Seattle Mariners make themselves contenders acquiring Alex Colome and Denard Span

The Seattle Mariners traded two pitching prospects to the Tampa Bay Rays for reliever Alex Colome and outfielder Denard Span.

According to Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays), the Seattle Mariners have acquired closer Alex Colome and outfielder Denard Span from the Tampa Bay Rays for two minor league pitchers, Andrew Moore and Tommy Romero.

Alex Colome will move from the closer’s role in Tampa to a setup role in Seattle. Darnard Span will be in the outfield mix in Seattle.

The Seattle Mariners needed another major league bat after losing Robinson Cano to a PED suspension and Dee Gordon to the DL. Span will likely get playing time primarily in left field but could play center field also.

He spent most of the 2017 season in center field with the Giants but has played left field exclusively this season because the Rays have Kevin Kiermeier (now on the DL) and Mallex Smith to cover center.

Ben Gamel has been the Mariners’ primary left-fielder, but he’s hitting just .226/.309/.333. That’s an 82 wRC+, meaning he’s been 18 percent below average on offense when league and ballpark effects taken into account. Overall, he’s been below replacement-level, according to Fangraphs (-0.2 WAR) and is projected to be only slightly better than that going forward (0.2 WAR).

Span is hitting .238/.364/.385, for a 114 wRC+. He’s never been a big power hitter but did hit 12 home runs last year and 11 the year before. He can hit a handful of homers and steal some bases while providing a substantial on-base percentage to the Mariners lineup. He’s been worth 0.4 WAR so far and is projected to be worth 0.7 WAR going forward.

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Alex Colome is coming off a season in which he led the American League with 47 saves. The year before, he saved 37 games for the Rays. He has 11 saves this year, along with a 4.15 ERA. That ERA isn’t impressive, but Colome’s FIP is 2.69 and xFIP is 3.20, which suggests he should be better going forward.

He won’t save many games in Seattle because the Mariners have the very dominant Edwin Diaz, but Colome should be another good setup guy in the Mariners bullpen.

The two young pitchers going to the Rays are Andrew Moore and Tommy Romero. The right-handed Moore was the Mariners’ 2^nd round pick in the 2015 June Draft. He’s struck out 322 batters in 362 minor league innings, with a 2.76 ERA and 1.07 WHIP.

He got a taste of the big leagues last season and went 1-5 with a 5.34 ERA (5.65 FIP). This year, he has a 3.04 ERA (4.25 FIP) in 50.3 innings with the Mariners Double-A affiliate, the Arkansas Travelers.

Like Moore, Tommy Romero is a right-handed pitcher. He was drafted in the 15^th round of the 2017 draft and pitched in rookie ball last season. He’s been with the Class-A Clinton LumberKings this season and has a 2.45 ERA (2.63 FIP), while striking out 54 batters in 44 innings.

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This is a win-now move for the Seattle Mariners. They are in the mix for a wild card spot, and any little improvement helps. The Tampa Bay Rays, as always, are trying to compete in a very difficult division that includes two behemoths, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

With this move, they trade veterans for youth, with the hopes that Moore and/or Romero turn into something that will help the team in the future.