Three Potential Trade Partners for Mariners’ Jake Fraley

If the Mariners are unable to add a veteran left-handed bat through free agency to help replace Kyle Seager in the middle of the lineup, David Peralta could be a dependable alternate option. Peralta, a 34-year-old outfielder with one year and $8 million left on his contract, has very little value with the rebuilding Diamondbacks, but has plenty of value with contending teams; he tied for the MLB lead with eight triples this season and hit .259 with 8 home runs and 63 RBIs.

Cooper Hummel, a 26-year-old minor league catcher, is blocked by some significant depth in the Diamondbacks’ ranks at catcher, but he could fit in the Mariners’ farm system after the departure of AA catcher Carter Bins in the Mariners’ trade for Tyler Anderson at the trade deadline.

The Diamondbacks do have outfield depth in their minor league system, but their outfield callups this season had questionable performances; Jake McCarthy hit .220 in 59 at-bats, Henry Ramos hit .200 in 50 at-bats, Nick Heath hit .143 in 35 at-bats, and Stuart Fairchild hit .133 in 15 at-bats. Obviously, the sample size for all of those players wasn’t large by any means, but Fraley would bring 280 career at-bats to the table and the potential to break out as an everyday player.

This trade is only feasible if the Mariners don’t add a free agent outfielder this offseason, and if the Diamondbacks don’t have much faith in the young outfielders they deployed in 2021. Let’s move on to potential trade #2: