When the trade deadline passed on Monday, the Mariners had swung two notable deals (and four trades overall) that, while weakening the active roster, could strengthen the club’s rebuilding efforts and bolster the hopes for building a winner.
Parting with pitcher Taijuan Walker (dealt to Toronto on Thursday) and the late Sunday trade that sent catcher Austin Nola and relievers Austin Adams and Dan Altavilla to San Diego won’t help Seattle today. Neither will Monday’s relatively minor deal that sent reliever Taylor Williams to the Padres (yes, again) for a player to be named later, believed to be 22-year-old minor league pitcher Matt Brash. (And remember, last week the team traded DH Daniel Vogelbach to the Jays for cash.) But the Mariners believe these trades — specifically the Nola deal — could help the organization get back to the postseason for the first time since 2001.
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The Athletic’s Keith Law and Jim Bowden both have chimed in with their thoughts on the Mariners’ return, which a handful of people in the industry characterized as a calculated overpay on the part of the win-now Padres.
The Nola trade was unexpected and happened fast, general manager Jerry Dipoto said Monday, and it allowed the Mariners to get two players — outfielder Taylor Trammell and infielder Ty France — who Dipoto has been asking about for several years only to be rebuffed. When those players became available in talks with the Padres, Dipoto jumped.
“Ultimately, the return became too big to pass up in our minds,” Dipoto.
We won’t know the return in the Walker deal for a while, though the rumor is it’s a top-30 prospect from Toronto’s rich farm system, but we do know quite a bit about the four players the Mariners obtained from San Diego. Let’s take a closer look at them.
The player: OF Taylor Trammell, 22
The background: Trammell, the clear headliner in the deal, is already on his third organization. The Georgia native was drafted out of high school by the Reds with the 35th overall pick in the 2016 draft, agreeing to a $3.2 million signing bonus. Trammell’s stock has never been higher than after the 2018 All-Star Futures Game, where he cranked a 438-foot home run, tripled and won the MVP award. After that season, Baseball America had him ranked as the 33rd best prospect in all of baseball.
Trammell began last season in Double-A with the Reds but was traded to the Padres on July 31 as part of a three-team deal that also involved the Indians. Law named Trammell as the Padres’ fifth-best prospect. Trammell’s best fit eventually is probably left field unless his arm, considered below-average, is much improved. When Trammell gets on base, he can fly (110 stolen bases in four minor-league seasons). His makeup is said to be off the charts, and the expectation is that he’ll fit in well with his new team.
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Really, the only lingering question about Trammell is his bat.
Last summer, Trammell was young for Double-A (21) and hit a combined .234 with 10 home runs, 43 RBIs and 20 steals in two stops. He finished the season with the Padres’ Texas League affiliate in Amarillo, and after simplifying his swing and approach, staying on his back foot and focusing on hitting the ball to left-center, he was an absolute terror during the Texas League playoffs. He hit a grand slam to clinch the championship series, and hit .310 with 11 RBIs in 10 postseason games.
Trammell impressed in spring training (9-for-24), Dipoto noted Monday, and again during summer camp, spraying line drives around at Petco Park before heading off to the team’s satellite camp. Seattle hopes that whatever Trammell found with his swing and set-up late in 2019, and then in the spring and summer, will show up again in 2021.
The present: Trammell will head to Seattle’s satellite camp at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma, where he’ll continue his development and get a chance to face many of the top arms in the organization — George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, Brandon Williamson and Isaiah Campbell, among others. The Mariners will likely have a better understanding where he bests fits defensively moving into 2021 by the end of the month. September will be an acclimation period for him.
The future: Trammell will either end up in left or center field, where his speed and plus-range should play well in a spacious outfield at T-Mobile Park. While he has had a full season of Double-A at-bats under his belt, he’s by no means a finished product. The prospect of what Trammell, who turns 23 on Sept. 13, could become is exciting for an organization that can dream of an outfield that one day might include Trammell, top prospect Jarred Kelenic and Rookie of the Year favorite Kyle Lewis — with Julio Rodriguez waiting in the wings.
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That’s what he said: “He’s a guy we’ve always had a lot of interest in and feel he’s got a chance to be an exceptional player. (It’s) a different skill set than the other outfielders we have. Taylor we think is different. We think he’s got untapped power. He’s also a very patient hitter who we feel has top-of-the-lineup-type skills and is an above to well above average runner.” — Dipoto
The player: INF Ty France, 26
The background: France was drafted by the Padres in the 34th round in 2015 out of San Diego State University, where he played former Padre great and Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn. France dropped that far his junior season due to injury and eventually signed for $100,000. He can flat out rake. He has a career .294/.389/.470 line in the minors and as hitting .309 over 55 at-bats this season for the Padres before this deal. Playing in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League in 2019, France hit .399 in 296 at-bats — and I don’t care if you are playing on the moon, .399 is impressive. He also had 27 homers and 27 doubles a year ago.
France has an advanced feel for hitting and, weirdly enough, he’s got a knack for getting hit by pitches. He’s been hit 112 times in his five seasons in the minors and eight times in the big leagues.
France only has 239 at-bats in the major leagues the last two seasons, and that’s been in large part to San Diego signing first baseman Eric Hosmer in 2018 and third baseman Manny Machado in 2019 and the emergence of Jake Cronenworth at second base this season. We’ve been stumping for the Mariners to acquire France since June of last season when we looked ahead to what a 2021 lineup might look like for Seattle. Trammell is the headliner of the deal, but many think France has a good chance to surprise moving forward.
