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FanSided Offseason Simulation, Day 2: The Seattle Mariners have too much starting pitching

By Ty Gonzalez

WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 07: Starting pitcher Max Fried #54 of the Atlanta Braves reacts after being hit by a line drive by Spencer Kieboom #64 of the Washington Nationals (not pictured) in the second inning at Nationals Park on August 7, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 07: Starting pitcher Max Fried #54 of the Atlanta Braves reacts after being hit by a line drive by Spencer Kieboom #64 of the Washington Nationals (not pictured) in the second inning at Nationals Park on August 7, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) /
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Day two of FanSided’s MLB offseason simulation is nearly in the books, and Colby Patnode and I have had a very busy 24 hours. If you’re one of the many Mariners fans that have consistently banged the table for more starting pitching, then this is the article for you.

In the beginning stages of the offseason plan, our goal was to reboot positional areas we felt have been too neglected. With José Martinez, James McCann, and Delino DeShields in, and Daniel Vogelbach, Dee Gordon, and Ryon Healy out, we feel that we’ve made great first steps in doing just that. We’re still looking at ways to supplement certain positions over the next day, though we’ll dive further into that later in the article.

Since our last article, however, our focus has strictly been on pitching, pitching, and more pitching. Perhaps too much pitching. Actually, definitely too much pitching. But we have a plan to rectify that as well. Let’s get into the first deal of the day.

DISCLAIMER: NONE OF THE FOLLOWING ACQUISITIONS ARE REAL. THEY ARE A PART OF AN OFFSEASON SIMULATION GAME. 

TRADE: CLEVELAND INDIANS

CLEVELAND, OH – AUGUST 09: Danny Salazar #31of the Cleveland Indians watches from the dugout before the game against the Colorado Rockies at Progressive Field on August 9, 2017 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Rockies defeated the Indians 3-2 in 12 innings. (Photo by David Maxwell/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH – AUGUST 09: Danny Salazar #31of the Cleveland Indians watches from the dugout before the game against the Colorado Rockies at Progressive Field on August 9, 2017 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Rockies defeated the Indians 3-2 in 12 innings. (Photo by David Maxwell/Getty Images) /

The Indians have a surplus of starting pitching and their GM in this simulation was looking to move at least one or two pieces from their rotation. We saw a fit with Danny Salazar, who missed the entire 2018 season and has seemingly been frozen out of Cleveland’s rotation by the likes of Shane Bieber and Trevor Bauer. Salazar is 38-33 in his career with a 10.89 K/9 and 3.56 FIP.

Given Salazar’s recent shoulder surgery, we’re unsure about his durability in a starter’s role, though he would likely find himself near the top of our rotation initially. However, we feel that Salazar may be better suited for a role as a late-inning, high-leverage reliever, and strongly believe that he could be dominant there.

Deducting Ben Gamel from the equation has now left a huge hole in left field for us, but the amount of salary we’ve been able to relieve ourselves of over the course of this simulation have allowed us to dream bigger about the position. Therefore, Gamel became expendable and helped us supplement a position group of much greater need.

Losing Wyatt Mills is also a pretty tough blow to a farm system that stars very little young, quality pitching. Well, about that.