Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays, Natural Trade Partners… Again

You may have heard, but Jerry Dipoto loves to trade. At times, it is almost like he has an addiction to the craft. No team has been a larger enabler of Dipoto’s habit than the Tampa Bay Rays.

In fact, Dipoto’s introduction to Mariners fans everywhere was a massive trade that sent Logan Morrison, Brad Miller, and Danny Farquhar for Nate Karns, Boog Powell and C.J. Riefenhauser. Karns and Powell couldn’t stick, and were since traded for Jarrod Dyson and Yonder Alonso, both free agents now.

The team also pulled a deal for Drew Smyly last winter, in which the Mariners trade Luiz Gohara, Carlos Vargas and Ryan Yarbrough. The two teams have made 4 trades in 2 years, and not surprisingly, they appear to matchup as partners this off-season.

The Rays are caught in the middle a little bit. Too good to go full rebuild, yet not close enough to blow their budget and truly compete in the stacked A.L. East. The Rays will be looking to move some extraneous and pricey parts, while keeping their core and impressive minor league system intact.

Tampa Bay currently has 13 arbitration eligible players, their projected salaries combining to eat up $41 million. That would account for half of the Rays projected Opening Day Salary in 2018. The Mariners have an ability to swallow money and are in dire need of pitching.

The most obvious name for Mariners fans to consider is Jake Odorizzi. Odorizzi will enter the 2018 season at the age on 28, and still has 2 full season of club control remaining. He also fits the Dipoto check list with a K/9 of 8.0, a 3.0 BB/9, and has made 28 or more starts in 4 consecutive seasons.

Dipoto also love to invest in the “proven player coming off a bad year’ type, which applies to Odorizzi. After posting a 3.91 FIP in 2014-2016, that jumped up to 5.41 FIP. The home runs are a problem, with Odorizzi giving up 59 long flies in 2 seasons. But a move to Safeco Field and away from the A.L. East could help. Odorizzi is projected to make $6.4 million in 2018

Alex Colome is another intriguing option for a Mariners team looking to add to its bullpen. Colome had a monster season in 2016, posting a 1.91 ERA with a massive 71:15 K/BB ratio in just 56.2 innings. He was named to the All-Star team as a result.

Colome fell back down to earth in 2017, but was still a quality bullpen arm. He led the A.L. in saves (not saying that means anything) with 47. But his K/9 dropped by 3.5, from 11.3 to 7.5 K/9. His BB/9 also jumped from 2.4 to 3.1. Colome is projected to earn $5.5 million and will have 3 full seasons of club control. Colome will turn 29 on December 31st.

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Those are the 2 most obvious names that appear on the Rays arbitration list. Some guys like Brad Boxberger makes some sense. Once a solid reliever, Boxberger has struggled to stay healthy recently, and is scheduled to make $1.9 million in 2018. When healthy, Boxberger has late inning stuff and some experience closing.

The Rays have just $36 million committed to players in 2018, and Chris Archer is the pipe dream of pipe dreams. If the Rays are willing to listen on Kevin Kiermaier, the Mariners should aggressively pursue.

The Rays have a deep farm system, and a few names could conceivably help the Mariners in 2018. Yonny Chirinos is a minor league producer who must be added to the Rays 40-man before the Rule 5 draft. His blend of excellent control and 3 average pitches could be interesting to Dipoto.

Joe McCarthy has the control the zone profile Dipoto covets and has the flexibility to play first base and in the outfield. He also is an impressive 57 of 70 in stolen base attempts. Asking McCarthy to make the jump from AA to the Bigs might be too much. He should be ready by July.

The Rays could use a young corner outfielder like Ben Gamel to pair with Kiermaier and Steven Souza, and some younger options in the bullpen like Nick Vincent or maybe Thyago Vieira.

Next: The Case for Carlos Santana

The odds are good that the Mariners and Rays will make some kind of a deal this off-season. Both front offices are too active to not like the odds. There are some interesting player and awfully intriguing matches between the two squads. Stay tuned.