SeaTown Sports Insider - 5/6/24

Welcome to the SeaTown Sports Insider. This is my weekly column that will provide commentary and analysis on Seattle’s sports teams. I’m experimenting, so it will take a while to reach some cadence in what is worth writing about and what is not worth writing about. If you’re patient enough to follow along, I’d love for you to join along for the ride.

What’s on my mind - A trade target for the Mariners

With the Mariners’ early-season success and first-place status, I’m already dreaming up some trade scenarios to improve the roster, specifically, a bat to add. These guys are all below replacement level: 2B Jorge Polanco, RF Mitch Haniger, 1B Ty France, and DH Mitch Garver. Let’s give Polanco, Haniger, and Garver all the benefit of the doubt that they’ll heat up. That leaves us France. Here are his current ranks amongst his peers at 1B: .255 AVG (10th); .314 OBP (16th); .355 SLG (16th); -.3 WAR (19th). While France can hit for average, he is firmly in the bottom tier of first baseman.

So, who can the M’s go after to upgrade at 1B? Christian Walker from the Arizona Diamondbacks is one option. He would be a sure upgrade at 1B as he is slashing .280/.391/.480 with a 1.5 WAR.

By the trading deadline, the Diamondbacks may be hearing offers for Walker if they can’t move up the NL West standings where they sit behind the Dodgers and Padres, and are currently tied with the Giants. Walker is on a one-year deal worth $10.9 million with the Diamondbacks. He will be an unrestricted free agent in 2025, so at the least, he would be a rental for the M’s.

If the Diamondbacks are in sell mode, they’d likely want a top prospect in exchange. 2B/SS Ryan Bliss out of Tacoma (AAA) may make sense. The M’s are stocked with young talent in the middle infield and Bliss wouldn’t be useful to the M’s right now with J.P. Crawford under contract until 2026 and Jorge Polanco under contract until 2025. The M’s acquired Bliss from the Diamondbacks in the Paul Sewald trade last season, so this would be a buyback for Arizona.

What happened this week

• UW football’s spring game appears to have been a consensus success. Even though the Huskies had an incredible run to the National Championship last season, the emotions of Husky fans immediately after that loss were understandably down. Everything seemed to come crashing down when Kalen Deboer departed for Alabama and a handful of players subsequently left for the transfer portal. To Jedd Fisch’s credit, he put on the best spring game UW has had in years, getting a turnout of over 18,000 people. These types of things are great for fans, but also great for recruiting. Not only was the current roster on display, but UW NFL alumni like Jake Locker and Lincoln Kennedy were also in attendance.

• New Washington Huskies head basketball coach Danny Sprinkle completed his coaching staff this week. Among the hires is Tony Bland. Bland was one of the people arrested during an FBI corruption investigation. Bland pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and was sentenced to two years probation. In the school’s press release announcing the hires, no mention is made about Bland’s past. This isn’t a hill I’m going to die on, but it feels weird for the school to ignore and not acknowledge Bland’s past. I’m interested to see how Coach Sprinkle answers the “why” question when he meets with the media to discuss his hires.

• The Mariners took two of three from the Atlanta Braves, they then proceeded to take another two of three from the Houston Astros. The Mariners have now won six straight series. People are lamenting the Mariners offense. This is fair criticism, but what’s not fair is to not call this team good, despite its offensive woes. The Mariners are in first place in May and are beating good baseball teams. Winners win.

• The Sounders drew 0-0 against the LA Galaxy on Sunday. They are now 2-4-5 and sit 11th in the Western Conference standings.

• Seattle Reign FC took down the San Diego Wave 2-1 last Friday. It was their first win since March. Bethany Balcer and Veronica Latsko netted goals for the Reign.

On Deck

• The Mariners start a ten-game stretch which includes a four-game road series against the Minnesota Twins and then three-game home sets against the Oakland Athletics and Kansas City Royals. The A’s are turning heads and are not having a lame-duck season by any accounts. They have won 6 of their last 7 games, including a 20-4 win against the Marlins last Saturday.

• The Sounders take on Louisville City FC in a Round of 32 matchup for the U.S. Open Cup on May 8th at Starfire.

• Seattle Reign FC host Kansas City Current on May 8th and then head on the road to take on Portland Thorns FC on May 11th.