The present: Once France is able to clear the intake protocol, he’ll join his new team this week in Seattle. Where does he play? Great question. He’s had most of his defensive reps at third base and first base in the minors but has appeared in 21 big-league games at second base. He’ll bounce around the field and will be used as a designated hitter as well, but manager Scott Servais said he’ll get “a ton of at-bats.”
The future: France is probably most comfortable at the corner spots in the infield. Rookie first baseman Evan White isn’t going to take many days off this season or, likely, moving forward, so while the Mariners won’t say it today, France will likely be given the chance to take over at third base when Kyle Seager’s contract expires after the 2021 season. Some in the industry think France will be an underrated corner defender given the chance to play every day. His versatility is nice, but it’s his bat that could make a difference in the years to come. He has a real chance to outperform Nola, the guy he was traded for, one industry source said.
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What he said: “Certainly the bat is his carrying tool, there’s no question about that. He’s always hit. He’s got a good idea of the strike zone. He’s got power. He’s excited to join our group. We line up where he’s at in his career. (We) anticipate him getting a ton of at-bats, everyday at-bats. He’ll get some DH at-bats, giving guys (time) off as we get to know him better.” — Servais
The player: RHP Andrés Muñoz, 21
The background: Muñoz, a native of Mexico, was signed by the Padres away from the Mexico City Reds as a 16-year-old in 2016. He made his professional debut in 2017. A year later, Muñoz, then 18, became the youngest participant in the Arizona Fall League, allowing only one run over 8 2/3 innings. In the league’s Military Appreciation Game, he retired the side with a fastball that ran up to 102 mph and a mid-80s slider.
Muñoz blazed through the minor leagues, striking out 150 batters in 106 innings, all in relief. He reached the Triple-A level in 2019 and showed enough stuff that the Padres called on him last July for a game against the Braves. His first pitch was 100 mph. Then he kept doing it over and over again. This wasn’t some tantalizing outlier. In May, while in Double-A, he was clocked at 104 mph. The velocity was real, and so was the success (3.03 ERA in Double-A and Triple-A).
Muñoz ended up posting a 3.91 ERA in the big leagues last season, striking out 30 batters in 23 innings. He would have been an integral part of the Padres’ bullpen this season but injured his right elbow throwing a slider in a spring training game on March 5 and eventually needed Tommy John surgery.
When Muñoz is on, he balances the lights-out fastball with a devastating slider. It’s a dynamic two-pitch mix that can work well at the back end of a bullpen.
The present: Muñoz is creeping up on the six-month mark after his surgery. He’ll continue his rehabilitation but will now do so under the guidance of the Mariners’ medical staff.
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The future: Dipoto indicated Monday that it’s possible Muñoz could be ready to pitch again as early as next May. Obviously, there’s no way to tell today when he might be able to get back in a major-league game. Each player’s rehab from TJ surgery goes a little differently. There will be no rush to get him back, as the club’s true window for contending for a postseason spot is realistically 2022.
What he said: “Good arms, they’re God-given. And he has a tremendous arm.”— former Padres pitching coach Darren Balsley
The player: C Luis Torrens, 24
The background: During the 2016 Rule 5 draft, the Padres traded for Torrens’ rights from the Yankees, with whom he’d signed as an amateur free agent in 2012. While he had never appeared above Class A, Torrens, as per Rule 5 stipulations, remained with San Diego for the entire 2017 in a backup capacity, hitting .163 in 56 games.
“That’s a tough jump for a 21-year-old out of A-ball to make,” Dipoto said.
Torrens got through it and headed back to the minor leagues to continue his development, hitting .280 and driving in 73 runs in the California League in 2018 and then following that up by hitting .300 with 15 home runs last season in Double-A. He will take a walk and doesn’t strike out a ton. Defensively, he’s better than a typical catch-and-throw guy. Torrens might not be the Mariners’ catcher of the future — Cal Raleigh likely is — but he’s the catcher for right now after Nola moved on to San Diego.
The present: Dipoto said Torrens will receive the “bulk of the reps” behind the plate in September, leaving the team to choose between Joe Odom and Joe Hudson for backup duties. It should be noted that Tom Murphy, the expected starter this season at catcher, still hasn’t recovered from a broken bone in his left foot. Torrens will get a chance to know and work with many of the team’s pitchers during this final month, which should serve him well down the road.
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The future: As previously stated, Raleigh is likely the organization’s catcher of the future. That said, he’s only played in 39 games at the Double-A level and hit only .228 there a year ago. He still needs minor-league seasoning. If Murphy recovers well, and there’s no reason to believe he won’t, you could see a Murphy-Torrens tandem behind the plate for the Mariners to begin next season.
What he said: “If you just look at the major-league line to date, it’s not that impressive … but in his two years in the minors, he did nothing but hit. He got on base, he’s got a very good approach, he’s got some power, and he catches and throws … that was the original appeal. He checks a lot of boxes, and we’re going to give him an opportunity,” — Dipoto
Extra credit: While it hasn’t been officially announced, the Mariners will likely receive a pitcher from the Padres in a late deadline buzzer-beater on Monday, when they dealt relief pitcher Taylor Williams to San Diego. Righty Matt Brash was a fourth-round pick of the Padres a year ago out of Niagara out of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. According to Baseball America, he throws a fastball that runs between 90-95 mph with a plus slider. He threw only 5 1/3 professional innings last summer, striking out eight. The Mariners won’t likely set eyes on Brash in person until spring training next February.
(Photo of Trammell: Geoff Burke / USA Today)