Which players on the Seattle Mariners would be beneficial for the Colorado Rockies?

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SEATTLE, WA – SEPTEMBER 30: GM Jerry Dipoto of the Seattle Mariners looks on from the dugout prior to the game against the Houston Astros at Safeco Field on September 30, 2015 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images) /

The Seattle Mariners have had a firesale of their players of late so, today, we will look at some of their players that could be fits on the Colorado Rockies.

The Seattle Mariners had an interesting 2018 season in which for much of the season, like the Rockies, they had a record well above .500 but they had a negative run differential.

While the Rockies finished with a positive run differential, the Mariners won 89 games with a negative run differential. In fact, by their run differential, they should have gone 77-85. Even with their 89 wins, they still finished 8 games back of the Oakland Athletics for the second Wild Card and in third place in the AL West.

Finishing in third place is part of the reason why the Mariners have decided to retool their team, as they don’t really see themselves as having a shot in their division, particularly with the Houston Astros.

Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto (who used to be a reliever for the Rockies in the late 90s and later was in the Rockies front office) has been known to wheel and deal a lot on the trade market and between the day after the World Series and the publication of this article, which is 36 days (or five weeks and a day), he has made a lot of trades.

DiPoto has traded the players that played the most games at catcher (Mike Zunino), shortstop (Jean Segura, in a deal agreed upon in principle late Sunday night), center fielder (Guillermo Heredia), the team’s closer (Edwin Diaz), one of the team’s setup men (Alex Colome), arguably the team’s ace (James Paxton), and the biggest contract in team history (Robinson Cano).

DiPoto will almost definitely be making more trades in the coming weeks, especially with the Winter Meetings coming next week, so we will examine some Mariners that could make sense for the Rockies.

James Pazos

James Pazos might not be a name that you have heard of before unless you watch Mariners games but, over the last two seasons, he has been a good reliever in the past two seasons for the Mariners. Pazos, a 27 year old lefty, has averaged 60 appearances per season since 2017 with a 3.39 ERA (122 ERA+), a 3.83 FIP, and 3.4 walks and 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings.

In 2018, he was better than the average as his ERA was 2.88 and his FIP (aka Fielding Independent Pitching) was 3.60. His strikeout rate decreased to 8.1 per nine innings but his strikeout to walk ratio increased as he dropped his walk rate from 4.0 to 2.7 per nine innings.

The best thing about him is that he isn’t even arbitration eligible until next offseason so the Rockies would have four years of control of him until he would be eligible for free agency. In addition, he would be making around league minimum next season since he isn’t arbitration eligible (he has been at league minimum for the past two seasons).

If the Rockies were to trade for Pazos straight up, despite his control, the Mariners wouldn’t be demanding a big time prospect/s and, likely, one (or maybe two) low level prospects would get a deal done.

Juan Nicasio

Unlike Pazos, Juan Nicasio is probably a name that you have heard of before. Nicasio, the 32 year old former Rockie, is now a full-time reliever, unlike much of his four seasons with the Rockies. He has been more successful at it than as a starter but, in 2018, he had a very peculiar season.

He went 1-6 with an ERA of 6.00 in 46 games. If you just see that, you are probably asking why I would have him on this list. After all, the Rockies have plenty of their own relievers that put up similar numbers in 2018. However, his peripheral numbers paint a much better picture. His FIP was less than half of his ERA at 2.99 and his xFIP, or Expected Fielding Independent Pitching, was 3.19, which suggests some bad luck on Nicasio’s part. In fact, those were 28 and 25 percent better than league average, according to Fangraphs.

In addition, he walked only five batters in 42 innings (equivalent to 1.1 per nine innings) while striking out 53 (equivalent to 11.4 per nine innings). His opponent’s BABIP (or Batting Average on Balls in Play) was very high at .401 (.300 is league average).

His season also has the computer’s puzzled as well as his fWAR (or Fangraphs WAR) is 0.8 but his bWAR (or Baseball Reference WAR) is -1.1.

Contractually, he is making a lot in 2019 as he owed $9.25 million before becoming a free agent so he would be a lot more expensive than Pazos but, as in the Robinson Cano/Edwin Diaz deal to the Mets, the Mariners might be willing to take on some salary, in either providing cash to the Rockies or in taking one of the Rockies other higher contracts (at least in part).

Mitch Haniger

Of the names that we are featuring today, Mitch Haniger would be the best option for the Rockies as he is, far and away, the Mariners best player that they have remaining.

In 2017, he was having a breakout season until he was sidelined for six weeks in late April with a hamstring injury as well as a nasal fracture after being hit by a 95 MPH fastball in the face in August but in 2018, he continued with putting up great numbers.

Since the beginning of the 2017 season, he has hit .284/.361/.492 with an OPS+ of 135. In 2018, he played in 156 games and hit .285/.366/.493 with an OPS+ of 139. He also hit 26 home runs, 93 RBI, 38 doubles, 170 hits, and had a bWAR of 6.1.

In 2018, he was also excellent defensively as he had 9 Defensive Runs Saved in 144 games in right field. He is much better in right field, though, as in just 222 innings in left field and center field (parts of 37 games), he had -4 DRS.

He was an All-Star and came in 11th in AL MVP voting last season.

Haniger, who will be 28 in a few weeks, will only be arbitration eligible for the first time next offseason so the Rockies would have 4 years of control of Haniger before he would be a free agent and, this season, he will only be subject to make the league minimum.

Since Haniger has a lot of team control for cheap (at least in 2019) and he has played so well, he would cost a lot in a trade, meaning some of the Rockies top prospects but they could probably get a deal done without Brendan Rodgers.

Final Thoughts

There are a few other potential players that the Mariners could trade but they would not be all that beneficial for the Rockies.

Next. Potential trade options to improve at catcher. dark

As with most trade rumors or ideas, they often don’t happen but the Rockies are almost definitely one of the many teams that are talking with DiPoto in regards to a trade. Now, it’s just a matter of agreeing on the price for one of their players.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Pazos and Nicasio were added to the trade with Segura to the Phillies on Monday after the publication of this article.

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