Mariners Trade Candidate #2: Shed Long
I know plenty of Mariners fans who have had high hopes for Shed Long. Shoot, they still do. He fits right in with the Mariners, and even stands out (in a good way) with his glasses in the field.
Unfortunately for Long, he has been plagued by injuries and struggled for a long time to recoup from his odd leg injury, dealing with issues with his shin, an infection, and lingering soreness.
Playing him out in Left Field didn’t make things better, as it comes from a need to have someone out there as compared to Long actually fitting out there. It would be nice to see him get a real shot at second base. With the Mariners seriously opening their window to compete and contend, those options for plugging in relative unknowns (or unprovens) are all but closed.
Second base isn’t the deepest position in baseball, as even the Mariners have proved before grabbing Abraham Toro at the deadline and inserting him there. Long is only going to be 26 this upcoming season, and there are plenty of rebuilding teams out there, and teams with question marks at second base. I fully expect Dipoto to check in with them to see if he can make some sort of upgrade to the team in exchange for Long.