Mariners: Potential Trades for Rockies SP Jon Gray

As the trade deadline approaches, we continue to look at some players that the Mariners could try to acquire if they wanted to be buyers at the deadline. Today, it’s Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Jon Gray.

We’ve done a fair amount of trade mockups and throwing out ideas, and we are going to have more coming up. It’s one of the most interesting times of the year in baseball because of all the uncertainty and excitement that can come from a potential trade.

Whether you think the Mariners should be buyers, sellers, or hold, it’s fun to explore all the possibilities. It’s going to be tough, but there is a path for the Mariners to make it to the playoffs. One way that could help is by going out and getting a veteran pitcher. Jon Gray is just that. Better yet, he is in the last year of his contract, which makes his value cheaper.

At 29 years old, Gray is having a great season. For years, Gray has had some of the worst pitching luck in baseball when you look at the difference between his ERA and FIP. Check it out.

• 2015 – 40.2 innings, 5.53 ERA, 3.63 FIP
• 2016 – 168 innings, 4.61 ERA, 3.60 FIP
• 2017 – 110.1 innings, 3.67 ERA, 3.18 FIP
• 2018 – 172.1 innings, 5.12 ERA, 4.08 FIP
• 2019 – 150 innings, 3.84 ERA, 4.06 FIP
• 2020 – 39 innings, 6.69 ERA, 5.06 FIP
• 2021 – 86 innings, 3.77 ERA, 3.99 FIP
• Total – 766.1 innings, 4.50 ERA, 3.86 FIP

That means that over the course of his career, he has seen an extra 54 runs go across the plate than he should’ve. Putting him in T-Mobile, in front of Seattle’s defense (when healthy, even more so) would be a wonderful change.

Colorado is easily in a re-build stage, so they should be looking to offload Gray while bettering their farm system. With Seattle’s depth, there are a few options and packages they could put together to try and entice the Rockies to trade Gray to the Mariners. Let’s get started.

Trade 1: Mariners trade a sidearmer and a catcher, with cash

In order to facilitate this first trade, we are going to send a bit of cash to the Rockies. $1 million is the max allowed without having to be approved by the commish, and it’s always good to keep him out of baseball things. That $1 million would cover just over a third of Gray’s remaining salary, making for a proverbial cherry on top of the trade offer.

When it comes to players, the Mariners could send over Carter Bins. Just 22, Bins has been hitting well in Everett this season at .284. What stands out is his eye at the plate, as his OBP is .422. This year doesn’t seem to be a fluke, as it was 137 points above his average last year (.276/.413). The Mariners don’t have a ton of system-wide depth at catcher, but if the plan is to keep Harry Ford there, then they could definitely trade away Binns as an asset to the Rockies.

The other piece would be Wyatt Mills, who has dominated in Tacoma (15.1 K/9 with a 3.66 ERA) as compared to a small sample in Seattle, registering a 10.80 ERA in 8.1 innings, with just 8 K’s. A change of scenery could do it for Mills, and the smallest adjustment to a funky wind-up like Mills could create a go-to reliever for years.

Trade 2: Starting pitching replacement and an international player

With the potential Gray has shown this year, it would be nice for the Rockies to get a couple of pitchers that they could plan on down the line. So in trade two, that’s exactly what we send them.

Isaiah Campbell would be first in line. Currently 10th in the Mariners farm system, he has been lights out in his appearances as a long reliever for Everett. Set to be a starter down the line, Campbell is still averaging 4 innings per appearance for the Aqua Sox, par for the course for the starters down there. With just a 2.33 ERA, a WHIP of 0.983, 9.3/9 K rate, and 2.8 BB/9, he’s shown why he was rated as one of the Mariners better prospects this season.

He turns 24 soon, and Colorado could use him in the bigs as soon as this September if they wanted to give him a taste of big league action. Otherwise, he would be a great young candidate to test out in 2022.

As for Kristian Cardozo, the Rockies would be getting the #21 signing from the international class of 2019. Still just 18 years old, he’s a fantastic asset to have in the system that they could mold in the way they want, while having team control over him for somewhere around 8-10 years at a minimum, as long as things work out.