Encarcion to yanks

[D-train]

Even if the $10 million saved from Bruce and Encarnacion just goes towards the $'s they paid to move Cano, who cares?

At least we're not stuck with Cano's ichiro/Felix-esque overpays into their downward career arc years.

In other words, there is $10 mil back of the money they had to pay to shed Cano.

Yes, the owners caddie's, housekeepers, chauffeurs, private jet pilots, personal chefs and other staff should be happy as they might get bigger tips this year. M's fans......not so much.........

[AT Funchal-Madeira]

Looks like we fleeced the Yankees again!!

[bpj]

Looks like we fleeced the Yankees again!!

Because you know all there is to know about Juan Then.

You're the worst kind of complaining little redacted.

[:::]

SERENITY NOW!

[bpj]

Popping in to lob pot shots and whine without ever offering anything of substance amounts to being a troll.

We all know Terry's above that, but he's falling victim to seeing nothing but perceived downside.

People made the same mistake on bitcoin saying it's dead, ignoring it has tripled from the lows. You need to be able to spot the highs and lows in any market and even with the poor current outcomes, this team is clearly better off than they were a year ago.

We hit bottom a year ago, now we're obviously on the way up the food chain and people just choose to stay blind because it's more fun to moan about things apparently.

[Jack Merridew]

We're obviously on the way up? I don't think that is so obvious. Weren't the Mariners in a similar situation not so long ago with Smoak, Ackley, the Big Three etc in their system about to rejuvinate the roster? How did that turn out?

[D-train]

Divish analysis on the EE trade.......

This is the baseball world we live in now.

The consternation on social media has still not subsided in the three days since the Mariners traded Edwin Encarnacion to the Yankees.

Instant determination of which team won a given trade became popular in the last decade with the explosion of online writing. That has blossomed to a new level on social media. Now, everyone has an outlet for analysis, despite the obvious understanding that most trades’ true outcomes may not be known for a year or more.

The Encarnacion trade’s basic optics made for an expected aftermath. The Mariners traded the American League home-run leader to an organization that has fleeced the Mariners in past trades and relishes being called the Evil Empire. New York added Encarnacion to a lineup that will soon feature Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Gary Sanchez, Luke Voit, Gleyber Torres, Didi Gregorius and D.J. LeMahieu.

And what did Mariners get in return?

They got a young player — right-hander Juan Then — whom they’d already traded to the Yankees before the 2018 season.

The return for Then the first time was with minor-league left-hander J.P. Sears for failed right-handed reliever Nick Rumbelow — whom the Mariners released three days before the Encarnacion trade for being so utterly terrible they didn’t want to keep him despite having the minimal commitment to do so.

Of course, there was money involved as well. The Mariners and Yankees basically split the $16.4 million owed to Encarnacion for the remainder of his contract and also the $5 million buyout of his 2020 club option.

ADVERTISING



If the return for Encarnacion had been a different player similar to Then in age, skills and profile, would fans have less discontent?

Maybe.

But a large portion believed a player leading the AL in homers should draw more in return.



On the surface, that seems like a legitimate complaint. But this era of baseball is different: More players are hitting home runs.

Coming into Tuesday, MLB players had hit 2,911 homers this season with 121 players having 10 or more. A player with 13 or more homers in 70 games would be on pace for at least 30 this season. There are just over 60 players on that pace. In the entire 2012 season, only 27 players hit 30 or more. Being the league leader in homers becomes somewhat diminished if 30 other players are just one or two behind you.

Encarnacion was never going to generate as much in return as people would expect. Teams just don’t make those kinds of deals anymore for designated hitter/part-time first baseman rentals who are owed a large amount of money. The Mariners also weren’t in a position of leverage because they’d made it known they wanted to trade Encarnacion the moment they acquired him in December.

•••

When Mark Feinsand, a respected reporter for MLB.com and formerly of the New York Daily News, dropped a tweet about the trade, it only stoked Mariners fans’ ire: “According to sources, other teams offered more talent to the Mariners for Encarnacion, but weren’t willing to take on as much of his salary as the Yankees were. Sources indicated the Astros and Rays were also actively involved, with the Rockies in the mix to a lesser extent.”


Mark Feinsand
✔
@Feinsand
According to sources, other teams offered more talent to the Mariners for Encarnacion, but weren’t willing to take on as much of his salary as the Yankees were. Sources indicated the Astros and Rays were also actively involved, with the Rockies in the mix to a lesser extent.


There is no doubt Feinsand had a legitimate source telling him that. But in talking with multiple sources close to the situation — some very close — The Seattle Times found some agreements and some arguments to what Feinsand reported.

ADVERTISING

Multiple sources said the Yankees and Rays were the only teams legitimately in conversations for Encarnacion. The Rays’ interest started about a week before the trade, and the Yankees’ interest came later that week, perhaps after they heard their AL East rival was looking to add a major bat.

The other teams?

Sources indicate Houston was never involved. The Mariners approached the Astros in the offseason after acquiring Encarnacion and checked in on numerous occasions, but nothing ever got close. And Seattle wasn’t asking for much more in return than salary relief and perhaps a compensatory draft pick.

Sign up for Fan Fix
Your dose of local sports news. Delivered Monday through Friday.

Instead, the Astros were willing to go with a DH by committee. The need for Encarnacion never arose even with injuries to George Springer, Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa. Why? Well, even short-handed, they are dominating the AL West with an 8½-game lead. And they also had 21-year-old homer-hitting phenom Yordan Alvarez in waiting, and he hit four homers in his first five games after being called up.

The Rockies’ interest died weeks ago, per a source. They may have been scared off by Encarnacion’s age and how little he had played first base the previous three seasons. The Mariners found that showcasing Encarnacion for NL teams too much led to little nagging injury issues for the 35-year-old, including the sore back that kept him out of the lineup a few days before his trade.

Colorado has instead used former second baseman Daniel Murphy, who’s been solid, as the everyday first baseman.

ADVERTISING


•••

Another concern in Feinsand’s tweet was that Mariners ownership cared more about money than the prospect’s talent. This is where some MLB sources disagreed on the return.

All sources asked about the situation seemed certain Encarnacion wouldn’t return a premium prospect.

One source felt the Rays were offering a better player — though one similar in age and experience — than Then and that Then’s potential, which had put him in the Yankees’ top 30 prospect list, had diminished from last season to this season. But some believe Then, who turned 19 in February and has touched 96 mph with his fastball and improved his slider, is still a legitimate prospect if developed properly. That’s a whole different analysis with the Mariners.

[Donn Beach]

was gonna comment on the nice start Yordan Álvarez is off to...was looking over his bio, geez do you realize how the Astros acquired him? They traded Josh Friggin Fields to the Dodgers for him...this is getting too ridiculous

[D-train]

was gonna comment on the nice start Yordan Álvarez is off to...was looking over his bio, geez do you realize how the Astros acquired him? They traded Josh Friggin Fields to the Dodgers for him...this is getting too ridiculous

Air Yordan........

[bpj]

We're obviously on the way up? I don't think that is so obvious. Weren't the Mariners in a similar situation not so long ago with Smoak, Ackley, the Big Three etc in their system about to rejuvinate the roster? How did that turn out?

$0 in future commitments after 2021 and a farm system that has gone from last to at worst middle of the pack are both incredibly bullish scenarios in my opinion, yes.

Add that to the guys who are at worst average players at the MLB level and I see nothing but upside.

Seems about as obvious as can be.