Seattle Mariners: 5 bold trade ideas for this offseason

Seattle acquires Wil Myers from a familiar trade partner the San Diego Padres

Last summer the Padres and Mariners agreed to a blockbuster trade that sent Seattle’s Austin Nola and other pieces to the Padres for Taylor Trammell and other pieces. Now that they are familiar trade partners, why don’t they discuss Wil Myers?

Myers has been one of the more talked about players when it comes to trades over the past few years, and the rumors only got stronger last year after he had a great 2020. In 218 plate appearances, Myers hit 15 home runs and had a .959 OPS. However, this did come after 5 straight seasons of slightly above-average offense and sub-par defense.

Myers’ trade value will not be that high since his best season was only 60 games long and his contract still has two years $40 million remaining on it. So for a trade to happen the Padres will have to pay for some of Myers’ remaining salary.

In the trade, they receive a quality depth piece, an area of need for the Padres, in Tim Lopes. In 279 MLB plate appearances, Lopes has a .678 OPS. His main selling point is his versatility and youth, as Lopes is still a prospect at age 26 with 5 years of team control and he has played second, third, left field, and right field in the majors.

The other player that the Padres will acquire is Jake Fraley who I discussed earlier. Fraley can be another depth piece in San Diego for the next 6 years and with his defense and offensive potential, he could break into the lineup in the future.

The other perfect aspect of this trade for the Mariners is that while their team salary is low for the next two years, they can pay Myers his high salary and then be okay watching him walk in 2023 since the hope is that Kyle Lewis, Jarred Kelenic, and Julio Rodriguez will be the starting outfield by then.