Mariners have every reason to hope Yordan Alvarez trade buzz comes true

To say Yordan Alvarez has been a thorn in the side of the Seattle Mariners over the years would be a major understatement, punctuated by his walk-off three-run homer in Game 1 of the 2022 ALDS. As such, M's fans will be hoping the latest musings involving the Houston Astros slugger can become one of those things which gets spoken into existence.

Talkin' Baseball were... well... talking baseball earlier this week and among other things, joked about the Astros trading Alvarez. However, as the discussion continued, they started to come around to the idea for real, noting he only has two years left on his deal after this season, worth $26 million annually. (He's making $15 million in 2026.)

Just to be clear, we're not convinced the Astros will actually move Alvarez, much less to an AL West rival such as the Mariners. At the same time, you can still make the case this could actually be a smart move, by a team which is bad and needs prospects in a farm system which was ranked second-worst in the majors during the preseason by MLB Pipeline.

Alvarez was one of the most dominant and feared hitters in all of baseball between 2022 and 2024, ranking fourth with a .303 batting average, third with a .988 OPS and second with a 174 wRC+ among all qualifying hitters. He only played 48 games last year due to several injuries including a small fracture in the fourth metacarpal in his right hand, but now he's back and seems better than ever.

Astros need to at least consider trading Yordan Alvarez while his stock is at its highest

And we really do mean better than ever, with Alvarez leading the majors in a whole host of categories including with 26 RBI, 76 total bases, a .357/.471/.776 slash line, 1.247 OPS and 242 OPS+. Unsurprisingly he ranks in the 100th percentile for overall Batting Run Value and if there was ever a time for the Astros to take full advantage, it's now.

Heck, you can also throw in the case that even before last season, Alvarez has a history of injury issues, helping add more reason for the Astros to consider selling high. Certainly you'd have to think there will be enough interest around the majors in taking a gamble to obtain someone who will immediately boost the lineup, with this interest in turn helping to raise the asking price for the three-time All-Star.

Again, as much as we're putting a case together to move Alvarez, we don't believe the Astros will actually trade him, and almost definitely not to the Mariners. (Unless they would be willing to almost gut their strong farm system, which we know they wouldn't.) However, M's fans can at least hope that somehow... some way... a player who has a career 1.005 OPS and 17 homers in 66 games versus their beloved team will leave the AL West and stop making their sporting lives a misery.

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