Mariners Trade-a-Day: Ian Happ
The Mariners have now won four consecutive series after defeating the Astros 6-3 on Wednesday. That's now eight wins in their last 12 games and, suddenly, the playoff chatter is slowly picking up again.
Seattle, however, will need help from outside of the organization to truly continue its push, and there are several positions it could target. While the primary focus should be on pitching this summer, adding another quality bat could play a major role in breaking the organization's double-decade playoff drought.
But building a roster is like building a puzzle. You can't take a piece from another box and just clip it to fit your unfinished puzzle. The picture would still be incomplete. If the Mariners are going to add to their offense, the player needs to fit in the picture. In other words: they need to find the right fit.
Where do the Mariners have gaps in their offense? Right this second, it appears the answers are left field, second base, catcher and the utility man role. Each of these holes are currently being "filled" by a player who either has an established big league career of success or Seattle sees as part of its future. Catcher and second base are the hardest spots to fill; and with the emergence of Cal Raleigh and the expected eventual return of Tom Murphy, it seems highly likely that general manager Jerry Dipoto will concentrate his efforts elsewhere.
The outfield situation is a bit tricky. Jesse Winker is an established hitter whom the Mariners will not bench for extended periods of time. The team isn't quite sure when Kyle Lewis will be able to play the field or to what degree they'll get Mitch Haniger back onto the field as well. Taylor Trammell has played extremely well thus far and we know the team will not give up on Jarred Kelenic so quickly. And yet, Seattle cannot look at the outfield as a position of strength.
It seems like the perfect player is one that can play multiple positions and can instantly improve all of these positions in one fell swoop, aside from catcher. Enter Cubs centerfielder Ian Happ.
There may not be an offensive player who checks more boxes for the Mariners than Happ. He's a solid defensive centerfielder with plenty of experience in the corners. He also has 380 innings played at second base and another 180 at third base.
Furthermore, he's been a solid hitter throughout his career, posting a 114 wRC+, and appears to be in the midst of a breakout season slashing .269/.373/.445—good for a 128 wRC+. Happ won't turn 28 years old until August and isn't a free agent until after the 2023 season.
Happ has always excelled at drawing walks, posting a career 12.3 percent walk rate (8.4 is league average), and this year he's drastically cut down on his strikeouts, posting a 20.3 percent strikeout rate (his career average is 29.7 percent). He has always had good pop but he's only gotten more than 500 career plate appearances once.
Happ is, by all accounts, a good player who falls short of being an All-Star caliber player. He plays good defense, but not great defense. He's somewhat versatile and he's got some power but doesn't carry a plus tool, aside from his ability to draw a walk. He is a good player, to be sure, but not one that is going to demand a massive prospect to acquire.
The Cubs could very well see Happ as a part of their future, but he's only got one year of club control remaining after 2022. He hasn't produced enough to warrant an extension and Chicago could look to cash in on the hot start in what appears to be a depressed trade market for bats. The Cubs also don't appear willing to go into a full-scale rebuild, so acquiring MLB-ready talents could be a priority for Chicago.
The Mariners and the Cubs do match up fairly well as trade partners; and Seattle does have both prospect capital and a group of young major leaguers from which it can offer to Chicago. The Cubs also have other assets that could appeal to Seattle, so a deal involving multiple big leaguers changing hands on each side is possible.
Overall, a player like Taylor Trammell could make a lot of sense for the Cubs. But with the way he's playing for the Mariners right now now, Seattle may view Trammell as a cheaper version of Happ.
A strong offer would be in the neighborhood of Abraham Toro and pitching prospect Andrew Moore for Happ and a reliever like Chris Martin. If the Cubs prefer the prospect route, someone in the Adam Macko range would almost certainly be required for Chicago to say yes.
Read About More Potential Mariners Trade Targets
Joey Wendle | Nelson Cruz | JT Brubaker | David Robertson | Michael Fulmer
