Diagonal Trade

The Rays and Mariners swapped five players today, and frankly I don’t understand why:

Smith is back with the Mariners as part of a five-player deal between Seattle and Tampa Bay on Thursday that landed the Rays catcher Mike Zunino and outfielder Guillermo Heredia.

The swap continued a lengthy trade history between the teams and came as a surprise to Zunino, who said he had recent conversations with Seattle manager Scott Servais looking ahead to 2019.

“I was shocked. To see your name in trade talks, let alone this early in the offseason, was beyond my expectations,” Zunino said.

Smith, 25, stole a career-best 40 bases this year and was caught 12 times. He hit .296, tied for the major league lead with 10 triples and had 40 RBIs. He is not eligible for free agency until after the 2022 season. He signed with San Diego in 2012, was traded to Atlanta in December 2014 and was dealt to the Mariners in January 2017, then sent to the Rays on the same day in a trade that shipped left-hander Drew Smyly to Seattle.

His previous Seattle stint lasted all of 77 minutes before he was sent to the Rays.

Smith is a pretty good hitter. Zunino and Heredia cannot be described as that. It possible the Rays wanted Michael Plassmeyer, who strikes out a ton of batters with very few walks. I could see Plassmeyer sliding into an opener’s role, since he is used to starting. The Rays also sent Jake Fraley to the Mariners, who hits well, but is old for his low minor league level. If this trade is really Smith for Plassmeyer, it makes more sense to me. The Mariners get better now, the Rays get better in the near future.

from baseballmusings.com https://ift.tt/2DxoiNW