Mariners Interested in Kolten Wong

[Jastro]

 

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Interesting. I think most figured this was a possibility when the Brewers picked up Wong's option. The Mariners have been taking calls on Chris Flexen, Jesse Winker and Jerrad Kelenic. 

[owbc]

I would love to bring Kelenic home, I know he's been terrible at the MLB level but he's only 22 and has been destroying AAA pitching for the better part of two years already. It wouldn't take much improvement for him to be an upgrade in CF. Considering the Brewers would be buying low I would want the Mariners to throw in Flexen as well although he is a #5-#6 starter at best. 

 

 

 

[DR28]

Kelenic/Flexen for Wong, do we say no??

[Hacksaw Jim Duggan]

Isn't Kelenic an outfielder?

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

40 minutes ago, DR28 said:

Kelenic/Flexen for Wong, do we say no??

Of course not. That would probably be an enormous overpay by the Mariners. Flexen is a solid, cost-controlled mid-rotation starter, and Kelenic is a still very young 23-year-old former blue chip CF prospect. One of those guys by themselves would probably be an overpay for one year of Wong.

[StearnsFTW]

Too bad they just dealt Swanson.  That would've been a hell of an add.

[DR28]

32 minutes ago, Ron Robinsons Beard said:

Of course not. That would probably be an enormous overpay by the Mariners. Flexen is a solid, cost-controlled mid-rotation starter, and Kelenic is a still very young 23-year-old former blue chip CF prospect. One of those guys by themselves would maybe be an overpay for one year of Wong.

Isnt that how trades work? Team that wants player usually overpays, we have no reason to trade Wong.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Just now, DR28 said:

Isnt that how trades work? Team that wants player usually overpays, we have no reason to trade Wong.

You have a point. But Kolten Wong isn't really the type of talent that a team drastically overpays for in a trade. 

[brewcrewdue80]

#8 Mariner MLB prospect is 1b/3b Tyler Locklear. 2 years away. Off to a solid batting debut thus far after being drafted.  Probably add a low value ML RP or a young lottery ticket to Locklear call it a day. 10mil gained to spend elsewhere.

[wibadgers23]

Seeing as how Wong was owed a $2 million buyout, it certainly makes sense that the Brewers would pick up his option and then trade him so that they owe him nothing in the end.

[DR28]

44 minutes ago, Ron Robinsons Beard said:

You have a point. But Kolten Wong isn't really the type of talent that a team drastically overpays for in a trade. 

Oh right, I definitely agree... Just saying that if M's want him, they'll need to overpay.

[owbc]

1 hour ago, StearnsFTW said:

Too bad they just dealt Swanson.  That would've been a hell of an add.

The Mariners are really smart with playing matchups with their relievers. Swanson rarely got to face the middle of the opposing lineup and he was relegated to the back of the bullpen in the postseason (although there are some rumors that was because his splitter was difficult for Cal Raleigh to catch with a broken finger). Still, it's not a surprise that he was quickly traded. 

Seattle's biggest weakness right now is the middle infield and they do not appear to be in the running for the top-tier free agents. I think if they are willing to part with Kelenic we should get it done. Their other young outfielders (e.g. Trammell) do not excite me as much. The Brewers need to get MLB-ready talent back for Wong, not prospects. 

 

 

 

[clancyphile]

Flexen/Locklear makes sense. Maybe we can toss in Hunter Renfroe for a couple additional prospects to open up 2B for Turang.

[StearnsFTW]

46 minutes ago, owbc said:

The Mariners are really smart with playing matchups with their relievers. Swanson rarely got to face the middle of the opposing lineup and he was relegated to the back of the bullpen in the postseason (although there are some rumors that was because his splitter was difficult for Cal Raleigh to catch with a broken finger). Still, it's not a surprise that he was quickly traded. 

Seattle's biggest weakness right now is the middle infield and they do not appear to be in the running for the top-tier free agents. I think if they are willing to part with Kelenic we should get it done. Their other young outfielders (e.g. Trammell) do not excite me as much. The Brewers need to get MLB-ready talent back for Wong, not prospects. 

 

 

 

I would've been thrilled to add another big bullpen arm (who is under control for 4 years) for Kolten Wong.

 

Chris Flexen doesn't do it for me and I'd be surprised if Arnold is looking for anything other than win-now pieces as the centerpiece of a Wong trade.

We'll see what happens.

[patrickgpe]

2 hours ago, DR28 said:

Kelenic/Flexen for Wong, do we say no??

im good with that. Id be ok with Kelenic straight up for Wong. 

 

[owbc]

Yeah, Flexen got dropped from the Mariners' rotation mid-season and barely pitched in August and September. He wasn't on the postseason roster. Both Flexen and Marco Gonzalez were used as innings-eating contact pitchers. They have success on the Mariners because they have an elite defense and play in a pitching-friendly ballpark in a division with several pitching-friendly ballparks. The Brewers should be smart enough to realize that those guys would have a very bad time in the NL Central. 

I'm not opposed to picking up Flexen because the Brewers need rotation depth, but we're talking a #5 or #6 at best. 

