5 Mariners least likely to be traded before Opening Day 2021

Earlier this week, we discussed 5 Seattle Mariners who very well could be traded between now and Opening Day 2021. Today, we look at the 5 players with the lowest chance to be traded by that day.

Before we begin to dive into the most “untouchable” Mariners, let’s make a few things clear, right from jump street. First, nobody is actually untouchable with Jerry Dipoto at the helm, so these are actually more about guys where it makes more sense for Seattle to keep them rather than trading them.

Now, I could make this incredibly simple and pick players like Jarred Kelenic and Julio Rodriguez, but where is the challenge in that? No, for our purposes today, let’s just say that to be eligible for this list, you need to be on the 40-man roster as of today, April 17th, 2020.

Again, none of these players are actually untradeable and there are instances where trading them actually makes sense. This is baseball and there are very few black and white issues when it comes to team building. But with all that in mind, let’s get started.

5. J.P. Crawford

Why wouldn’t the Mariners trade J.P. Crawford? Well, they could but then who would be the shortstop in 2020? How about 2021? Or even in 2022? Seattle doesn’t have a viable replacement in the organization and average shortstops don’t grow on trees.

Besides that, unless Crawford is used in a trade package to acquire a different shortstop, why give up on him so fast? Go ahead and try to find a younger, more controllable shortstop, that an MLB team is willing to give up. Let me save you some time: there are none.

So besides the obvious logistical problems involved, Crawford has actually flashed enough to give him at least this year and next year to show what he is capable of. We know he brings above-average defense to the table. He has good pop for the position and runs the bases well. He takes walks. Overall, that isn’t a bad player any way you slice it.

It just makes a lot more sense to keep Crawford around for a couple of seasons. The 2021-2022 free-agent class is loaded at the shortstop position, with notables like Corey Seager, Francisco Lindor, Javy Baez, and Trevor Story all scheduled to hit free agency. Trading Crawford before the winter of 2021 doesn’t make much sense, let alone before the start of the 2021 season.