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Thanks Tac,
It is Tyler Smith that makes Taylor or Sardinas expendable....if we get something sparkly in return.
He can play. I thought so last ST. He a MLB utility guy right now.
The M's middle Infielders
Are there any prospects the M's can afford to trade???
There has been a quite a bit of talk around here about trading for a relief or 5 the past week. Yes, one option is to trade Seth Smith... but there are other options.
Moe briefly brought up the idea of trading one of the middle infielders in camp - like Chris Taylor, Luis Sardinas or...?? Well as you will see, there are PLENTY of ??? on the M's farm.
In my prior post, I brought up the fact that the M's have at least 6 pretty good CF's in the system... and that was BEFORE the M's went ahead and signed Guillermo Heredia, who was just ranked in the top 30 M's prospects by John Sickels and by Churchill. You may be surprised to find out that the M's actually have MORE ranked prospects as middle infielders than CF's. Yes, I am comparing SS / 2B versus just CF, but the M's have more than DOUBLE the middle infielders. You are having a tough time naming too many... well let me help you out.
A couple caveats first though...
- Yes, not all these guys are still deemed prospects by the strict standards, but they are in the system
- Yes, not all these guys will even make Tacoma, let alone Seattle... but that is the nature of prospects.
Here goes...
The OBVIOUS ones...
1. Ketel Marte - yes I am cheating by mentioning the starting SS, but since he has not even played in 100 games yet I think he qualifies. One point I wanted to make about Ketel... he is 22 years old. 22. Measure that against the following guys on the list. Ketel's strengths are high contact rate, very good OBP, Extreme speed and quickness. FWIW, Ketel is from the Dominican Republic.
2. Chris Taylor - yes we know Chris. He should have been the starter last year... but that dreaded injury bug. Chris is 25 years old. Chris's strengths are solid glove, very strong arm, above average slugging for mid infielder, very good speed and quickness. Chris is one of the many college SS's that Mac & Jack drafted.
3. Luis Sardinas - Newly acquired by Dipoto from Brewers. Former top 100 overall prospect... Yet the experts claim he has failed to live up to their expectations despite playing less than 100 games in the MLB. Luis is 22 years old. His strengths are solid glove, GREAT ARM, solid contact rate, EXTREME speed & quickness and a good batting eye. Luis is from Venezuela.
4. Shawn O'Malley - For those who don't know Shawn... he is the classic over-achiever. He does everything that the coaches ask him to do, and seems to do it better each and every year. Yes, Shawn has been doing this a while, since he is 28 years old. However, despite playing well in the minors - 293/340/408 batting line in the minors, Shawn has played less than 100 games at the MLB level, so he makes this list. Shawn's strengths are solid glove, solid arm, OBP, good batting eye, good contact rate and above average quickness with surprising speed. Shawn is one of those college SS's.
The KNOWN prospects...
5. Drew Jackson - 2015 5th round draft choice that is now in everyone's top 10 Mariner prospect lists. He played in Everett / rookie level last year, but he DOMINATED. In fact, team and LEAGUE MVP. He lead league in batting average, OBP, runs scored and stolen bases. Drew is 22 years old. Drew's strengths are good arm & glove, EXTREME speed & quickness, good contact rate, above average slugging for mid infielder, and OBP / good batting eye. Drew is another college SS.
6. Tyler Smith - Tyler is a younger and slightly bigger O'Malley. He is an labeled an over-achiever, but also a LEADER. Like O'Malley, he does ALL the small things. He does everything the coaches ask... and he keeps climbing the farm ladder. He played at AA Jackson last year, and he deserves to move up... but I doubt there will be any room in Tacoma - based on above players. Tyler is 25 years old. Tyler's strengths are solid glove and arm, very good OBP & batting eye, solid contact rate, good quickness with surprising speed. Tyler is another college SS.
7. Dainer Moreira - this may be your first WHO?? Dainer was signed this off season by Dipoto out of CUBA. Dainer was THE starting SS for the Cuban national team for the past 10+ years. He was one of the team leaders, and was a big part of their offense. Yes, Dainer is OLD - 31 years old... but he was still producing at a high level last year. Unfortunately for Dainer, he will probably start the year in AA Jackson with Tyler Smith. Dainer's strengths are very good glove and arm, good gap power, solid contact rate and surprising speed and quickness - especially at his age.
