The Seattle Mariners, and the San Francisco Giants,are looking at trading for Chicago White Sox outfielder Dayan Viciedo according to MLB Trade rumors. General Manager Jack Zduriencik is looking to add more right-handed power bats to the line-up to help balance out the left-handed hitters on the roster. Seattle is also in desperate need of more consistent offensive production from the left fielders.

That’s why the interest in Viciedo makes a lot of sense for the Mariners. He is a right-handed power bat, that is young (25) and under club control for a few years (until 2017).

Apparently the Mariners initially engaged in discussions to acquire Viciedo during Spring Training. But with the White Sox scuffling — 40-46 record, 10 games behind the Tigers in the AL Central on July 4th — and the Mariners currently in the second wild card spot — and trailing Oakland by 4.5 games in the AL West — it makes sense for these two squads to again be talking about the “struggling” outfielder.

Currently, Viciedo is hitting .242/.294/.404 (his career norm is .259/.304/.436), but a lot of his struggles appear to be bad luck. He is currently sporting a  .279 BABIP, a full 20 points below his career average of .299. His low BABIP is also fueling his low on-base percentage.

Yes he is posting a low wRC+ of 89, and his wOBA of .306 isn’t spectacular, but he hasn’t been a huge black hole at the plate for Chicago.

Viciedo has been walking more, 6.4% of his PAs, and striking out less, 19.9%, than at in other time in his career. He has done that by only swinging at 33.6% (30.3% if you’re using PITCHf/x data) of pitches outside of the strike zone.

Basically, Viciedo is a guy that the Mariners should be very interested in. Especially, if all he cost is a Brandon Mauer and some other guy…then the Zduriencik should seriously consider the trade:

“The Mariners have considered sending righty Brandon Maurer and another player to Chicago in exchange for Viciedo, while the extent of the Giants’ interest in the Cuban slugger isn’t known.”

The bottom line is that it’s good to see the front office going after a young, talented, team-controlled slugger in the middle of the playoff race…and not bet the farm on a rental.

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