Mariners Trade Proposal: A deal for Marlins SP Pablo Lopez

It’s getting close to the trade deadline, and we are all waiting for Jerry Dipoto to make a move. Sure, we can hope that he lands the biggest fish on the market in Juan Soto (well, unless you think the Angels would actually move Ohtani), but the higher likelihood move is that the Mariners end up trading for one of the top four available starting pitchers, like Miami Marlins RHP Pablo Lopez.

The Marlins are one of the hardest teams in baseball to figure out. They’ve got a lot of good prospects, good pitching, and always seem like they draft and develop well. Ownership doesn’t like paying guys though, and the last time it happened, they ended up trading a bunch of them that same season. So, whenever they have the opportunity to trade a good player to get younger again, they seem to jump at the chance.

It’s why the Mariners should call the Marlins about Pablo Lopez

Lopez has been great the last three years, with an ERA of 3.16, an ERA+ of 133, a WHIP of 1.101, and a K rate of 9.5. Opponents just don’t hit well off of him either, with a slash line of .221/.286/.369 over that same time frame.

Oddly enough, Lopez and Skubal probably have similar values. They are pretty close in age, with Lopez about half a year older. Lopez does have a lot more success though, with a proven track record of succeeding. However, Skubal has 4.5 years of control compared to 2.5 for Lopez, that’s the main factor that puts them into the same value range.

So, what would it take to get Lopez? I’m going to put two options out there. One that is solely pitching, and one that is solely hitting. It can be hard to tell what the Marlins want, but with the recent news of Max Meyer blowing out his UCL, it would make sense that they would be looking for even more pitching.