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Despite standing pat at the non-waiver deadline, Seattle Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto has already made a couple of trades that cleared the waiver wire. The first, and biggest, of these moves was to acquire Yondor Alonso from the Oakland Athletics for troubled outfielder Boog Powell.
Going out and trading for Alonso seems a little odd, considering how well current first baseman Danny Valencia has played this season; but it’s actually a logical move. Valencia is posting a wRC+ of 88 against right handed pitching, while Alonso’s wRC+ is 154 against righties — as for the lefties, Alonso’s wRC+ is 85 and Valencia’s is 145. The reason Dipoto went out and traded for Alonso was so that Seattle could lengthen it’s line-up against righties, so that the offense would be able to provide more run support for its frequently injured starting staff. To make room for their new first basemen, the Mariners won’t be able to carry an eight-man bullpen anymore, so someone is going to get sent down to Tacoma — unless David Phelp’s elbow discomfort is a serious injury.
To get Alonso, Dipoto had to give up one of his first trade acquisitions (in Seattle) in Powell; which is okay, because Powell has had issues with MLB’s drug policies and is just returning from an 80-game suspension. If he gets caught one more time he’s going to receive a lifetime ban. So it makes sense to move him now while he still has some value as a slapstick speedster with alright defense.
Seattle also acquired some bullpen help with MLB experience by trading for Ryan Garton, who’s only pitched in 10.1 innings at the major league level this season, and some triple-A catching depth in Mike Marjama. To get this extra help, the Mariners traded away promising 20-year old infielder Luis Rengifo and left handed pitcher Anthony Misiewicz. This trade seems like it’s about acquiring as much depth as possible for when the rosters expand to 40 in September; give some more of the bullpen guys a chance to rest and give manager Scott Servais another option at catcher down the stretch for the playoff push.
DIVISION LEADERS
| (DIVISION)
LEADERS |
WINS- LOSSES | PROJECTED
W-L |
DIVISION
ODDS |
WILDCARD
ODDS |
PLAYOFF
ODDS |
| (AL East)
Red Sox |
63-49 | 91-71 | 75.8% | 20.7% | 96.5% |
| (AL Central)
Indians |
59-50 | 91-71 | 92% | 5.4% | 97.4% |
| (AL West)
Astros |
71-40 | 101-61 | 100% | 0% | 100% |
| (NL East)
Nationals |
65-44 | 95-67 | 99.9% | 0% | 99.9% |
| (NL Central)
Cubs |
58-52 | 98-73 | 85.9% | 3.6% | 89.5% |
| (NL West)
Dodgers |
79-32 | 110-52 | 100% | 0% | 100% |
AMERICAN LEAGUE WILDCARD
| TEAMS | GAMES
BACK |
WINS-LOSSES | PROJECTED
W-L |
WILDCARD
ODDS |
DIVISION
ODDS |
| Yankees – X | 2 | 59-51 | 86-75 | 55.1% | 19.5% |
| Royals – X | 0 | 57-53 | 83-79 | 34.1% | 7.3% |
| Rays | -0.5 | 58-55 | 83-79 | 29.7% | 3.8% |
| Mariners | -1.5 | 57-56 | 81-81 | 21.7% | 0% |
| Orioles | -2.5 | 55-56 | 79-83 | 7.7% | 0.5% |
| Angels | -3 | 55-57 | 80-82 | 9.8% | 0% |
| Twins | -3.5 | 53-56 | 78-84 | 5.1% | 0.4% |
X-Currently holds a wildcard spot
NATIONAL LEAGUE WILDCARD
| TEAMS | GAMES BACK | WINS-LOSSES | PROJECTED W-L | WILDCARDODDS | DIVISIONODDS |
| Rockies – X | 0.5 | 64-48 | 89-73 | 87.1% | 0% |
| Diamondbacks – X | 0 | 63-48 | 89-73 | 88.1% | 0% |
| Brewers | -5 | 59-54 | 81-81 | 7.0% | 5.2% |
| Cardinals | -8 | 55-56 | 82-80 | 8.8% | 7.3% |
| Pirates | -9 | 54-57 | 79-83 | 2.1% | 1.6% |
| Marlins | -10 | 52-57 | 78-84 | 2.5% | 0.1% |
| Braves | -11.5 | 51-59 | 74-88 | 0.2% | 0% |
X-Currently holds a wildcard spot
Playoff odds are courtesy of Fangraphs as of 8/7/2017
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Categories: MLB