The Prospects on the top 30 rankings...
8. Chris Torres - Chris is known as the guy the Yankees forgot. Chris was supposedly going to sign for roughly $2 million, but communication broke down... and the Mariners swooped in 3 months later at signed him for $400K or so. Chris has yet to play in the states, but he appears to be worth that $2 million. After a slow start, Chris finished with a batting line of 251/399/344. Apparently you can walk off the Dominican Republic. Also, Chris just turned 18 years old. Chris's strengths include great arm, solid glove, great speed and quickness, so far GREAT batting eye and OBP, and good contact rate. As mentioned, Chris is from the DR.
9. Greifer Andrade - Some may recognize Greifer, as he has been around a few years. Greifer played in the Arizona league last year for the first time, and had a batting line of 307/369/409!! Greifer was another high dollar international free agent that so far is proving he was worth the risk... but there is a long way to go. Greifer is 19 years old and lanky. 6 foot tall, 170 pounds, with lots of room to grow. So far, Greifer's strengths are great arm, good power with more to come hopefully, good batting eye & OBP, very good quickness with improving speed, and improving contact rate. Greifer was signed as a 16 year old out of Venezuela.
10. Rayder Ascanio - Rayder has been in the US for a couple years now, and he is flourishing. Playing at both levels of A ball last year, Rayder put up a batting line of 242/324/324 line. Yeah, you are probably not impressed, until you hear that Rayder is the BEST defensive SS in the M's system. Rayder is 20 years old, yet his defense would play at the MLB level TODAY. Rayder's strengths include great arm and glove, EXTREME speed and quickness, solid and improving batting eye and OBP, and a good contact rate. If Rayder can hit, we will see him in Seattle, or at least in the majors. Rayder was signed out of Venezuela.
11. Eric Mejia - ***NOTE*** This is THE POINT OF REFERENCE for this post. Eric was ranked in the top 31 Mariner prospects by Scout.com this year... the same week Eric was traded to the Dodgers for relief pitcher Joe Weiland about a month ago. Yeah, only Moe and G-man had even heard of Eric when he was traded, but he was a known commodity in the M's system. Eric was 20 years old all last year, and had a batting line of 273/353/362 in Everett. While Eric is not a great defensive SS - he was able to play the position effectively, and he proved to be an above average 2B with upside. Eric has a good batting eye and OBP, very good quickness & speed, above average power for mid infielder, and solid contact rate. Eric is from the DR.
The KIDS on the Farm...
12. Carlos Vargas - Yes I am putting Carlos here. For those not familiar with Carlos... he signed about 7 montha ago for just under $2 million... and reports are he is going to be worth every penny. A few experts say Carlos has the HIGHEST CEILING of ANY Mariner prospect... and he is number 12 on this list. Yeah, Carlos could be the next Truinfel... but expect to hear his name a lot in the coming years. Carlos just turned 17. He will play in the DR this year. Carlos's highly anticipated strengths are Exceptional arm, great speed and quickness, great bat speed, and oh by the way, Carlos is CURRENTLY 6 foot 3 inches, 190 pounds. Did I mention great speed AND quickness. He will have POWER, and he already has above average contact rate... at age 17. You can get excited NOW. Carlos is another from the DR.
13. Logan Taylor - the OTHER Taylor. Logan is a younger and BIGGER Tyler Smith... err.. even younger and bigger O'Malley. Logan is another over-achiever and LEADER. Despite being a 3 year starter at Texas A&M, Logan got the majority of his playing time in the OF in Everett last year, since Drew Jackson and Eric Mejia played the mid infield positions normally. At age 22, Logan last year hit 267/351/392 while learning a new position and not playing every day. As mentioned before, Logan is big - 6 foot 1inch 200 pounds. Logan's strengths are very good arm and glove, above average contact rate and batting eye, above average power with more to come and good quickness with surprising speed. As I stated before, Logan is another college SS drafted by Mac and Jack... and hopefully for his sake, he will get more playing time in the infield this year.
