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Colorado Rockies: Do they match up with the Seattle Mariners for a trade?

By Noah Yingling

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 25: Ryan McMahon #24 of the Colorado Rockies reacts after he was called out on strike against the San Francisco Giants in the top of the six inning at Oracle Park on September 25, 2019 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 25: Ryan McMahon #24 of the Colorado Rockies reacts after he was called out on strike against the San Francisco Giants in the top of the six inning at Oracle Park on September 25, 2019 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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Our colleagues at SoDo Mojo, the Seattle Mariners FanSided site, recently discussed the possibility of the Mariners and Colorado Rockies matching up for a trade.

Their hypothetical trade would involve somebody that Colorado Rockies fans would not want to see go: Ryan McMahon.

Here’s how their hypothetical trade would look like. You can see their reasoning behind the trade idea here.

I think that for the Rockies to trade McMahon away, they would need to be offering more than Tuivailala and Santana in return.

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That would be because Santana very well could be a bench outfielder for the Rockies if they decide to give a starting nod to Sam Hilliard. In that case, the Rockies outfield would be Hilliard, David Dahl, and Charlie Blackmon.

While Santana has been good offensively in the past three years (114 OPS+), do the Rockies want/need another subpar defensive outfielder?

According to Baseball Reference, he had -16 Defensive Runs Saved last season. The Rockies main outfielders (Ian Desmond, David Dahl, Charlie Blackmon, and Raimel Tapia) were four of the worst five defenders on the Rockies by the DRS stat with Desmond, Dahl, and Blackmon leading the way with -19, -11, and -8 DRS, respectively.

On the other hand, Tuivailala has had some recent health issues, including a ruptured Achilles that cost him half of the 2018 season and more than half of the 2019 season. In the past three seasons, Tuivailala has pitched well at the major league level (149 ERA+) but he has averaged only 32 appearances a season.

The Mariners do have five MLB.com top 100 prospects. In fact, all of those five are in the top 70.

I think that maybe one of the lower level top 100 prospects, like Mariners #4 prospect first baseman Evan White (#58 overall) or Mariners #5 prospect pitcher Justin Dunn (#70 overall) could get the job done.

If the Rockies didn’t want to trade McMahon (which is a safe assumption) and keep the return from the Mariners there, I think that Daniel Murphy could potentially be a fit for the Mariners. Since the Mariners are a young team and they are in the American League, they could use Murphy as a DH and a veteran presence in their lineup and clubhouse.

He, like McGee, is entering the final guaranteed year of his contract. Total, they would be owed $17 million next season. Without any arbitration-eligible players, the Mariners only have a guaranteed payroll of about $46 million in 2020 so they could very easily take on some more salary in 2020.

Next. Is Jairo Diaz the key to the 2020 Colorado Rockies’ bullpen?. dark

Overall, I think that the two teams could match up as trade partners but the Rockies would need to be more enticed to trade McMahon than just Santana and Tuivailala.

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