Major League Baseball Trades

Going into another year with new rosters on so many teams including our beloved Mariners I had to laugh over an article that I believe was written by a New York sports writer that the trade the New York Yankees made with the Cincinnati acquiring reliever Aroldis Chapman. The writer said that the Yankees are going to have the best bullpen in baseball this coming season. Here in Seattle we all know what it means to have the best bullpen in baseball going into a season. This is why I laughed because we all thought the Mariners would have the best bullpen again in 2015 after having the best in 2014 and we all know what happened.

Though a bullpen looks good going into a season injuries or pitchers losing their stuff could mean disaster. The Yankees don’t have a closer like they did in Riviera for so many years so anything can happen just ask the Mariners. This coming season the Mariners are coming in with a new bullpen replacing almost the entire group and we do not really know what will happen until the season is underway or maybe into July.

The Mariners during the off-season have been the busiest team in baseball when it comes to making trades. Those who are returning may have to wear name tags to know the new players or at the very least introduce themselves to their new teammates. At this point I like the turnover of the roster. It looks like the new players in the field have a good on base ratio over their careers; however, if it really happens in Seattle we won’t know until we are into the season. What I do know or maybe think is the team can’t be much worse than last season. Of course, we all had high expectations thinking the team would make the playoffs at the very least for the first time in a decade or more and they did not even come close. We can hope the 2016 version will be better.

I have never seen so many teams make so many trades during the off-season and there are still a couple months before spring training comes so who knows more may happen. There are still several high priced free agents like Justin Upton that are still out there to pick. We can still only guess who will come out good on those trades or free agent acquisitions. There are the teams like the Chicago Cubs who made the playoffs last season with a talented group of young players along with adding more high priced players to the mix. So likely they will be there; however, we know their team history so they could still sink. The St. Louis Cardinals will likely be there because they usually are. The San Francisco Giants are due for a comeback and the World Series champions Kansas City Royals will be there we think anyway along with a few other teams. We may be surprised by some other teams as well which we can hope includes the Seattle Mariners. What I like about the chances of the Mariners is that no one expects them to be there like last season. No pressure so we can hope for a change. They are in the American League West Division where there is no sure team to win the division. The Texas teams the Rangers and Astros could go back to be just in the middle. The Angels could be so so or be good we do not really know and there is the Oakland A’s who do not look much better than last year. So the division is up for the taking on any of the teams including the Mariners. Right now we can have all the optimism going into spring training. General Jerry Dipoto could come through with a couple more trades or acquisitions. Most likely they would be in the bullpen or adding a player to compete at first base or utility role. I would like to see another outfielder added to the mix as well. One thing for sure a new general manager and manager along with coaches besides Edgar Martinez means we will be curious for a while. Like I always say “Go Mariners!”