.

At this SSI link you can find both part 1 of our noodlings on July 31, and the links to the MyNorthwest articles that index the players for us.  Happy times for all.  Even happier if the M's powerflush half their roster and find they need Jake Fraley to fill in a vacancy in the OF.

.

DEE GORDON

Being "shopped" earnestly by the M's.  Stecker points out that he's still only 31, is a long-time 9-year vet, and with the Mariners has added position versatility to his gold gloves at 2B.  On the other hand, teams will want "proof" that his wrist is sound before giving up hard cash, goods and services for him.

Lots of teams still value speed, even if only at a single spot in the batting order.  Speed is not an uninhabitable sector of MLB Earth's lineup card; it's merely devalued if you've got 30 homers available at the given #9 lineup slot.  Nobody except the Twins, and come to think of it Mariners, have 30 homers x 9 lineup slots.

Dr. D maintains that other teams will see Seattle, and T-Mobile Park, as a place where many batters slag off Adrian Beltre style, only to recover form when they leave for easier contexts.  Very easy for me to imagine an NL team seeing the pre-Seattle Gordon as the player it is trading for.  For the 3rd consecutive player (EE, Leake) Dr. D will take the "over" as to what a Mariner could be worth to the right buyer.

.

WADE LEBLANC

Anything that brings us closer to the debuts of Sheffield and Dunn are fine by Dr. D.  In this case, it's a super-team-friendly contract at $2-5M per year.  That's what you give setup relievers.  In LeBlanc's case, you either get a valuable return back or you keep him; even if he lost his spot in the rotation he'd be quite valuable as a long man/swing man spot starter.

Also has been an excellent choice for "headliner" after an opener, good attitude, pairs well with the dime-a-dozen 97 MPH righties like Gerson Bautista that are running amok in the bigs these days.  So, you talk about "manufacturing" closers and relievers and #5 starters to flip, and repeat the process.  LeBlanc, who was a March add last year, is the definition.

You start to wonder just how many trades Dipoto could swing over the next 6 weeks.  I think I read that the M's had used 50 players already with the team record being 53; I guess that number will go over 60 before they done.

.

TIM BECKHAM

As bat-first shortstops go, has everything you're looking for:  11 homers, 14 doubles and the rah-rah pom poms as he cheers the M's on to a legendarily bad defense.  Fortunately for him, "backup SS" is the position of choice, since he can also fill in at 2B and 3B.  I imagine Ben Zobrist could cheer on a terrible defense also if you played him every day at short.

It's a little harder for Dr. D to imagine teams slobbering over Beckham than over Edwin Encarnacion, he admits.  You'd need a team with a sucking chest wound or three in the infield.  Still and all, he's owed less than $1M over the rest of the year and if that's worth a Grade B/C prospect, power to ya amigo.

.

RYON HEALY

Good young hitter with three years of club control in front of him, as Stecker notes.  Why would anybody want him?  Why did the Mariners want him?

Stecker also points out that Healy is #8 in the AL with 16 doubles, LOL.  Not bad in view of his not playing since about the second week of the season.  ... who trades for a player on the DL?  Nobody, which seems to imply that Healy could be DL'ed as much for political / phantom reasons as anything.

.

Also covered in Stecker's fine articles:  Haniger.  Marco.  Elias.  Vogelbach.  Seager.  and Felix.  Try and get those next.

BABVA,

Jeff