The Seattle Mariners are locked in a tight race down the stretch, but currently sit outside of the final American League Wild Card playoff spot.
The team held a healthy divisional lead to open the season, but saw that advantage dwindle as their offense struggled to put runs on the board. The front office tried to inject some pop into the batting order by adding Randy Arozarena and Justin Turner in deadline trades, but it hasn’t helped much.
The Mariners rank in the bottom ten of all MLB teams for batting average, slugging percentage and total hits this season. But if they are able to swing a trade proposed by FanSided’s Zach Pressnell, they might buy low on a high-upside offensive weapon and improve that shortcoming for the future.
Pressnell’s idea has the Mariners sending right-handed pitcher Emerson Hancock to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for righty Max Rajcic and outfielder Jordan Walker, who was one of the most highly-touted prospects in all of baseball just two seasons ago.
“The trade sends both organizations in the directions that they wish to go in,” Pressnell added. “The Cardinals need to find a new home for Jordan Walker and adding a young arm with the potential that Hancock has would be perfect. The Mariners have a ton of pitching talent and they can afford to mortgage some of it to acquire a high potential bat like Walker.”
In 2023, Walker was ranked fourth among all baseball prospects, per MLB.com, behind only Gunnar Henderson, Corbin Carroll and Francisco Alvarez. In 117 big-league games that season, he slashed an impressive .276/.342/.445 with 16 homers.
But his 2024 season has not gone as well, with a .184/.242/.347 big-league slash line in a year that saw him travel back and forth from the minors without much success at any level.
Given his potential and youth, Walker might benefit from a change of scenery. And the Mariners could afford to leverage some pitching depth in exchange for an offensive lottery ticket, particularly as Hancock faces some question marks of his own.
“He doesn’t have the overpowering fastball that is to be expected of young arms,” Pressnell noted. “His fastball sits in the low to mid 90s, but he has a good bit of movement on it and he commands it extremely well. He’s posted a 4.68 ERA in 15 career starts.”
Ultimately, a trade that grants Walker a bit of a refresh at relatively little cost to the Mariners could be worth considering, particularly as any offensive boost would be more than welcome.
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