Seattle Mariners Rumors: Sonny Gray is on their radar
It should come as no surprise this time of year, but the Seattle Mariners are interested in a player that could help them win games.
According to a piece on MLB.com from Mark Feinsand, “A source with knowledge of the team’s thinking suggested that Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto might be preparing to make a run for the A’s right-hander.” This makes a ton of sense for the Seattle Mariners, who have a shrinking window of contention that is open right now. James Paxton has supplanted Felix Hernandez as the team’s ace, while Nelson Cruz (37) and Robinson Cano (34) aren’t getting any younger.
Jerry DiPoto spent the offseason making marginal upgrades to his roster seemingly every day, so going after someone like Sonny Gray could be the one move that pushes them over the top and into a Wild Card spot. They are currently 2.5 games behind both the Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees for the second Wild Card spot entering play on Monday.
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The big problem for Seattle is that there are a number of teams in on Gray, including the Braves, Yankees and Astros, all of whom have vastly superior farm systems to the Mariners. Seattle has one top 100 prospect, Kyle Lewis, who has played in 16 games this season from June 11 through Sunday. Coupled with the 30 he played in A ball last year, he’s totaled 46 in his pro career and is coming off of a knee injury that kept him out for the first few months of the season. He’d be a bit of a risk for a team that needs to capitalize on this trade.
For the Mariners, pushing all of their top prospects, or basically whomever Billy Beane and company would like, wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world as long as it’s within reason. The Mariners haven’t made the postseason since 2001 and with the King on the back nine of his career and two of their top sluggers getting up there in age, a big deal like adding Gray would be a solid move.
From an A’s standpoint, there are likely going to be better deals out there. Maybe not one that includes a top 20 prospect like Lewis, but with the injury concerns, he’s anything but a sure thing moving forward, regardless of ranking. From any of the aforementioned clubs showing interest, Oakland could probably nab at least a couple of top 100 prospects in a deal.
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The one thing that Seattle has going for them is that they don’t have the look of a supremely dominant club for years to come like the Astros, who hold a 17 game lead in the AL West or potentially the Yankees. Shipping Gray to the Pacific Northwest, where you have a pretty good sense of when their window will close, could be a smart play and give the A’s less competition down the road by pillaging their system now.
Will it matter in the end? Probably not.