5 Lower-Tier Trade Options to Complement a Big Mariners Addition

Ty Dane Gonzalez of Locked On Mariners is here to fill you in on five complementary options Seattle could consider this summer to pair with an impact bat!

The trade deadline is a little under eight weeks away and the Mariners continue to maintain a sizable lead in the weak American League West, which at the time of this writing sits at five-and-a-half games. Assuming that relatively remains the case come the end of July, president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto and general manager Justin Hollander could embark on their most busy, aggressive, and important deadline of their Seattle tenure, with ESPN’s Jeff Passan recently saying the club is in “go mode” for 2024.

As Passan elaborated in his early trade deadline preview on June 4, “go mode” alludes to the Mariners potentially shopping at the top-end of the market. Naturally, trade discussion around the team has been dominated by the biggest names speculated to be available, such as White Sox outfielder Luis Robert Jr., Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Athletics slugger Brent Rooker, and Rays third baseman Isaac Paredes. 

But while the Mariners may wind up coming away from the deadline with a marquee player in tow, other additions will certainly be required to properly elevate an offense that has thus far scored the 10th-fewest runs (265) and posted the highest strikeout percentage (27.2%) in MLB, and they all won’t be of the blockbuster variety.

It’s a little after 3 a.m. and I probably should be asleep, but instead I’m up researching lower-tier trade options for the Mariners because I’m an absolute freak. Indulge me, won’t you? Here are five ideas I wanted to write about.

Jake Fraley, OF, Reds

Dominic Canzone is getting ample opportunity to prove his mettle at the big-league level, but outside of hitting the occasional home run, he’s not bringing much to the table at the moment. Since returning on May 15 from a sprained AC joint in his left shoulder, the 26-year old outfielder is slashing a rough .154/.224/.346 (65 wRC+) and isn’t providing anywhere close to enough defensive and baserunning value to make up the difference. With Canzone also being one-half of a Julio Rodríguez sandwich that often sees Mitch Haniger and his .223/.288/.349 (88 wRC+) slash line serve the role as the other slice of bread, the Mariners undoubtedly have to get better in the corner regions of the outfield unless things drastically change—quickly.

Fraley, the former Mariner, is a solid all-around player who can provide Seattle with some much-needed balance. His Baseball Savant page is, let’s say, not great (there’s a lot of blue), but the numbers are the numbers; he’s quite literally a league-average bat with a 100 wRC+, striking out at just a 19.1% clip with an 8% walk rate and a solid .288/.346/.363 slash line. Additionally, he’s capable of stealing a few bags, racking up 10 already this season, generally runs the bases well, and plays a respectable corner outfield where he’s posted a 0 outs above average. 

The question Fraley’s numbers, particularly how his high batting average and on-base percentage only translate to a wRC+ of 100, raise is: how much has he benefited from the hitter-friendly confines of Great American Ballpark? The answer is: not a ton, actually. While he has statistically been a better hitter at home, slashing .306/.377/.355 (106 wRC+), he’s tallied a solid .274/.323/.369 (97 wRC+) outside of Cincinnati. He also has fared slightly better against left-handed pitchers (102 wRC+) than righties (99 wRC+), though he only has 31 plate appearances against the former as opposed to 131 versus the latter.

Essentially, the idea here is to swap the power upside of Canzone for Fraley’s high average and on-base output and baserunning prowess, which the Mariners could frankly use more of. And while Fraley’s lack of power production despite playing in Cincinnati is noteworthy, it should be acknowledged that he has put up double-digit home run totals in two of his three full seasons to date. All that remains to be seen, and this applies to nearly every team in the woefully mid National League, is whether or not the Reds are open to trading him. I would lean towards yes, considering he’s more of a fourth outfield type who’s set to enter his second year of arbitration this winter, but who knows. 

Jake McCarthy, OF, Diamondbacks

The Phillies have apparently been sniffing around on McCarthy, whose Diamondbacks are one of the many National League teams hovering around the .500 mark, so how willing are they to trade off major-league pieces—especially young, club-controlled ones like the 26-year old? Of course, there’s plenty of time for these things to sort themselves out over the next seven-ish weeks, but it’s almost impossible to gauge at this time.

For the sake of this exercise, though, let’s assume Arizona is open to the possibility. The idea behind McCarthy is more or less the same as Fraley, though McCarthy has been by and large the better player so far in 2024 and comes with two additional years of club control.

McCarthy doesn’t hit the ball hard at all, currently ranking amongst all qualified hitters in the first percentile in hard-hit rate, third percentile in average exit velocity, and 10th percentile in barrel rate. But he makes quality contact with consistency, leading to a .282 batting average up to this point, with an impressive on-base percentage of .368 and a solid .401 slugging percentage. His strikeout rate sits at an attractive 18.2% clip and he’s walking 9.7% of the time as well. In addition, he’s a plus runner who’s swiped 20-plus bags in each of his two “full” seasons (99 games played in each) and currently has nine under his belt in 2024. 

McCarthy won’t cost interested teams a top-of-the-market return, but given his production so far, his three-and-a-half years of club control, and the awkward limbo the defending NL champion Diamondbacks find themselves in, it should still be an expensive venture. But a highly-athletic player who’s producing right now and could stick around for multiple years on the cheap sounds right up Dipoto and company’s alley, no?