2:35pm: The Mariners are trying hard to obtain Brandon Belt, Dave Cameron of FanGraphs reports (on Twitter).
1:32pm: Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik is looking to acquire hitters who could contribute for the next two or three seasons, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reports. The Mariners aim to improve an offense that currently ranks last in the American League with just 3.9 runs per game.
The Mariners are more focused on players such as Josh Willingham and Allen Craig than players like Shin-Soo Choo and Hunter Pence. Choo and Pence are eligible for free agency after the 2013 season, while Willingham is under contract through 2014 and Craig won't even be arbitration eligible before the 2013-14 offseason.
No way the M’s get Craig. Berkman is a free agent at the end of the year, and the Cards will have a place to slot Craig as the full-time 1B in 2013. Willingham is a possibility, but it seems that right-handers have an easier time hitting HR’s in Minnesota than lefties (Morneau and Mauer can attest to that), and Safeco Field is where right-handed power hitters come to die. So if I’m Jack Z, I don’t send one of the M’s top 4 pitching prospects (Hultzen, Walker, Paxton, Ramirez) to Minnesota as part of a package for Willingham. Beavan maybe, and some other fringe material.
You can try but you’re not getting him for that.
I know people like to bash our offense but i like it we just need a veteran presence we don’t have one.
step one was getting rid of that rookie ichiro. now you guys can find someone who has actually been around for awhile and accomplished a thing or two
The kids we have just need to mature a while longer, I think the talent is there, just not showing itself now. Montero seems like he is catching up (no pun intended) to the big league level of pitching, and I don’t expect Ackley to be this bad next year. He will make the adjustments.
How does a veteran presence help a team with a collective .653 OPS? Can you imagine how much worse it would be if they were in the NL?
By veteran presence maybe you mean any free agent over 25 and an OPS over .800?
Mariners do not have the quality prospects to net anyone of quality.
Maybe the indians would trade Matt LaPorta for Justin Smoak giving both stiffs and change of location in a Garbage for Garbage deal.
We do have quality prospects, but those types of blue chip guys aren’t getting traded for Allen Craig. More like a Justin Upton type. And, believe me when I say this, we will never deal those prospects, that doesn’t seem to be GMZ’s MO
I do not even want to think about getting Justin Upton. I don’t really want to trade pitchers for a guy who I’m still not sure about. I just don’t know if he’s the kind of hitter we need.
The Cardinals wouldn’t trade a guy who is under team control and is a .300 plus batter and has 30-40 HR power (Allen Craig) for unproven prospects. The Cardinals have plenty of top 100 prospects too. The Mariners would pounce on the chance to get Allen Craig for a couple of prospects.
“The Mariners do not have the quality prospects to net anyone of quality.”
Ha…ha…wait, are you being serious?
You call the Card’s GM and offer up Hultzen, Walker, and Paxton for Craig, and I bet he pulls the trigger.
Except they’d never offer that for an injury prone player whos career high in games played is 75.
Your funny. Seattle has a top ten farm and has like 5 top100 players in it. Stop listening to the east coast bias media.
I would trade King Felix.
We aren’t trading Felix. No matter what.
not ever for craig miller martinez and taveras? i feel like the mariners would do that
Cards would not do that. They would offer Craig, Miller and other lower level prospects not named Taveras, Rosenthal, Martinez or Wong. They would also need Adams if Craig is traded
Yea why not trade the whole farm system for one pitcher. No thanks!
i said the mariners would, not that the cardinals would
As a Mariners fan, I am in the staunch anti-Felix trade boat. However, if I was Jack Z and the Cardinals maniacally offered that package, how on earth do I say no?
exactly, just saying if someone offered a package like that, felix would be gone
If I’m Jack Z., I’ve already hung up the phone.
This either re-affirms that the M’s know they’ll suck for at least the next two years, or that they want to lower our payroll for the next 2-4 years…either way, I am disappointed. Really, the lack of development of Smoak is what is getting me.
