After surviving two of the dullest days on the sports calendar, Major League Baseball returns Friday to save sports fans from a dearth of news and excitement, at least stateside.
With MLB the only one of the Big Four American sports leagues in season in July—but on a small break after the All-Star Game—sports talk is difficult to come by on these long summer days. Sure, the NBA Summer League is in session, and the British Open began Thursday in Scotland, but other than that, there’s little to speak of at this juncture.
Even the ever-churning baseball rumor mill has turned quiet, but expect teams to have used the break to reassess, recalibrate and find out where they stand in anticipation of the looming trade deadline July 31.
Here’s a quick look at the latest chatter from around the league.
Mariners Reportedly In the Market for a Catcher
This one has been in the wind for a couple of days now, but the Seattle Mariners are reportedly looking to trade for a catcher, as Fox Sports’ Jon Morosi noted Wednesday via Twitter:
Morosi used the word “close” and even brought up a potential deal involving A.J. Pierzynski, who, at 38 years old, is having a resurgent year with the Atlanta Braves. Morosi did note, however, that the potential Pierzynski deal wasn’t related to the catcher rumor.
However, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times wasn’t getting quite the same vibe from his sources and said as much Wednesday, just hours after Morosi‘s report:
The M’s are 41-48 on the year, fourth in the AL West and 7.5 games back of the division-leading Los Angeles Angels. Starting catcher Mike Zunino has been an absolute travesty at the plate this year, batting well below the Mendoza line at .160 with a .292 slugging percentage and 100 strikeouts in 81 games.
Jesus Sucre has also seen time at catcher, but he has been a complete non-entity at the plate. The Mariners are an AL team, but in terms of production, their lineup looks like it has a pitcher’s spot—and it’s worse in some cases, per the Outside Corner’s Liam McGuire (via FoxSports.com): “Just how bad have Mariners backstops been? The club’s collective catchers are batting .150. The Mets (.176), Reds(.174), Giants (.165) and Nationals (.160) pitching staffs (> 100+ plate appearances) all have better averages at the plate. That’s horrendous.”
McGuire also noted that Seattle traded away the one person who might’ve been able to save the position:
Now the team finally got some help when they traded a decent reliever in Yoervis Medina to the Chicago Cubs for veteran Welington Castillo. Castillo had regular experience as a decent starting catcher with the Cubs and was thought to provide some stability for the Mariners behind the plate.
His tenure with Seattle last six games as the Mariners traded him to the Diamondbacks in theMark Trumbo deal.
The kicker is Castillo has been dynamite for the Diamondbacks. In 25 games, he’s hit five home runs (three more than Trumbo) with 15 RBIs while batting .286 with a .368 OBP. The Mariners could sure use that kind of production.
Pierzynski may be old, but his offense is light-years beyond what the Mariners are currently getting from their backstop crop. Neither Zunino nor Sucre can claim to have hit with much consistency in their brief MLB careers—although Zunino did slug 22 home runs last year—so there cannot be much expectation of a second-half surge from this position.
With the team also suffering from poor seasons from the likes of Mark Trumbo, Logan Morrison and Robinson Cano, one has to wonder if the Mariners should even try to play buyer at the trade deadline.
The best thing for this team may be to wait to see if the rest of the squad picks up after the deadline and try to salvage the catcher position through a waiver-wire deal, or it could punt on the season and try to find a viable hitting catcher in the winter meetings.
Rangers Willing to Make a Deal
Perhaps the Texas Rangers can save the Mariners, per MLBlogs.com’s T.R. Sullivan: “Clubs are looking for catching. The Rangers are open to moving Carlos Corporan and bringing up Tomas Telis.”
But it’s hard to find good help at catcher, as Carlos Corporan is also suffering through a very poor offensive season at 31 years old.
Corporan is a career .218 hitter, so it’s doubtful the Mariners would be inquiring about his availability. It’s easy to see why the Rangers would like to clear up a roster spot for Tomas Telis. The 24-year-old catcher is hitting .291 with five home runs and 25 RBI in 70 games at Triple-A Round Rock this year, although his production at the plate has slowed in recent months, hitting just .242 in June and .273 thus far in July, per MiLB.com.
Corporan might be a suitable backup for a team looking to add depth at catcher, but he’s no answer to the Mariners’ woes. He’s also apparently not the only player the Rangers are shopping around, per Sullivan: “The Rangers have found there is some interest in left-handed pitcher Wandy Rodriguez, who starts on Monday against Colorado. Clubs have told the Rangers that Rodriguez could be a fallback option if they are unable to land a bigger name starting pitcher in a trade.”
Wandy Rodriguez, 36, has been solid if unspectacular this season, sporting a 6-4 record with a 4.07 ERA and a 4.14 fielding-independent pitching mark (FIP), per Baseball-Reference.com. There is always demand for a southpaw with even a halfway-decent resume.
Rodriguez could end up going to a team that fails in the possible Cole Hamels sweepstakes. Hamels, also a lefty, has been the subject of rumor and speculation for some time now as a talented member of the moribund Philadelphia Phillies.
The Los Angeles Dodgers could certainly use a player like Rodriguez. The Blue Crew has been without the services of lefty Hyun-jin Ryu all season due to an injury, and they should be willing to do anything and everything to maintain their control over the NL West.
Rodriguez doesn’t quite eat innings—84 innings pitched in 15 starts this year—but he would be a nice fix for a first-place team that has had to resort to “staff days,” throwing relievers out to start games. For a team with an already taxed bullpen and World Series aspirations, this isn’t a good sign. Rodriguez would likely be a Plan C for the Dodgers but an improvement over their current situation nonetheless.
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