Seattle Mariners: 5 Trades to Clear Payroll this Off-Season

The Seattle Mariners are in a tough spot. They find themselves with an older team, a thin system, and a high payroll. Let’s look at five trades to clear payroll this off-season for the Seattle Mariners.

All of these trades are centered around one key factor. To clear payroll this off-season. The Seattle Mariners have one of the highest payrolls in all of baseball. Before any free agency signings or trades happen, the Mariners have the 3rd most money committed heading into 2019. These trades will all look to help clear payroll this off-season.

To be up front, Felix Hernandez and Robinson Cano will not be listed here. Yes, they are the highest on the payroll. In the case of Felix, he only has one year left on his deal. As for Cano, he would be very difficult to trade. The Mariners would likely have to eat the majority of his contract in a trade, negating the benefit of trading him.

Now, this isn’t a predictions article saying that all of these trades are going to happen. They are just ones that the Seattle Mariners could make to accomplish a couple important aspects. These would help them to either rebuild the farm system, get younger on the major league level, or see how players would do in a new locale. All of the players they get back have age, as well as ranking in that team’s system.

We all want the Mariners to succeed. Seeing them break their drought and make it to the playoffs would make most Mariners fans happy. It could very well happen in 2019. Whether or not you believe that is up to you. For now, let us dive in and look at five trades the Seattle Mariners could make to clear payroll this off-season.