5 Spring Training Trade Candidates the Mariners could target

2. Carson Fulmer, RHP White Sox

Fulmer is a former Top 10 selection in the MLB draft who has good, raw stuff but no idea where it is going. In limited opportunities in 2019, Fulmer posted a 6.26 ERA, a 6.29 FIP, a 6.59 BB/9, and a 17% HR/FB rate. He was a little better in AAA but still struggled with walks.

So why the interest in Fulmer? Well, first and foremost, he can spin the baseball. His average fastball velocity of 93.6 ranks in the 25th percentile, but the pitches spin rate ranks in the 91st percentile. Fulmer can also spin a curveball, ranking in the 88th percentile in curveball spin.

Seattle has targeted fastball spin rates in the past and Fulmer checks that box. Dipoto likes to target former highly-touted prospects. Fulmer checks that box. Dipoto also likes to target guys with control issues. Yeah, that’s a big old checkmark.

Fulmer can’t help any club until he gets his command into the universe of acceptable. But a team like the Mariners, with no playoff aspirations, is much more likely to give him a shot to figure it out.

Fulmer’s expected batting average and expected slugging percentage on both his fastball and cutter showed a bit of bad luck in 2019. The pitch info also suggests that Fulmer could benefit from a pitch mix change. His curveball and changeup were much better than his fastball and cutter in 2019.

But the changeup wasn’t great in 2018. However, the curveball has been a good offering of his for the past 3 seasons, yet he throws it less than his other offerings. The spin rate backs it up as a solid offering, but perhaps the consistently falling behind in counts has neutered the pitch.

Either way, Fulmer checks a lot of boxes that Dipoto has looked for in the past year to fill out his bullpen. He won’t cost anything but a roster spot, but unless the Mariners thinks he can throw more strikes, he won’t even be worth that.

3. Anthony Alford, OF Toronto Blue Jays

If you like Jose Siri, you’ll like Anthony Alford. He has elite speed with plus raw power but doesn’t have the glove Siri does, though he isn’t bad. Alford has gotten a few cups of coffee, leading to just 59 PAs in 3 seasons.

The results of those 59 PAs weren’t good. In fact, they stunk. He hit .145/.203/.218 in his limited chances. Even worse, he has a horrific 39% strikeout rate. This is all towards the effort of an 11 wRC+.

Alford will play his year as his age-25 season and needs to make the Blue Jays roster out of spring training. That isn’t likely, so Alford will likely hit waivers. Seattle has pretty good options in the outfield and without the ability to move Alford to Tacoma without him passing through waivers, it may be simpler to see if Alford clears and to attempt to get him on a minor league deal.

But if that is the case, why consider him at all. When I say elite speed, I don’t mean he’s fast. His sprint speed ranked in the 96th percentile. He puts on shows in batting practice and he did hit a little in AAA in 2019.

Alford isn’t sexy and may not be worth monitoring, but he is a good athlete that Dipoto loves to collect. If Jose Siri was interesting to the Mariners, Alford likely would be too.

4. Raimel Tapia, OF Colorado

Sometimes a player is more of a dream than a reality. A dream is a strong word. But Raimel Tapia is a player we have long talked about on this website, and since he is out of options, we figured we talk about it again. Tapia had a decent season for the Rockies in 2019, slashing .275/.309/.415 in 138 games.

Unfortunately, Tapia displayed almost no power, despite playing half his games in Denver and his batted ball data leaves a lot to be desired. Tapia also doesn’t walk, posting a career 4.8% walk rate. But this doesn’t come with a typical low K%, though Tapia’s 22% K rate is still slightly below-average.

Tapia hits way too many groundballs, including a 51.7% groundball rate in 2019. Defensive grades very for Tapia. Fangraphs shows him as solidly below-average, while statcast puts him in the 87th percentile in outs above-average, the 79th percentile in outfield jump, and the 85th percentile in sprint speed.

Tapia is a bit like former Mariner Ben Gamel, minus about 20 points of OBP. Tapia may not be an easy fit with the club with their current outfield situation, and Colorado may not even consider trading or waiving him. But if he does, Dipoto will likely be interested.

5. Adam Conley, LHP Miami

Adam Conley is an interesting arm. Seattle appears to like their lefty crop of reliever candidates, including Taylor Guilbeau, Aaron Fletcher, and Nestor Cortes Jr., but Conley may be better than all 3.

Conley’s heater sits at 95 MPH and his slider has been a great pitch for him in the past two seasons. Opponents hit just .111 on Conley’s slider in 2019, and he didn’t surrender an extra base-hit off the pitch. In fact, in the past two seasons, opponents have produced exactly 1 XBH against his slider.

But despite this, Conley still uses his changeup as his primary off-speed pitch and that was a massive issue in 2019. Opponents hit .411 against it in 2019, with a slugging percentage north of .700.

To his credit, in 2018, the pitch was much better, producing a batting average of .175 and a slugging percentage of .316. But even in 2018, the changeup lagged behind the slider. We don’t know for sure why Conley doesn’t use his slider more. But we do know the Mariners have had luck helping arms like Connor Sadzeck and Austin Adams, specifically by asking them to use their slider’s more.

Conley also has a background as a starter, which is nice, posted 8.88 K/9 in 2018. He’s not a control guy, posting a career 3.78 BB/9. But Seattle has an opportunity to buy low, and that isn’t something to ignore.

Well, there we have it. Just 5 names to watch this spring as potential trade targets. The Mariners have some holes to fill, but more importantly, they have opportunities to offer. They just need to identify those who will make the most of these opportunities.

Thus far, Dipoto’s track record of find quality contributors off the scrap heap is solid. So don’t be surprised if he makes a few moves, particularly in the bullpen. Adding arms gives the team more options and that can help limit the workload of arms that have options to take advantage of.