Mariners Alternate Universe: Blow it up in the offseason (Part 2)

As the Mariners continue to hang around .500, in an alternate universe, Jerry Dipoto and staff are preparing to burn the franchise down to the foundation. We all know it won’t happen, but here in make believe world, we can do whatever we like. So we now continue with our rebuild project with part 2.

In our last installation, we moved 3 of the biggest trade chips the Mariners had; Kyle Seager, Nelson Cruz, and James Paxton. If you would like a refresher, click right here. But as we continue to look at some of the tradeable chips left on the Mariners 40 man, there appears to be a few possibilities in the bullpen.

But trading middle relievers in the off-season rarely pays as much as in the middle of the season. Guys like David Phelps, for example, will be much more valuable if/when he shows another 2-3 months of dominate bullpen pitching, like he did in 2017 before his string of elbow injuries.

Edwin Diaz is an interesting case. On the one hand, a dominate closer means nothing to a team trying to rebuild. Diaz, with 4 year of control, has perhaps, the highest value remaining on the trade market.

However; perhaps a trip back to the minor leagues to lengthen Diaz out and becoming a starter makes sense for the rebuilding Mariners. Giving away a 23 year old stud doesn’t make a lot of sense on the surface, and the Mariners could wait until they can maximize his trade value.

But for guys like Marc Rzepczynski and Nick Vincent, their isn’t any reason to stick around a rebuilding franchise. So lets explore what the Mariners can get for these older arms.