The Seattle Mariners had a difficult weekend after the Winter Meetings. They have already re-signed Josh Naylor to a five-year deal, but they lost Jorge Polanco in free agency to the New York Mets.
There are a few directions Seattle can go to fill the hole at second base left by Polanco’s departure. They could go with prospects Colt Emerson and Cole Young, or they could make a trade.
They have been linked to Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte. However, Daniel Kramer of MLB.com threw cold water on the idea.
Could Mariners Be Out On Marte?
“Arizona is said to be seeking MLB-ready starting pitching, which the Mariners don’t intend to trade. Marte, who grew up in Seattle’s organization, is also still owed $91 million over five years,” Kramer wrote.
The Mariners are already paying Naylor, so the chances of them taking on Marte’s salary would appear to be slim. And if they don’t want to trade Major League ready starting pitching, then the chances of a deal would seem to be less.
Marte would undoubtedly make the Mariners a much better team and get them closer to World Series contention. Because Seattle has so much starting pitching depth, it would make sense for them to trade from that depth.
Holding onto all of their pitchers when they could pick up a bat that they need by trading from that depth is certainly an interesting decision. Marte began his career with the Mariners in 2015, so it would be interesting to see if they could bring back one of their homegrown players.
But it doesn’t seem as though they are willing to do that, unfortunately, so that hurts the chances of a deal.
It will be interesting to see how Seattle goes about adding to their offense. They need to fill the hole at second base. Perhaps they could take a swing for Brendan Donovan. Katie Woo notes that the Mariners are one of the front runners for the St. Louis Cardinals All-Star.
But Marte appears to be out of the question for Seattle, so it would seem more likely that they’ll try to make a deal for Donovan or find another solution at second base that won’t cost them Major League ready pitching.
