Mariners Rumors: Trading with the Twins for Kenta Maeda

It sounds as if the Mariners are kicking the tires on Jose Berrios. If the price ends up being too high (it likely will), then they could stay on the phone with the Twins to ask about Kenta Maeda.

Byron Buxton turned down an extension recently, and in turn, more and more players from the Twins have been made available. Kenta Maeda is one of those. He won’t be cheap, but if the Mariners were able to get him, they would get a great pitcher on an even better contract.

Maeda is signed through 2023, and only has about $7 million TOTAL left on his deal. You may be thinking “he’s having the worst year of his career, we wouldn’t want him”. I say that’s the exact reason the Mariners should go get him right now. Although the ERA is a 4.40, his FIP is a 4.07. Coming to the Mariners, whose defense seems to get better by the month, would likely better his numbers.

Then, you can look at his game logs. Through 17 starts, Maeda has had two out-of-the-ordinary awful starts. He gave up seven in three innings back in April and then gave up seven again at the end of June. Let’s take out those starts, and see what his other 15 starts have held.

• 3.22 ERA, 1.1617 WHIP, 9.8 K/9, 2.4 BB/9

Give me that, all day, every day. I know we are taking out his worst starts, but outside of a few guys in the league, everyone has those. Even if we expect to get 10-12 starts the remainder of the year and he has one more awful start (giving him around one in nine as awful starts) you’re getting a guy who gives you a great chance to win 88% of the time. That’s a darn good number.

If Maeda’s trade value is down right now (it is), and you think that it’s going to go up (I do), then he would be a wonderful acquisition for the Mariners. Here are some offers I think they could make the Twins.

This is usually when I feel good about trades being even. If I’m not quite comfortable with what the team is sending out, but am happy about the player that the Mariners are getting in return, it usually ends up being decent. Say what you want about Trammell being an AAAA guy, but he’s only 23. The young guys lost out a lot by not having a 2020 season, and Trammell fits that bill. Phillips and Macko provide an LHP/RHP combo, giving the Twins a 2022 and 2023 option at SP.

Long has shown the ability to play a UTIL role for the Mariners and could do the same for the Twins. He needs a bit more practice in the outfield, but he definitely has good value right now. Sheffield might be pushed out of the rotation in Seattle, and the Twins could benefit by getting a young pitcher with good team control left. With DeLoach, they would get an OF that could join their young group, and help ease the loss (not completely, obviously) if Buxton leaves for FA.

Lastly, we could send out Fraley. I don’t want to, cause he is an incredibly fun player to watch. He really broke out this year and showed potential as a solid defender who could also get you an average in the 240s with 20/20 SB/HR possibility. He’s under control through 2025, and you could reap some solid years at a good price. With Then, you have a long-term potential mid-tier rotation guy that could hold a spot as a starter through at least 2027.

We all know Dipoto is working the phones, and it sounds like he is trying to make 1-2 things happen on Thursday. Maybe, just maybe, Kenta Maeda is one of them.