Seattle Mariners August 30th, 2020 trade with San Diego will erase decades of bad trades
Taylor Trammell
Before the 2019 season, Taylor Trammel was a top 20 prospect. His speed and gap power combination made him an intriguing bat in any line-up. Also, Trammel is considered a plus defender. MLB had him as the #11 prospect. Then 2019 happened. He tweaked his swing to generate more lift. It didn’t translate into more power. Instead, he struck out at a higher frequency and finished the season in Double-A with a .234 batting average and a sub .700 OPS. He fell in the prospect rankings but remained in the top 100.
The Mariners were already loaded with quality outfield prospects before they added Trammell. But teams can never have too much value in the pipeline. This spring, he’s off to a fantastic start, batting .364 in 12 at-bats with a 1.326 OPS. While the sample size is still small, it’s encouraging.
A recent MLB.com article penciled Trammell in as the starting left fielder on opening day. While his performance on the field is a compelling reason to pencil him in. It’s his attitude and demeanor that could solidify the decision. He has the potential to be a fantastic lead-off batter with his speed and on-base ability, but his infectious enthusiasm is what should sell Servais and Dipoto on pulling the trigger.
Andres Munoz
As high as this article is on Trammel and France, the upside of Andres Munoz is comparable to Edwin Diaz. This kid just turned 22. According to the advanced analytics site Baseball Savant, Andres Munoz’ average fastball speed was 100 MPH in 2019. You might need to re-read that; his average fastball speed was 100 MPH. He’s hit 104 MPH on the radar gun before. While it’s a four-seam fastball without much movement, it makes his wipeout, high spin rate, slider look unhittable.
In 2019, his only Major League effort, he produced a strong strikeout to innings pitched ratio. Munoz had 88 strikeouts in 58.2 innings but was wild at times. Munoz, with a ball in his hand, was like Thor with his hammer. This pitcher was born to be a closer, statistically and analytically.
There’s more to being a quality closer than good stuff. It’s also the mentality. M’s fans can’t wait to see if he has that mental makeup to be the Seattle Mariners closer of the future. No one is really in his way. Maybe Rafael Montero, but he’s 30 and has a short leash in 2021 as Servais plans to use several different arms to close out games.
Conclusion
In the end, this trade appears to be headed towards a massive win for Seattle. France and Trammell both project to be All-Stars at some point in their careers. Munoz is an absolute stud in the bullpen. Torrens is a serviceable backstop who handles pitchers well. The best part is that the Mariners got all of this future awesomeness for spare parts. There’s plenty to like about the 2021 Seattle Mariners, and potentially all of these players will have a say in how many wins they achieve. This might be the trade that finally gets Mariners fans over the horrible ghosts of trades past.
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Joe Swenson is a lifelong Seattle Sports fan, writer, director, producer www.brokenartsentertainment.com and co-host of the popular In The Clutch podcast.