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

THE FINISHED PRODUCT

If these were all to happen, the Mariners would look like a drastically different team. Here are the players that they ended up getting rid of, and the amount associated with them.

Dee Gordon – $13 million in 2019, $40.5 million over three years

Kyle Seager – $19 million in 2019, $71 million over four years

Mike Leake – $16 million in 2019, $31 million over two years, $49 million over three years if the option is agreed to

Jean Segura – $14.25 million in 2019, $74 million over five years

Felix Hernandez – $3 million dollars in 2019

With them gone, here are the players that they were able to get in return. It can be a little hard to sort through all of them, so they are still grouped by the team they got them from. This helps keep the prospect ranking easier to understand.

Boston – 3B Danny Diaz (17 years old, #11 prospect), RHP Kutter Crawford (22 years old, #18 prospect), 1B Pedro Castellanos (20 years old, #30 prospect)

Atlanta – OF Christian Pache (19 years old, #6 prospect), LHP Tucker Davidson (22 years old, #24 prospect)

San Francisco – RHP Juan De Paula (21 years old, #18 prospect)

Pittsburgh – OF Bryan Reynolds (23 years old, #8 prospect), 2B/SS Steven Alemais (23 years old, #18 prospect), LHP Domingo Robles (20 years old, #28 prospect)

Philadelphia – LHP Jhordany Mezquita (20 years old, #26 prospect)

Although Seattle would be getting rid of most of their best players, they would be restocking incredibly well. Five Starting Pitchers all with starter potential, a couple of major league ready players, and players at each position that they would be trading away. The amount their giving up would be a lot. It could be said that the amount they are getting back is even better.

Total Amount of money saved – $65.25 million in 2019, $61.75 in 2020, $64.25 in 2021, $29.25 in 2022, $17 in 2023. $237.5 million overall saved.

Some of this money would immediately be spent, as they would need to sign some players to fill major league roster spots. If Seattle spent early on some mid-tier players, they would be able to get decent players and still field a well-rounded roster. Those players can usually be had early in free agency, as a lot of teams are going after the big name players.

When all is said and done, the Mariners have a lot more room on the books. These five trades would clear payroll this off-season by a total of around $62.25 million, as we wouldn’t be taking the Felix trade into account.

Looking ahead, they would be clearing nearly one-quarter of a Billion dollars off of the books. The Seattle Mariners wouldn’t necessarily be better in 2019. The future would definitely look a lot brighter though, and help set the team up for long-term success.