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According to a Ryan Divish report from the Seattle Times on Wednesday night, the Rays and Mariners are working on an agreement that would send Mallex Smith to Seattle in exchange for receiver Mike Zunino and researcher Guillermo Heredia:
While Zunino, a former No. 3 overall pick, is probably the most recognizable name in this deal for most fans, the real deal price is that of Smith, 25, who had a breakthrough in 2018 , posting a .296 / .367 / .406 slash line with 27 doubles, an AL-best 10 triples, two homers, and 40 steals on 544 appearances at the plate starting 62 games in the middle field, 42 on the right and 23 to the left. Although some may still be skeptical of Smith because of his lack of power, it's hard to argue that he's a very powerful attacker (and probably the heart at all). soul) for a Rays team that has won 90 matches even though it's almost totally devoid of veteran players established in 2018.
That said, the 27-year-old Zunino is a quality asset to the Rays, who trusted their fellow Jesus Sucre and Michael Perez, a minor career player, in the race after yielding Wilson Ramos to the Phillies. Zunino has struggled to stay consistent on the offensive during his six-year career in the majors, but he has good power for a receiver. It has had more than two digits in every season since 2014 and has hit at least 20 times in three of those five seasons. despite the fact that he played his home games in the pitcher's paradise. He is also excellent defensively, scoring 12 defensive innings saved – tied second behind Jeff Mathis' 17 – making only two mistakes and eliminating 35% of runners in 2018. He needs to make some adjustments with the miners every season since. 2015 due to his inconsistent strikes, and he will probably never be a good hitter of contact – he has a career average of 0.27 and a OBP of 0.276, and he has hit 0.201 / 0.259 / .410 in 2018. But with the catch The position being so bad around the majors right now and Zunino being an elite defender and a hitter above average, he was clearly a desirable commodity. Zunino is from Coral Gables, Florida, and attended the University of Florida. He will obviously be much closer to home than in the Pacific Northwest.
Heredia, 27, is probably the best qualified to be a fourth player in the major league, but he has played a lot for the Mariners in the past two seasons. He played 248 games from 193. He has posted a lot of growth on the offensive, since he scored a .244 / .336 lineup during his first three seasons in the major leagues and hit .236 / .318 / .342 in 2018. Although he's struggled a bit defensively this season, he obviously has the skills to be decently efficient at the three field positions, having accumulated six defensive innings saved in 2017.
Tampa still has plenty of depth in the field, as they will replace Smith with another above-average defenseman at Heredia, as well as Kevin Kiermaier, Austin Meadows and Tommy Pham. Utility players Joey Wendle, Daniel Robertson and Brandon Lowe can also play in the outfield turns, as well as first baseman Jake Bauers, if needed. However, it is not a very good look for the Rays to move their most exciting young player: he finished second only to Wendle, 28, in bWAR and fWAR among the players in the Rays position in 2018.
It will be technically the second passage from Smith to Seattle; he spent part of the day as a sailor in January 2017 after being treated with Shae Simmons for Luiz Gohara and Thomas Burrows. The Mariners ended up spilling him to the shelves later in the day, as part of a three – player package for starter Drew Smyly, who has never played in a Seattle match. while he was starting the season on the DL with a flexor tension, Tommy John underwent surgery in June and was not retained as a result of the season. In the end, the Rays will have essentially traded a strong starting receiver to Zunino, a fourth above average fielder to Heredia, Gohara and Burrows (two exciting launcher perspectives), Ryan Yarbrough, who was included in the Smyly trade. Carlos Vargas – the third actor in this operation – has proven to be an excellent long-time player for Tampa, and the main privilege of actually being able to use Smith (plus the value you give to the nine appearances of relief for which they have come out) Simmons in 2017).
Seattle will have a hard time, as 29-year-old David Freitas, who has only 42 major league games, will be the only one to stay on the roster if and when game goes on. . But with a decent amount of quality sensors on the market – types of coaches at the margin / platoon such as Brian McCann, Matt Wieters, Devin Mesoraco, Jonathan Lucroy, Martin Maldonado, Kurt Suzuki, Nick Hundley, Robinson Chirinos and Mathis complete the two class awards, Ramos and Yasmani Grandal – it should not be too difficult for sailors to fill the position from the outside.
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