Seattle Mariners Trade a Day: Ryon Healy to Kansas City

The Seattle Mariners have a lot of depth at first base. And to be fair, most teams do. First base isn’t easy, but compared to other positions, it is relatively easy to play and find.

But thankfully for the Mariners, the Kansas City Royals haven’t been able to figure out who their first baseman is. Now, the Royals, like Seattle, are rebuilding so no, Kansas City is not going to be interested in Edwin Encarnacion.

But they could be interested in both Daniel Vogelbach and Ryon Healy. Or perhaps, even somebody like Evan White. While I think there are scenarios for any of those 3 names to be included in trade between these two teams, let’s focus on the most realistic of options: Ryon Healy.

What makes Healy the most realistic option? First and foremost, he’s the most expendable for the Mariners which makes him the cheapest for the Royals. Healy is also incredibly cheap monetarily and there is no real issue of him blocking Nick Pratto, the player the Royals feel is going to be their next Eric Hosmer. Healy is a good stop gap and there is still some upside there for the righty.

Second, we actually know the Royals have been interested in Healy in the past. In fact, last summer we got a report that KC was calling Jerry Dipoto to discuss a trade. Currently, Healy is on the 10-day IL with a back strain and his recovery has already suffered a few setbacks. If he doesn’t get right soon, a deal will be highly unlikely.

But for the sake of our discussion, let’s assume Healy will be ready to go prior to the trade deadline. What could a deal look like? Well, Seattle won’t be getting a great prospect or anything. Healy isn’t a long-term piece, he doesn’t provide defensive or base-running value and hasn’t shown an ability to get on base at any regular clip. Here is our proposal:

For Healy, the Mariners nab 25-year-old Josh Staumont, a minor league pitcher who has bounced back and forth between starting and pitching out of the bullpen. He is a full-time reliever now, and does have 2 plus offerings; a fastball that sits 98-100 mph and a good curveball as well.

Staumont misses a ton of bats, averaging 12.5 K/9 over the past two seasons. Unfortunately, he has no command. In fact, in his MILB career, he has never had a season where he posted a walk rate of lower than 6.29 BB/9.

Now, the Mariners did take chances on relievers with control issues like Connor Sadzeck and Austin Adams, but neither was as far off as Staumont. But still, their success with such pitchers could make a difference for Staumont, who with even average control would be a closer type of arm.

Ultimately, Staumont is unlikely to more than a middle reliever and at 25-years-old, his upside is limited. But Seattle has worked their magic on a few arms this year and Staumont has the raw goods needed to be successful.

The deal gives the Royals their stopgap first baseman and opens up a roster spot for the Mariners while adding another lottery ticket to their bullpen to see if they can create an asset for 2019 and beyond.