The Seattle Mariners were one game away from their first-ever World Series appearance, but just couldn’t make the final push. Now, they’ve lost two key stars in their lineup in Jorge Polanco and Eugenio Suarez, and they need to replace them.
Luckily, Fansided’s Christopher Kline believes the Mariners could make a trade to replace Polanco at second base. He proposes that Seattle makes a deal with the Chicago Cubs for their second baseman, Nico Hoerner.
The trade would look like this:
Mariners get: 2B Nico Hoerner
Cubs get: OF Lazaro Montes (SEA #3), RHP/LHP Jurrangelo Cijntje (SEA #7)
“Few teams need infield help more desperately than the Seattle Mariners. Cole Young ought to turn it on eventually, but second base and third base are gaping holes right now. Jorge Polanco is out; Eugenio Suárez could re-sign, but he’s not a long-term solution. Hoerner probably doesn’t get the contract he wants from Seattle at the end of the day, but even as a rental, he’d materially improve their title chances in a winnable American League. He’s a .300 hitter, an audacious base-runner, and one of the best infield gloves on the planet,” Kline wrote.
This past season, Hoerner slashed .297/.345/.394/.739 with 29 doubles, seven home runs, and 61 RBI. Also, with the two Gold Gloves to his name, he’s arguably the best defensive second baseman in baseball.
As Kline noted, Hoerner is in the final year of his contract with the Cubs. So, while he could be a rental, the Mariners were able to re-sign Josh Naylor, so if Hoerner performs for them, who says they can’t do the same for him as well?
Discussion about this post