14. Tim Lopes - Despite being in the M's system for several years now, Tim had probably his best year last year. Playing at both A ball levels, Tim's batting line was 276/340/362 with 35 stolen bases. Tim was drafted out of high school, and is now 21 years old, so time is starting to run out. Still Tim's strengths include very good quickness with great speed, good batting eye and OBP, very good glove & solid arm and improving contact rates. Tim will have to continue improving on multiple levels though to get noticed in this system.
15. Luis Rengifo - The first of several unknown and low dollar international kids making noise in the DSL. At 18 years old, at the DSL level last year, Luis hit 336/405/465 with 19 stolen bases. Churchill really likes Luis, and says Luis has very good speed and quickness, solid glove and arm and he just pounds fastballs. Luis is 19 now, but I do not know if the M's will be bringing him stateside this year or not... although it looks like he has nothing more to prove in the DSL. Luis is another player signed from Venezuela.
16. Raphael Fernandez - Raphael has been stateside for a couple years now, but he is another who had his best year last year. Playing in the Arizona league and A ball in Clinton, Raphael had a batting line of 293/383/366. Raphael just turned 22 years old. In this system, Raphael is not a SS, but he still has a good glove and arm, very good OBP with improving batting eye and contact rate. Raphael is another guy from Venezuela.
The Kids not Stateside YET... The Mariners have 2 DSL teams plus an academy team in the Dominican Republic.
17. Joseph Rosa - 19 years old. Batting line of 310/390/399 with 21 stolen bases at the DSL level. Played High school ball in NY, but signed as a free agent at 18. Switch hitter.
18. Luis Joseph - 19 years old. Batting line of 331/353/416 with 15 stolen bases at the DSL level. Signed out of DR at age 16. Switch hitter.
19. Jordan Cowan - 20 years old. Batting line of 260/344/343 with 12 stolen bases at Arizona and Everett levels last year. Signed out of high school.
20. Ivan Gonzalez - 20 years old. Batting line of 342/401/460 with 10 stolen bases. Big kid at 6 foot 180 pounds. Signed out of DR at age 18.
21. Eugene Helder - 20 years old. Batting line of 313/355/382 with 9 stolen bases. Signed out of Aruba at age 17.
*** 2nd NOTE***
I could have added several other names like Martin Peguero, Gianfranco Wawoe and such who are still in the system as well... but these guys above are performing now.
As you can see, there is PLENTY of depth in the Mariner system... so TRADING away a couple is almost needed to free up some space for these kids to move up. Let's just hope that Dipoto is makes more trades like the Lind trade or the Trumbo trade versus a couple other of the trades he started with this off season.
Comments
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What none of us know is how Dipoto and this coaching staff views Dainer. At age 31, he is either viewed as a Hail Mary, or the next utility guy.
If Dainer is the next utility guy, then his and Tyler's presence almost forces Dipoto to make a trade.
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If we're talking trades, then ignore anyone in short-season who isn't a highly paid teen - and we're not trading any of those who are working out.
You trade partially to avoid 40-man problems and restructure your available roster, so the guys to look at are the top tier because they're also where the roster crunch is going to happen.
Marte's on the 25-man right now. Either Taylor or Sardinas is his immediate replacement in case of injury. and in theory you could keep both. If you did that it leaves you O'Malley, Jackson, Smith and Moreira as options to offer other clubs if you don't want to trade Sardinas or Taylor. A club trading a big-league reliever would be doing it for some insurance of their own because fungible relievers don't come at the price of hot teenage MIF prospects, even if most of the heat from our prospects is lukewarm at BEST.
I would expect Sardinas or Taylor to go, because O'Malley makes for a perfectly valid emergency SS if something happens to a couple of ours. If somebody wants a prospect, Drew Jackson could move relatively quickly and has the speed and cannon to be worth it on defense even if he barely hits, but the Ms would have to be getting a much better arm than I expect them to be looking at right now.
Thanks for the rundown man!
~G
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However, if the Braves or Phillies or Brewers came calling, offering a young proven reliever and they wanted prospects... I could see guys like Ascanio or Andrade or even a Logan Taylor getting asked for.
