5 James Paxton Trade Packages For Selling Seattle Mariners

Paxton to Brewers for Corbin Burnes, Brett Phillips, and Tristen Lutz

Next up, a surprising entry from a team who was supposed to still be in rebuild mode. The Brewer are actually the team to emulate for a “quick rebuild”. Adding athleticism everywhere you can and let you player development system do just that.

Back to the trade. Yet again the Mariners get a young, outfielder with MLB experience and a good tool set to work with. Are you seeing a pattern here? As you can see from the video above, Phillips is an exciting player with a track record of success in both the high minors and now Major League Baseball. He also has the best arm on a position player in baseball.

With good speed, instincts and a cannon of an arm, Phillips will have no problem patrolling any of the 3 OF positions at a high level for years to come. Whether or not he can make enough contact to be a superstar hitter is another matter. His power/speed combo is legitimate, and his minor league numbers speak for themselves… as do the strike out numbers.

In addition to Phillips, the Mariners also net Corbin Burnes, who MLB has ranked as the 97th best prospect in baseball. Burnes, a 2016 4th round pick, as flown through the minors, and finished his first full season of pro baseball at AA. Possessing 2 above average pitches, along with 2 what should be average pitches and plus control, Burnes should be MLB ready by 2019.

Burnes is also a groundball machine, and should have a long career in the middle of the rotation. Finally, the Mariners also add the 34th pick of the 2017 draft, outfielder Tristen Lutz. Possessing solid average or above-average tools across the board, Lutz is still just 19 and thus, a few years away. However; his athleticism and speed give the Mariners farm system a high upside prospect to dream on.