Writings on baseball by Matt Barnard and Dan Stein.

 
Mariners take Sanchez off the Mets hands

Seattle Mariners get: Rey Sanchez.
New York Mets get: Kenny Kelly.

The Mariners are a team with a bunch of needs, and it may be only due to the fact that they're competing with flawed competition (the A's, I'm referring only to the AL West divisional race at present) that they're the current favorites (by virtue of their three game lead as I write this) to win their division. That could change very quickly though, as A's general manager Billy Beane has shown the ability to get exactly what his team needs in late July over the past few summers.

On the flip side, Mariners general manager Pat Gillick has a reputation for being inactive around the trading deadline, and it'll be interesting to see whether or not he makes any moves that actually address a major failing on this team (like adding a bat at third base or left field), or if he just jerks around with moves like this one. Kenny Kelly wasn't likely to see the light of day in the Mariners' organization any time soon, so it's just as well that he gets shipped out while he has a chance at some kind of a career. The Mets are a pretty good team to go to right now if you're a young outfielder, as the organization's biggest prospects are either infielders or pitchers and they're currently playing Roger Cedeno on a semi-regular basis at the major league level. Kelly's not an amazing prospect by any means, but he's fast, reasonably young and hitting with some success (.246/.313/.484) at AAA, so he's probably not far from ready to get a crack at seeing what he can do to help the Mets.

What does getting Rey Sanchez accomplish for the Mariners? I'm asking because I really don't know, beyond giving them excellent defense at shortstop and second base. That would be fine, except that they really don't need it, already having Gold Glover Bret Boone in the fold as the regular second baseman and adequate defensive replacements (Mark McLemore, Willie Bloomquist) for Carlos Guillen should they need one. Guillen is hurt right now, but if this move is intended as a stopgap until he gets back, it's only creating another problem. While he was never much of an offensive player, Sanchez hasn't hit at all this season, posting a .207/.240/.236 line with the Mets in 182 plate appearances. That's as close to an offensive black hole as you're going to find the major leagues over that long a stretch of at bats these days, and playing him regularly will leave the Mariners with something akin to an eight-man lineup (which would be fine, if not for that automatic out every time through).

Billy Beane's just made a move to help his team considerably (see the post following this one), and I hope for the sake of Mariners fans that Pat Gillick has more in store for his squad. This is a nice dumping of some salary for the Mets (it's a small one, Sanchez was signed to a $1 million, one year deal before the season), but it's also just getting rid of a guy who has been absolutely useless to the team on the field...and for that, they get someone who could well see a little time in the Met outfield before the season is out.
posted by VZW Watcher at 5:49 PM -