Seattle Mariners: Paid for an All-Star but got a good player instead

Seattle Mariners
Adam Frazier, Seattle Mariners.

The Seattle Mariners made a deal with their favorite trade partner, San Diego, in the offseason. Seattle was hoping to get an All-Star player. However, they merely got a good player.

This past offseason the Seattle Mariners agreed to a trade with San Diego. Seattle’s GM, Jerry Dipoto, and San Diego’s GM, AJ Preller, couldn’t help but get together for another trade. The previous season the two collabed on a deal that saw the Mariners obtain Ty France, Andres Munoz, Luis Torrens, Matt Brash, and Taylor Trammell for Austin Nola, Austin Adams, and Dan Altavilla.

The Trade

Almost everyone says the Seattle Mariners greatly “won” this trade. A few Seattle fans even wondered if these GMs would ever get together for another trade. All it took was this offseason for San Diego to send their All-Star second baseman, Adam Frazier, to Seattle for left-handed pitcher Ray Kerr and outfielder Corey Rosier. Both of those guys going to San Diego are prospects.

All-Star

Initially, most Seattle Mariners fans liked the acquisition of Frazier. The thinking was that Frazier would fill the need at second base and be a good candidate, along with J.P. Crawford, to leadoff. Frazier was coming off a career year. He hit a combined .305 with 36 doubles, five home runs, 43 RBIs, and a career-high 10 steals between San Diego and Pittsburgh. So, everyone was feeling excited about this acquisition.

Real Expectation

The more savvy Seattle Mariners fan were excited about this move but were leery that most fans would put unreal expectations on Frazier. For his career, he’s a .280 hitter, with averages of 31 doubles, 10 home runs, 53 RBIs, and seven steals. So, arguably not quite an All-Star player but a really good player. One that would be a table-setter atop the batting order while playing solid defense at second. And he’d form a really good double-play partner with Crawford. He’s also capable of playing in the outfield.

What is actually happening

So, far Frazier has been as good as advertised. It just took him a little bit to get adjusted to playing in the AL. Until this season, he’s been a career National League player. He’s currently hitting .270, with 8 doubles, 1 home run, 13 RBIs, and 1 steal. It should be noted that after Frazier was traded to San Diego last year his productivity dropped. Now with the help of some advanced analytics, Baseball Reference, and FanGraphs, there is still some room for positive regression in Frazier’s batting average. His BAbip (batting average on balls in play) comes in at .305 and his xBA (expected batting average) is .278.

Subsequently, all this is to say Seattle Mariners fans shouldn’t worry about Frazier. He’s doing just fine now. Which, for some, is good but just not what they were expecting or hoping for when the trade went through. The M’s are really counting on his bat. During the team’s current offensive funk the only reliable hitters are Frazier, Crawford, and Ty France.

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