Why the Orioles could be the perfect trade partner for Seattle this offseason
The Orioles and Mariners have needs that could matchup this offseason, but what players could change hands?
The Baltimore Orioles were a surprise contender and for a while down the stretch made the Mariners sweat out the playoff chase. Baltimore is a young team with many holes to fill, although stars Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson broke through in a big way last season.
Baltimore has many bats in their lineup but their starting pitching struggled at times last season. Although they improved over 2021 the group ranked in the bottom half of the league in starting pitcher ERA last season. John Means may be ready at some point next season and there are many question marks following him in the rotation.
Kyle Gibson was added this offseason but the Orioles missed out on much of the available impact starting pitching. They were said to be interested in adding to this group but nothing ever came through, leading us to their fit with the Mariners.
The Orioles need starting pitching, and Seattle has a surplus. Seattle has expressed interest in upgrading their fifth starter spot too, which could give them an even greater amount of quality rotation arms to deal from. I wrote about Marco Gonzales and Chris Flexen and what they could provide in trades earlier this offseason.
Both of these players are reliable innings eaters who are number four or number five starters in a rotation. They have both proven to be extremely reliable and could flourish in a situation where they can take the ball every fifth day, especially in a huge ballpark like Camden Yards.
Flexen seems like the perfect fit here, but what would Seattle want from Baltimore? The Orioles have several players that Seattle could be interested in, some more than others.
The first and most unlikely is Cedric Mullins. Mullins has three years of club control remaining and may be slightly cheaper than Bryan Reynolds or other options on the market, but Baltimore may have zero interest in moving him. We have no indication they would want to move on from him, but he would be a significant upgrade for Seattle.
He is a great athlete and has a 6 win season under his belt. Seattle would have interest but would have to unload a ton to get him, including likely several pitching prospects.
Connor Norby is another player I really like in Baltimore’s system. He is a second baseman that grades out as an average defender but potentially carries an incredible hit tool. Norby would be more of a long-term fit, but I would have no problem grabbing him and letting him develop for another season.
The most obvious player Seattle could acquire here is Anthony Santander. He is a great fit and I believe the Mariners could bring him in for Flexen and a couple of prospects.
I will break him down in greater detail later this week, but Santander fits well in Seattle’s outfield rotation. Santander is a switch hitter with two years remaining on his deal, and is coming off the best year of his career in 2022.
A 2.5 fWAR season with a 120 WRC+ has been his ceiling to this point, and he did it in 2022. He is a low OBP player his entire career but made up for it last season by hitting 33 home runs.
Santander walked at about a league-average rate while striking out very little last season. He is an average hitter over the course of his career against right-handed pitching, but does damage against lefties. The 28 year old owns a 112 WRC+ against lefties and could be the right player to give Jarred Kelenic the day off against left-handed pitching.
Santander isn’t the sexiest acquisition but it may be a winning move for Seattle. Baltimore should be willing to move him unless they have him in their future plans, especially when his value is high. A move like this would put both Santander and Kelenic in a position to succeed, maximizing the strengths of both players.
In all likelihood, Jerry Dipoto is going to fill their needs via trade, and it was reported early in the offseason that they wanted to move Chris Flexen in a package that netted them a position player. A move with the Orioles could be the perfect chance to do so, while filling their needs with a potentially high-level upgrade.
I like these two clubs as a fit, and it will be interesting to see if they could come together on a trade. We know Jerry Dipoto is creative and an outside-the-box move with the Orioles could be exactly what he cooks up this offseason.