners most prolific hitters. He swats dingers like nobody’s business, rakes in RBIs, and consistently hits around .300. His addition to the lineup a few years ago was one of the best moves in Mariners franchise history. They took a risk on an older bat and he has simply produced.
In 2017, Cruz is hitting .290 with 15 homers and 63 RBIs. he’s also posting a OPS of .880
Trade partners for the M’s are semi limited, because at this point with his age and shot legs, he’s really only a DH. So that takes out the NL teams. The Indians have Encarnaccion, and the Rays have this hot-hitting 28-year-old, so they’re out.
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Boston has Hanley Ramirez and could be looking to upgrade from his .253 average and .773 OPS. The Angels and Tigers could also possibly be options.
The Mariners need to trade Cruz now though because they’re going to get about as much as ever for him.
If they can trade him for some mid-level prospects, and then Dipoto can repackage them to reel in a solid starter, the Mariners could already be looking better.
Now Cruz does leave a fairly large hole behind him, but the Mariners have Tyler O’Neill who is emerging as a monster hitter at Triple-A, and he could get some solid time at the DH instead of trying to crack into an already crowded OF.