The Seattle Mariners entered their weekend series versus the Chicago White Sox having scored 62 runs in a 20-game stretch, winning just six of those games and watching their 10-game division lead evaporate entirely.
President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto is attempting to do something about the struggles, acquiring All-Star outfielder Randy Arozarena from the Tampa Bay Rays late last week, and Monday adding veteran Justin Turner to the mix.
Seattle will absorb the remainder of Turner’s one-year, $13 million and change deal with the Toronto Blue Jays, which, depending on how many incentives Turner reaches can land in the $5 million range.
Turner, 39, begins his Mariners tenure with a .253/.348/.370 slash, good for a 109 wRC+. He’s been slightly above average versus right-handed pitching but has handled lefties quite well, posting a .292/.347/.446 line, a 125 wRC+.
He’s not much of an option at third base anymore and was mostly serving as a DH for the Jays, but barring further additions by Seattle is likely to get more time at first base the rest of the way than the 11 starts he made north of the border.
Turner has had a heckuva career and despite the power numbers not jumping out, the underlying metrics remain strong.
The Mariners have matchup options at first base, including using OF/1B Luke Raley versus some right-handed pitchers, especially now that Victor Robles earning more regular time in the outfield that almost certainly extends beyond the return of Julio Rodriguez from the Injured List. Tyler Locklear appears to be the leading candidate to be optioned to make room on the 26-man once Turner officially reports to the club.
In return, the Jays get 2023 ninth-round pick RJ Schreck, an outfielder out of Duke who was batting .261/.401/.464 in 78 games at High-A prior to the trade. He’s 24 and considered a solid org player lacking big-league projection.
The main draw here for Toronto is the payroll freedom, considering every dollar spent on a team going nowhere fast is a dollar lost, but it may be a sign they’re not going to give in on trade offers for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. since Seattle was the club most often mentioned in those discussions.
TRADE GRADES (20-80 Scale)
Seattle: 55
Toronto: 45
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