Only way M’s are getting Allen Craig is if it’s part of a package for King Felix, or if the M’s are offering up 2 of their top pitching prospects. I could see the Cards doing like Craig, Cox, and Jenkins for King Felix, but highly unlikely. Cards are already pretty stacked with high-end pitching prospects, so it would have to be a real blowout of a deal for them to want more pitching prospects for Craig.
If I was going to trade Felix Hernandez, I’d have to get a better haul than that.
Wow…just these words here…”
Only way M’s are getting Allen Craig is if it’s part of a package for King Felix”…just wow.
Well there would obviously need to be a lot more. But he’s right. The Mariners don’t have anything we need that we would trade Craig for except Felix. Which ain’t happening…
Good luck on getting Craig without trading Hernandez.
If you think Hernandez and Craig are to ever be mentioned in the same breath, then you are more of a homer than we are.
he isnt saying craig is on his level, he is saying that the cardinals just aren’t gonna let craig go for anything less than a blowout deal, hes very important to the team
I REALLY think the wording should be “The M’S are not letting Felix go unless it’ a blowout deal”.
Just the thought of St. Louis saying “we’re not trading Craig unless Felix is part of the deal” just sounds insane.
Trading anybody else for a guy who will hit over .300 with 30-40 HRs in a full season and is under team control sounds insane. They’re saying that Felix Hernandez is the only player from the M’s that would get their attention. The $20 million increase in payroll and the fact that the Cardinals have solid starting pitching paired with the loss of a cheap middle or the lineup masher (and a prospect or two) would make a deal involving a great pitcher like Felix Hernandez not as attractive.
Walker, Capps Ruffin for Willingham
Theres no way the cardinals will get rid of Craig
We need to have like an automated message that says Felix is untouchable lol.
Willingham for Carlos Triunfel, Brandon Maurer(so commentators can say Maurer delivers to Mauer), and two others should get the job done right?
NO WAY the twins take that deal they would need either Walker, Hultzen or Paxton
Twins could definitely use Triunfel though, even though they just got Escobar. It makes me shiver though another non-hitting shortstop in Escobar.. Triunfel can still hit ,but i guess i’m wrong in thinking he could headline the deal. Paxton is probably the only guy they would fleece. Paxton, Triunfel, Maurer, and a lower minors guy makes sense. Pretty good value for Willingham.
Five players for an average hitter. Yeah no thanks.
What really makes me wonder about this team and the Safeco situation is that we’re the #1 run scoring team ON THE ROAD. 258 runs on the road, with only 147 at home. Either something needs to be done about Safeco (i.e. entertaining the idea of bringing in the fences) or this team is really that bad offensively at home. Pitchers have only given up 162* runs at home. Maybe Chambliss is not the answer. Perhaps we need a much better hitting coach. Maybe someone who has actually played at Safeco Field.
Haha good luck Seattle in prying Craig away from the Cards
Thats like saying Pujols was gonna gonna stay, you can be suprised sometimes..
How about Soriano??
Soriano for Figgins with Cubs chipping in a decent amount of money.
Why would the Cubs take in the 9 mil that Figgins is owed and also pay most of the 18 that Soriano is owed per year?
Exactly my point. Sarcasm. No one even wants Soriano, even with the way he’s playing and with the Cubs willing to eat a chunk of money.
I’m not sure why I team in need of offense wouldn’t want him though, he’s actually been quite good in the OF this year and has been solid with the stick. If Chicago is going to pickup almost all of his contract why not trade for the guy?
An injury prone 28 year old in Craig probably wouldn’t net nearly enough for Cardinals fans to be happy anyway, so I doubt he’d be dealt.
They should go after Soriano, if he would accept a trade there.
Why didn’t they just sign Willingham as a free agent in the offseason?
I don’t really see them going for Willingham. That’s more of what Ben is suggesting.
daniel murphy perhaps?
Brandon Belt? Trade to get a player who doesn’t hit any better than what we got lol atta boy Z.
No Z isn’t trying to trade League for Belt i don’t think Z is that stupid Sabean would laugh and hang up probably trying to package something.
