Seattle Mariners close to acquiring a bat; deal could happen in next few days

Acquiring another big bat to round out their lineup – ideally a right-handed hitting right fielder – remains at the top of the Seattle Mariners’ to do list. If reports – first by ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick and later by the Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish – are to be believed then the team is “closing in” on a deal and it may happen in the next 2-3 days.

Seattle has already taken steps to improve their offense this offseason, adding Nelson Cruz to a lineup that already had Robinson Cano and Kyle Seager in the mix. Work in a full season from Austin Jackson and a step forward from the Brad Miller/Chris Taylor combination and the Mariners look like a pretty solid offensive team. Add one more bat in the heart of the lineup and this suddenly becomes a drastically improved team over the one that just missed a Wild Card spot in 2014.

It’s unclear at this point who the Mariners may be on the verge of acquiring. The team has been linked to varying degrees to a number of bats on the trade market in recent weeks including Atlanta’s Justin Upton, Washington’s Ian Desmond, and Chicago’s Dayan Viciedo. There has been some speculation, however, that this bat might be someone who we haven’t heard much chatter about.

Upton has been linked to the Mariners most prominently from the group. It’s believed the Braves have asked for Taijuan Walker in return, which Seattle has balked at. Walker’s name came up in a proposal for Desmond as well, though that deal included other players as well.

There will be plenty of additional speculation in the days to come – both in terms of who the team might be pursuing and who they could be parting with to complete such a deal. Seattle has been known to be focused on adding someone capable of playing right field but the team could also potentially work in an upgrade at first base.