Seattle Mariners appear reluctant to deal top young pitchers

Adding another impact bat to their lineup remains a significant priority for the Seattle Mariners, one that the club is hoping to address at this week’s Winter Meetings in San Diego. The free agent market offers few alternatives – only Melky Cabrera remains as a substantial option – which means the Mariners will be forced to look hard at the trade market in order to find a solution.

Much of the early speculation has centered on the team moving one of their young arms in order to acquire a bat, but Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune is hearing that the team is reluctant to part with them.

Taijuan Walker, James Paxton, Roenis Elias, and Danny Hultzen have all come up at various points as potential chips that the Mariners could use to facilitate a deal. Newly acquired J.A. Happ has also reportedly drawn some calls already. Dutton cites numerous team officials who don’t view a trade as likely, specifically noting that neither Walker nor Paxton will be moved for a player who isn’t signed to a long term deal – potentially eliminating their inclusion in a deal for the likes of Atlanta’s Justin Upton or Boston’s Yoenis Cespedes.

Seattle has been tied most closely to Los Angeles’ Matt Kemp in recent weeks and the two sides reportedly were drawing close to having a deal in place. The deal would have sent a package of unnamed players to the Dodgers in return for Kemp, with Los Angeles paying close to half of the $107 million remaining on his contract over the next five years. Talks stalled once the Dodgers proposed a revised agreement, asking for one of Walker or Paxton to be included.

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The Mariners hadn’t yet added Nelson Cruz, at the time, but still walked away from discussions regarding Kemp.

Seattle could easily hang onto the collection of arms, giving themselves some depth as the season gets underway. Felix Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma, Happ, and Elias are likely favorites to begin the year in the rotation. The health status of the remaining three will likely go a long ways towards determining how they slot in. Both Walker and Paxton missed time this past year with injury, while Hultzen missed the entire season following shoulder surgery.