Trade-a-Day: 5 relievers the Seattle Mariners should trade for

Only nine days remain before the MLB trading deadline.

While Seattle Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto is expected to be one of the league’s most active sellers over the next week and change, it should not surprise anyone if he goes out and actually buys a Major Leaguer or two. These Major Leaguers don’t necessarily have to be what Tommy Pham was to the Rays last year, and they may be as little as an acquisition of a middling reliever with three or more years of club control.

Yesterday, Dipoto landed one of these exact deals in making Matt Magill the newest member of the league’s worst bullpen. As injuries have struck three of the Mariners’ most talented relievers, what once was a middle-of-the-pack bullpen is now dead last in fWAR. But for as much as some fans of the team may want them to intentionally suck, that’s not what they’re trying to do and never will.

At the very least, the final two months of an otherwise atrocious season is about finishing with some remaining dignity and a few positives. The goal from here on out, as this team shifts towards the future, should be to perform respectably and competitively, even if it doesn’t wield positive results in the win-loss column. Therefore, the bullpen needs more work done past the acquisition of Magill.

Adding significant talent to a bullpen doesn’t become important until a team is absolutely, 100% ready to compete for the postseason and beyond. But it’s also never a bad time to take a chance on talent. Would it be stupid for the Mariners to trade a top prospect for a reliever right now? Absolutely, and it doesn’t matter which reliever it is. But is it stupid for them to identify intriguing and⁠—more importantly⁠—affordable pieces for their bullpen? Nope.

That’s why the Magill deal makes sense. He’s a 29-year-old with a high strikeout rate and poor command. Most notably, he’s club-controlled through the 2023 season. Perhaps Magill doesn’t even make it past August, who knows? But all it cost them is cash, and if Magill actually turns into something, they have him for years on the cheap, which is not only valuable to them, but to any and every team looking for bullpen help in the near future.

So that’s what we’re going to look at today, by identifying and constructing deals around five controllable relievers who may pique Seattle’s interest.

Joe Jiménez is by far the biggest name you’ll see on this list. Coming off an All-Star campaign in 2018, Jiménez has been mediocre at best, posting a 4.79 FIP in his 32 innings of work so far. The Tigers have been in the midst of a full rebuild for roughly three years now and could benefit from waiting on Jiménez to potentially build back his trade value. But is that a risk they’re willing to take, especially if a team like the Mariners offered them a controllable Major League piece at a premium position?

Given that Jiménez is only 24 and is controlled through the 2023 season, the Tigers would have one of the hottest commodities in baseball if he were to return to form by this time next year. That also goes into why the Mariners would be interested, not just for what he could bring to their bullpen by 2021 and beyond, but as a potentially massive trade chip. That’s a big risk, but even though relievers are so finicky⁠—and Jiménez is certainly no exception⁠—this deal is a no-brainer for the M’s.

When you look deeper at Jiménez’s numbers, he hasn’t been too far off from the pitcher he was last year. Luck, or lack thereof, has played a big role, which becomes more apparent when you look at the large gap between his 5.35 ERA and 4.11 xFIP. His xBA (.230) and xSLG (.414) are about league-average right now, and his K/9 (12.89) is up by nearly two strikeouts. Plus, he’s still one of the best in terms of fastball spin-rates and the mid-90s velocity is still there.

Of course, the Tigers are well aware of all of this and what that could indicate for an eventual turnaround, but the struggles this year are real and that means, in all likelihood, there won’t be a whole lot of interest from contenders this week and next. Could the Mariners potentially be outbid? Of course, even comfortably by themselves if they chose to. But this is probably the best the Tigers could hope for at this point if they don’t want to run the risk of Jiménez further damaging his trade value.

Welcome to Matt Wisler 2.0. While we still haven’t seen a lot of Wisler since he was acquired by the Mariners earlier this month, Jerry Dipoto clearly has a type. Like Wisler, Robert Stephenson is a former first-round pick who couldn’t make it work as a starter and has now shifted into a full-time relief role. The role itself was, in essence, forced upon Stephenson due in part to his lack of minor league options this year.

Through 37.2 innings pitched this season, Stephenson has posted an underwhelming 5.02 ERA, though his 3.51 FIP suggests he’s been much better. Stephenson has three pitches in his arsenal but relies heavily on his fastball and slider combination, both of which he uses a roughly equal amount. The control has been poor for most of the year, which is why Stephenson currently sports a 3.82 BB/9.

The one thing Stephenson really has going for himself are the strikeouts. His current K/9 mark of 12.19 ranks 45th amongst all Major League relievers and would be the second-highest in the Mariners’ bullpen, right behind Austin Adams.

Stephenson is under contract through the 2022 season, so he fits the Mariners’ timeline if he actually were to turn into something for them. That’s not to say he hasn’t been solid this year, which he has, and is why FanGraphs has him worth half a win already. But he’s almost 27 with no minor league options, so the return will be limited if the Reds dabble in talks for him.

The Dodgers are going to be major players in the trade market over the next few days. Therefore, they’re likely going to have to clear some space on their 40-man roster. In the event that does happen, one of the names to keep an eye on as a casualty is right-handed reliever J.T. Chargois.

Despite what his 5.11 ERA may say, Chargois is having a solid year on the mound for Los Angeles. After performing well in the PCL—which has proven to be an extremely tough thing for a pitcher to accomplish this year—Chargois has thrown 12.1 innings worth of pitches for the Dodgers, posting a 14.59 K/9 in that time. This is, of course, an extremely small sample size, but it’s enough to warrant a look from Seattle if he were to get the axe.

Chargois still has three seasons of club control left on his deal. Not that it matters, as I can’t imagine the Mariners carrying a 28-year-old reliever with no real ceiling past this September. But Chargois could potentially help stabilize the current mess that is Seattle’s bullpen for the next two months and wouldn’t cost them in any real way.

Like the Dodgers, the Yankees may have to make some cuts to their 40-man roster soon. One player that could be shown the door is the minor league option-less Luis Cessa, though New York isn’t going to let him walk for free. But for something of value to this year’s roster, especially when their current backup catcher situation is abysmal, the Yankees should be all-ears.

Cessa has been a strong long-man out of New York’s bullpen this year, putting up a 4.20 ERA in 25 appearances, several of which being for multiple innings. These appearances are starting to become few and far between, however. Perhaps this is due in part to the amount of innings Cessa is starting to take on per appearance, but it’s going to be hard finding many opportunities to pitch in such a stacked bullpen.

Not only would Cessa see more opportunity out of Seattle’s bullpen, but they could potentially look at him in the rotation as well. In the five games (17.2 total innings) where he’s gone three or more innings this year, Cessa has allowed just three runs on 14 hits, striking out 19 and walking just four. Jerry Dipoto likes to get creative and returning Cessa to the starting rotation is quite a thought, given the numbers. This is the part where you respond with the ‘I’d like to see it’ GIF.