Brandon Belt? Would he even be an upgrade over what they have right now? Only the Mariners…
They’ve been playing Smoak and Carp at 1st so actually yes haha
Why are people acting like Brandon Belt would be a bad acquisition? Obviously Brandon League would be part of the package, M’s fans don’t care about that, he won’t get too much anyhow.
Then throw in a mid level prospect and one of the AAAA outfielders we seem to have accrued and perhaps a deal falls through…I just don’t see the angst. Belt is 24, assuming what he has done is it is really unfortunate.
The M’s just need to keep adding young bats. Keep adding young bats. Keep adding young bats.
Eventually they start to turn out.
We are not trading Belt for League, even if you guys include a prospect. He is our first baseman of the future despite being so-so since being called up and a relief pitcher won’t do it.
M’s want controllable players because they are gearing up to sell the team and do not want any high dollar contracts (excluding Felix possibly).
The Ballpark excuse is getting old. The M’s don’t have any consistant hitting. Everyone is under .270. The M’s have hit more HR’s than last, but most games it is 1, 2 , 3 hits and a loss. Power will develop, but the M’s need a couple guys who will develop into hitters that can be .290 to .320 or better every year. The wins will come once the base hits arrive consistently. I’m not sure Brandon Belt will be one of those guys.
Place baseball’s best hitting prospects* — Jesus Montero, Justin Smoak, Dustin Ackley and Michael Saunders — at Safeco Field and they struggle. On the road, the young Mariners lead the majors in runs scored.
Playing in the current configuration of Safeco Field, it’s hard to come up with “a couple a guys who will develop into hitters that can be .290 to .320 or better every year.”
The Mariners, with a current Pythagorean record of 51-52, could become contenders when their elite prospects arrive in 2013-14.
* Baseball America’s midseason prospect lists had Justin Smoak at No. 4 in 2009, Dustin Ackley at No. 7 in 2010, Michael Saunders at No. 25 in 2009 and Jesus Montero at No. 3 in 2009, No. 4 in 2010 and No. 7 in 2011.
Allen Craig is going to be a superstar. There isn’t a relief pitcher in the game worth his future production.
Belt for League would be excellent for Seattle and par for the course for the Giants.
In all likelihood, Belt is overrated but that would be a steal for the M’s. Given that the Giants have nobody at first and Sandoval on the DL, I don’t see how Belt can be sacrificed right now unless they have a deal for a corner infielder in the works as well.
Step one is to remodel Safeco, that place is a freaking blackhole for any hitter, just give up, bring in the fence and make it a neutral field.
If the deal is League for Belt, Sabean better include himself in the deal because he’ll be run out of town otherwise.
How about Peter Bourjos. He is young, fast, and can defend. With the emergence of Mike Trout, the Angels don’t have a need for Bourjos any more.
Plus he is young and will develop power over time. He is just what they could use.
Carlos Quentin is another option who can play the outfield and 1st base. He is signed through the 2015 season and has an option for 2016.
Quentin is due :
Year Age Team salary
2012 29 San Diego Padres$7,025,000
2013 30 San Diego Padres$9,500,000
2014 31 San Diego Padres$9,500,000
2015 32 San Diego Padres$8,000,000
2016 33 San Diego Padres*$10,000,000$10M Mutual Option, $3M Buyout$3M buyout with 320 games played in 2013-15
Earliest Free Agent: 2016
Alfonso Soriano is under team control through 2014 and the cubs are looking to trade him. He is versatile playing: 852 games in Left Field, 766games at second base, 12 games in center field, 11 games at third base, and 10 games at shortstop. He could also be a DH possiblilty,
The Cards will Not trade Dempster
That statement is so wrong, but so right at the same time.
The Cards won’t trade craig or Adams, they’re both too good of hitters
Felix Hernandez, Brendan Ryan and Brandon League to White Sox for Dayan Viciedo, Adisson Reed, Nate Jones, Nestor Molina, Simon Castro and Tyler Salandino.
The whitesox would be giving up too much. Take out Molina and Castro and add a PTBNL and its more realistic.
Carlos Quentin is another option who can play the outfield and 1st base.
He is signed through the 2015 season and has an option for 2016.