The Seattle Mariners are expected to be very active in the coming weeks before the MLB trade deadline with reports noting that they are almost definitely going to add a big bat to their roster.
“The question isn't whether they're going to add offense. It's whom they're going to add,” Jeff Passan of ESPN wrote in his latest article for ESPN.com.
But who will that end up being? Well, the Mariners have already been linked to the New York Mets' Pete Alonso in trade talks.
Trading for Alonso would make a lot of sense for both teams. The Mariners currently lead the AL West after barely missing out on the playoffs last season. Meanwhile the Mets are 28-37 and sit 17.5 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies but are only four games out of a Wild Card spot.
The Mariners want to buy, and the Mets should want to sell. The path to an Alonso trade is there. But what would it look like?
Mariners-Mets trade
Mariners send starting pitcher Emerson Hancock and first baseman Ty France to Mets in exchange for first baseman Pete Alonso.
Why the Mariners do it
There's a reason that Passan reported that it's a near formality Seattle adds to their offense. The Mariners accept this trade that Jim Bowden of The Athletic proposed because they need to do exactly that.
Seattle currently ranks 28th in the majors in batting average on the year (.223). Only the Oakland Athletics and Chicago White Sox rank worse in that department.
It doesn't stop there either. Seattle's .301 on-base percentage sits at 25th in the league. They're also 24th in the MLB in slugging percentage (.368), 23rd in OPS (.668), and tied for 21st in runs scored (269). The Mariners are the only team leading their division that is in the bottom third of the majors in any of these statistics.
Seattle has gotten off to their 39-30 start to the season on the back of their pitching staff. The Mariners rank seventh in the MLB in ERA (3.55), first in WHIP (1.08), fifth in opponent batting average (.219), and first in quality starts (41). They may not be able to hit, but they at least prevent their opponents from scoring much also.
Alonso can fix that. Although he is essentially putting up career-low numbers across the board, he is still a power hitter who can swing a game. The .468 slugging percentage he is posting so far this season is the worst of his career but would be the best mark of anybody on the Mariners' roster.
Julio Rodriguez is a star, but he can't do it all by himself. And he's even struggling this season as well. Seattle has to add more offensive talent any way they can to help out this robust pitching staff. Getting Alonso in a trade would go a long way to doing just that.
Why the Mets do it
It makes plenty of sense for the Mets to trade Alonso. For one, as mentioned earlier, they are already essentially out of the playoff race. They're 17.5 games behind the Phillies in the NL East and trail the San Francisco Giants by four games in the Wild Card hunt.
Not only that, but six different franchises are also in between those two teams. A playoff berth seems unlikely barring a massive turnaround.
On top of that, Alonso is poised to become a free agent after this season. The Mets don't seem as if they are going to sign him to a lucrative extension. If that isn't going to happen, then getting something for him before he walks is paramount. They'd be getting more than something in this deal.
Emerson Hancock was ranked as the 82nd-best prospect in the minors in 2022 according to Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com. Ty France is a solid veteran with a career .269/.344/.417 slash line. You can get more than serviceable play from him at first base or potentially flip him for more assets.
The Mets may have waited too long to trade Alonso. They're not going to get a godfather offer for him, but this should suffice. They get another quality pitching prospect and a solid first baseman instead of losing Alonso for nothing. The Mariners get a power bat they desperately need. Seems like a win for both sides.
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