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Hey G,
I'm coming to the conclusion that Sardinas is the guy to trade, if we are doing so. His youth, MLB experience and glovey upside may give him the most worth. For us, he's likely blocked (Marte), except in a utility role or in case of injury.
You might get something decently nice in return.
But, as he always has, Smith gets you a decent RP. The question is HOW decent of a guy can you get. Colorado got Outman, Oakland got Gregorson and SD got Maurer.
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He can hit in big parks, and we happen to have one of those. Hitting in Arizona is adorable, but not reflective of Pacific Northwest open park success. Smith ISOed .200 in Safeco AND .200 in Petco the year before.
I'd rather not ditch that if there's another way. I'd rather keep Taylor than Sardinas, so I would make the same trade as you.
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While the Mariners are viewed by John Q Public as having a lousy farm system... as I am trying to show, there are plenty of pieces that should be worth something - and possibly even worth more to the right team than Seth.
This Mariner team still needs to hit in Safeco, as you say... I think the only time you trade Seth is in June if you think you are out of the race already.
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So many pundits look at a system with 0-1 players on the top 100 and it sort of translates vaguely in their minds to --- > nobody down there will ever be anything more than a role player in the majors.
Every org in baseball has dozens of prospects with very real chances to become major league regulars.
Superb rundown.
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If Marte is the guy this year... then this whole list is basically blocked.
The M's are not going to trade Cano any time soon, and if Marte is here to stay - he will be here for at least another 4 years, which is long enough for Torres, or Andrade or any one of the DSL kids to blossom and force their way into the lineup.
Just remember, that 12 years ago, one of those kids in DSL was Asdrubal Cabrera. 5 years ago, one of those kids was Ketel Marte. And while some still yearn for Engle to return as our scout, the guys down there really appear to be getting more for their money than Engle did in his final few years.
The M's really need to trade a couple of these guys just to give themselves open spots to promote others.
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Glad to see you're still prowling through the minors stat lines!
I was an early adopter of both Chris Taylor and Tyler Smith, and still like them both. They can't keep stacking all these guys up in the minors, but also not sure how much actual trade appeal they'd have. Sardinias was traded twice in 2015, and didn't exactly seem to have tons of market value.
Drew Jackson may be the guy most attractive to other teams, given his splashy debut and no time for the shine to wear off? It's not that unusual for a college guy from a major conference to shine in short-season and not exactly carry it forward ... Mike Zunino comes to mind. Then again, if he's "for real" you don't want to be the guy who gave him up for a bullpen arm before he even got to A ball. More like the guy you give up at the deadline if you're in contention than in the spring.
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I agree. I doubt any rookie level guy or below will be traded any time soon, the guys at the top are expendable though.
Especially if we consider that Dainer was better than Betancourt in Cuba at every level. Yes he is 31 now, but I'll bet Dainer did not coast through his late 20's enjoying the high life... and if Dipoto wants to get his money's worth... a path has to be created.
I mean, if Dipoto wants to break Moe's heart and trade Tyler Smith... we still have O'Malley and Logan Taylor who are basically from the same mold.
I tried to show in this post that the M's have several different types of middle infielders at multiple levels.
You like the way Marte plays... yeah we have a couple of those on the farm.
You like a bigger / stronger guy that can still play up the middle... yeah we have a couple of those too.
You just want filthy defense, like the Angels did in getting Simmons... well we got one or two that may be close to that.
Over Achievers, solid all around players, guys with cannons... yeah we got that.
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I could live with that, Tac. Get an RP in return.
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Thanks to the Royals, the relative cost for legit relievers is going to be higher than in the past. I would probably keep Taylor, just because of how many M's prospects we've seen do well in their first splash one fall only to see them splat like a bug on a windshield the next summer. I like Marte but having some depth insurance is critical. That said, I'm not sure what Sardinas is worth on the open market. The M's got him for Flores, who is out of options and may not make the Brewers 25-man roster. So someone like Nuno would maybe be the return? Bleh. Maybe they can find a failed starter and convert him to the pen or something?
Tough spot for the club. I sure hope the bullpen isn't DiPoto's blind spot.