Seattle Mariners “TRUM”ing: Most of a Fans Thoughts about the Team

Taking a quick break (kinda) from our James Paxton tracking, we are introducing an old blogging favorite back into the mainstream: TRUMing. A lot goes through one’s mind in the off-season, including this Mariners fans brain.

If you are unfamiliar with the term “TRUM” ing, let’s get you up to speed. T.R.U.M is an acronym that stands for ” Totally Random Unimportant Rumblings”. For our purposes covering the Mariners, this is a place to throw all the thoughts about the team that you just couldn’t quite fit into a whole article.

With that in mind, the one thing that has been bumping around in my head is about James Paxton. Obviously, the Mariners lefty is a hot topic these days, but it has led to some interesting interactions on social media.

The response appears to be relatively even on trading him versus keeping him, and most who seem to dislike the idea are willing to accept it is likely going to happen. The odd thing is the extremist, who seem to break into 2 camps.

Camp A is a group of fans who think the Mariners shouldn’t trade James Paxton because they “never win these types of trades”. Besides the obvious over-simplification of this thought, it is also untrue. The Mariners have done quite well in “big trades” with this current regime.

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The Marco Gonzales for Tyler O’Neill trade panned by many fans (this guy included) looks like an absolute steal from Jerry Dipoto right now. Of course, the much loved Mitch Haniger and Jean Segura trade and the Colome/Span trade come to mind as well.

Every team swings and misses at some trades, but Group A appears terrified to even try, happy to live in their bubble of non-contention.

Group B is a different story. The one who believes that Paxton is worth Chris Sale type of package. He’s not and it isn’t close, but at least this group has an optimistic outlook.

Perhaps my favorite class of interaction comes from non-Mariners fans who like to point out all the reasons James Paxton isn’t good. Of course, they don’t have much ammo and usually fall on his injury history.

Now, that is fair. But most people assume he missed time last season with an arm injury. In today’s game, it’s hard to blame them. But missing 4 starts in a season hardly qualifies as “injury riddled”. Especially when the injuries were back spasms and getting hit on the elbow by a 95 MPH line drive.

It is pretty easy to ignore these interactions, as the obvious uninformed mob is easy to put down.

Looking away from James Paxton, and I do have to wonder if Mallex Smith is actually going to be the opening day centerfielder. That appears to be the plan, but things change quickly, and Ben Gamel shouldn’t be locked in as a starter.

I like Ben Gamel… a lot. But am I willing to leave talent on the table to protect some of his at-bats? No. It is hard to tell if the Mariners intend to compete in 2019 or not, so it is difficult to know where they go in free agency.

It has been my hope they began their rebuild this off-season, but the Mallex Smith for Mike Zunino trade isn’t that. It honestly looks like a crappy attempt at an “on the fly rebuild” in an attempt to not anger fans by losing 90-100 games for a couple years straight.

I actually find it a bit insulting that they think I, as a fan, am too stupid to understand the rebuilding process and afraid I’ll leave for a shiny new object. Not that there won’t be a ton of fans like that, but they’ll be back when you actually win. Seattle will support a winner. Always has.

Anyways, thanks for listening. Let us know if you like this idea for a weekly series. Man, can you believe that Seahawks game? So close…