A Pathetic Attempt to Bring Blake Snell to the Mariners

Finding a direct, 2-team trade is difficult in and of itself. Finding such a trade when a team with a bad farm system is trying to acquire a young star is almost impossible. At first light, the most obvious trade would appear to be a straight Mitch Haniger for Blake Snell swap.

Both have lots of club control and both are young All-Stars. Haniger is 2 years older than Snell, but Snell is a pitcher, therefore a higher risk of injury in the future. But for the Mariners, does this actually make them better? At best, it is probably a wash. Tampa might prefer their own guy too. So the Haniger for Snell thought quickly falls on its face.

Next, you could think about something like Marco Gonzales and Kyle Lewis for Snell type of deal. Gonzales is having a nice season and is just a few months older than Snell. Lewis is the Mariners top prospect and finally looks healthy after a torn ACL injury basically wasted a year and a half of Lewis’ career.

While in this scenario Seattle does get better in 2018, Tampa is likely to balk at this offer. Sure, Lewis is a nice prospect. But having already suffered a major injury and never taking an AB above High-A ball, it is still quite a risk. Plus, Gonzales has already suffered through 1 Tommy John Surgery, so Tampa probably looks at him as damaged goods as well.

You can keep stacking prospects onto either deal, but Tampa isn’t going to be wowed by the number of prospects they can get for Snell if they aren’t “impact guys”.

At the end of the day, Seattle cannot do this alone (probably not at all). So, in true Jerry Dipoto fashion, we need to get creative. We need a 3rd team.

Mariners and Tiger and Ray’s, Oh My!

Okay, so here comes the ridiculous part. Finding a way for these 3 teams to find an equitable trade. It’s not easy to do and is complicated to follow. So let’s start at the top.

Tampa Bay will almost certainly want MLB ready, or close to prospects to even entertain moving Snell. We know that the Mariners already have an interest in Detroit Tigers lefty Matthew Boyd. It is likely that names have already been discussed in a potential swap, which could help expedite things.

However, the Mariners cannot get both Boyd and Snell, so Detroit is going to ship Boyd to Tampa Bay. For their troubles, Seattle will send Detroit Kyle Lewis. So far, Seattle gets Snell, Detroit gets Lewis, and Tampa gets Boyd.

But of course, there is no shot in hell Tampa takes that deal, so we need to find more pieces. Tampa Bay has desperately trying to sell anybody making money, so it’s safe to assume Seattle cannot move anybody with even a decent contract to Tampa. Enter Ben Gamel.

Gamel, a 26-year-old, has proven to be, at the very least, a solid 4th OF. We have also witnessed, in 2 consecutive years, streaks that suggest perhaps Gamel has more to give a Major League team. Gamel is right on the edge of entering his statistical prime. He also won’t be a free agent until after the 2022 season.

So now, Tampa has Boyd and Gamel. Seattle has Snell, and Detroit has Lewis. Getting there, but still not enough.

It is unlikely that the Mariners would part ways with their 2 best prospect bats, in addition to Ben Gamel. So Evan White is probably safe for now. However, Seattle still needs to add, and they don’t have a lot more to offer. So they’ll need, particularly from the Detroit Tigers.

But how do you get Detroit to pitch in? What do you have that they want? Simply put, money. Hold your nose Mariners fans, because this could sting. The Mariners are going to have to take on at least half of the remaining contract of Jordan Zimmerman.

Zimmerman is actually having a decent season but is due about $62 million over the next 2 1/2 seasons. Why take him on? By allowing Detroit to rid themselves of a large chunk of that contract, you can extract an extra prospect from them to ship to Detroit. Namely, Kyle Funkhouser.

To recap again so everybody is caught up, Seattle is now getting Snell, Zimmerman, and cash. Tampa is getting Boyd, Gamel, and Funkhouser, and Detroit is getting Lewis and about $30 million in salary relief over the next 2 1/2 years.

Of course, saving the Tiger $31 million won’t be good enough for them to just give away a nice prospect. So, of course, Seattle is gonna have to give something small to Detroit. Hey, I never said this was gonna be easy. To help fill the gap in their MLB rotation, Seattle will send Rob Whalen to Detroit.

But why stop there? Seattle needs another OF with Gamel now in Tampa. And Detroit has a really good one in Leonys Martin. So now, Seattle will be sending Daniel Vogelbach to Detroit as well.

But we cannot forget Tampa Bay. So far, they have gotten Matthew Boyd, Ben Gamel, and Kyle Funkhouser for Blake Snell. Guess what? Still not enough. Seattle has already given a ton. But they are the ones who would be getting the best player in the deal. It is them who must give up the most.

So Seattle ships off perhaps the highest upside player in their system to Tampa. Young, 17-year-old Julio Rodriguez. Rodriguez bat may just be the best in the Mariners farm system when all is said a done. He has an advanced eye at the plate. A good swing. Good bat speed. Plus, easy power. Some scouts believe he will be a middle of the order thumper for years when he reaches the big leagues.

And yet, Seattle may still need to sprinkle some other prospects around to make this happen.

So Where Are We Now?

Wow, was that a whirlwind. So many names. So many possibilities. And so much BS. So now that we have reached the end of our silly little game, where do things stand? Our final trade looks something like this:

As you can see, despite our best efforts, there are still so many holes in this deal. That was bound to happen when considering how ridiculous the premise is. Somehow, the Mariners give up 7 players, while Tampa gives up just Snell.

But at the end of this mess, every team does walk away with something. Tampa gets 2 young, controllable MLB pieces. They also get a solid AA pitcher, as well as 2 of the best bats in the Mariners system in Rodrigue and Brigman.

Detroit walks away with the prospect in the entire trade. They also shed roughly $30 million dollars, get to see what Vogelbach can really do in the big leagues, and add a decent OF prospect and a solid pitcher in the process.

Finally, Seattle gets one of the best young starters in the game, a real centerfielder, and a former #2 type of pitcher, throwing like a #4 in 2018, at about $12 million a year. In the end, Seattle’s system took a huge hit. That is saying something considering how bad it is.

Next: Mariners Trade a Day: Brandon Drury

At the end of the day, the Blake Snell to the Mariners thing is fun to think about, but just not a realistic one. There are too many obstacles to get it done, particularly in the middle of the season. I expect Dipoto to add a young, controllable starter at the deadline. Matthew Boyd is a real possibility. But Snell calling Seattle home anytime soon just isn’t.