At the beginning of the MLB season the Mariners looked like serious contenders in the AL West.
That hasn’t been the case.
The Mariners are 34-51 at the All-Star break and now they are trading perhaps their best pitcher, Cliff Lee, to the Rangers.
The trade goes like this: the Mariners trade Cliff Lee and Mark Lowe to the Rangers for Justin Smoak and minor leaguers Blake Beavan, Josh Leuke, and Matthew Lawson.
We all knew this was going to happen and I think it might have been the best trade possible.
The Mariners are way below .500 and there is no way the Mariners could come back to win the AL West. So trading away a 31 year old pitcher for a 23 year old power hitting first baseman in Justin Smoak seems a smart choice.
Smoak has hit over .320 in the month of July and has a huge swing that could really propel this offense.
The Mariners also get 6 foot 7, 250-pounder Blake Beavan who is only 20 years old and is pitching very well in double A with a 10-5 record and a 2.78 ERA.
And the Mariners only give up Mark Lowe who has been injured for the past year and is only a bullpen guy.
My only worry about this trade is that Smoak hasn’t convince me yet that he can be a steady major leaguer.
I know he is up and coming with a lot of power and he could be very good but in past years with Bill Bavasi these trades have not worked out.
And I know that Jack Zduriencik is way better general manager and is known for his scouting, so we’ll see what happens.
Overall, I think this will turn out well for the Mariners in a year or two after Michael Pineda steps up to the majors and Smoak becomes a solid hitter.
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