 

[Brewcrew82]

Realistically, I think Jesse Winker makes the most sense as the return for Wong, as they're both relatively high-priced veterans in the final season of their respective contracts. Winker had a down year this year, but he's still only 29 and OPSed well above .900 in the previous two seasons with a stellar walk rate. That's the sort of profile we need in this lineup, and Winker would have himself an open spot at DH.

Of course, Flexen would be great, too, as much-needed rotation depth, and would allow us to potentially consider trading a guy like Eric Lauer. 

I just don't see Kelenic happening as he's still too talented for the Mariners to give up for one year of Kolten Wong. We'd probably have to add a prospect or two for the Mariners to consider. 

[owbc]

Just now, Brewcrew82 said:

Realistically, I think Jesse Winker makes the most sense as the return for Wong, as they're both relatively high-priced veterans in the final season of their respective contracts. Winker had a down year this year, but he's still only 29 and OPSed well above .900 in the previous two seasons with a stellar walk rate. That's the sort of profile we need in this lineup, and Winker would have himself an open spot at DH.

Of course, Flexen would be great, too, as much-needed rotation depth, and would allow us to potentially consider trading a guy like Eric Lauer. 

I just don't see Kelenic happening as he's still too talented for the Mariners to give up for one year of Kolten Wong. We'd probably have to add a prospect or two for the Mariners to consider. 

I forgot about Winker. He doesn't fit the profile of the kind of player the Brewers usually go for, other than being another 'buy low' pickup who I agree will benefit from a change of scenery. As well as getting into a more hitter-friendly ballpark. The Mariners are completely done with him, it sounded like there were major clubhouse issues with his work ethic by the end of the year. 

He's also pretty much a "DH only" type of player who is far, far worse than in the field than Yelich. Which doesn't usually fit what the Brewers are looking for. Even if Winker rebounds and has an .800 OPS 2023, that's not exactly a difficult find for a DH/corner OF type. If he doesn't rebound, then we will have another OBP specialist like Yelich which we don't really need. 

I still think Kelenic is the one to try and get, even if it takes another piece on top of Wong. 

[Brewcrew82]

10 minutes ago, owbc said:

I forgot about Winker. He doesn't fit the profile of the kind of player the Brewers usually go for, other than being another 'buy low' pickup who I agree will benefit from a change of scenery. As well as getting into a more hitter-friendly ballpark. The Mariners are completely done with him, it sounded like there were major clubhouse issues with his work ethic by the end of the year. 

He's also pretty much a "DH only" type of player who is far, far worse than in the field than Yelich. Which doesn't usually fit what the Brewers are looking for. Even if Winker rebounds and has an .800 OPS 2023, that's not exactly a difficult find for a DH/corner OF type. If he doesn't rebound, then we will have another OBP specialist like Yelich which we don't really need. 

I still think Kelenic is the one to try and get, even if it takes another piece on top of Wong. 

You say an .800 OPS "isn't difficult to find", but the fact remains that we had exactly one regular hitter who managed to exceed that threshold this season...

Also, "we don't need another OBP specialist"? I completely disagree. Other than Yelich, we had no one who could get on base with regularity this season. It was one of the major reasons why our offense was so darn inconsistent.

[owbc]

18 minutes ago, Brewcrew82 said:

You say an .800 OPS "isn't difficult to find", but the fact remains that we had exactly one regular hitter who managed to exceed that threshold this season...

Also, "we don't need another OBP specialist"? I completely disagree. Other than Yelich, we had no one who could get on base with regularity this season. It was one of the major reasons why our offense was so darn inconsistent.

We don't need another OBP specialist like Yelich who can only play LF (poorly) and DH. We could certainly use one at a different position. Winker isn't that guy. 

[Redd Vencher]

C Tom Murphy, 1B Robert Perez Jr. (#22 MLB Pipeline), RHP Isaiah Cambell as return for Wong was the package I put forward a few weeks ago. Part of that had Yandy Diaz in acquired before then. May look for something a little different given the current roster situation.

[Brewcrew82]

4 minutes ago, owbc said:

We don't need another OBP specialist like Yelich who can only play LF (poorly) and DH. We could certainly use one at a different position. Winker isn't that guy. 

We'll see. We said the same thing about McCutchen and yet we added him. And Winker's bat is a much better fit for what currently ails our offense than McCutchen's, namely, OBP and K rate. 

[StearnsFTW]

I'd take Winker in a heartbeat.  .394/.556 in 2021  .374/.463 career.

 

That's a hell of a lot better than anything we've got.  Of course I'm ignoring last year, but I would bet on that being an outlier.

 

Plus there's this, which is hilarious:

 

[patrickgpe]

1 hour ago, Redd Vencher said:

C Tom Murphy, 1B Robert Perez Jr. (#22 MLB Pipeline), RHP Isaiah Cambell as return for Wong was the package I put forward a few weeks ago. Part of that had Yandy Diaz in acquired before then. May look for something a little different given the current roster situation.

I think that is realistic. I don’t think if they move him it will be a package that excited brewer fans