Midseason flea market is now open
One option is to consider the whole thing hilarious.
Here we are, mid-June, and the Mariners just traded a guy who’s leading the American League in home runs.
In return, Seattle landed a 19-year-old pitcher who has never thrown a ball in any competition higher than rookie league.
Wait, there’s more.
This kid coming to the Mariners from the Yankees was originally drafted by Seattle three years ago, then traded to New York for another pitcher that the Mariners have subsequently released.
What a classic midseason move: Edwin Encarnacion for Juan Then.
Yeah, you could laugh and make up good lines: “The M’s didn’t want him Then, but they like him now.”
What a hoot.
Actually, Then is more than just a throw-in prospect.
Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto was smart to reverse the club’s original move and re-acquire the skinny (6-1, 155 pounds) kid they once tossed away for Nick Rumbelow.
IN FACT, there are things to like about this trade — not the least the fact that it removed a fat $30 million off the Mariners’ payroll of $171 million.
If you’re going to “step back” and rebuild an entire franchise, it’s easier to start with Juan Then than Edwin Encarnacion.
Unfortunately, there’s something I find ridiculous and incredibly stupid about the deal...
It happened in June instead of November.
Encarnacion was traded this past offseason by a team rebuilding without him (Cleveland) to a team hoping to flip him for a prospect or two (Seattle).
Encarnacion was unhappy with all this nonsense, although it didn’t bother him on the field or in the clubhouse.
He was a pro, one of those guys who says, “It’s just business,” when he’s shuttled off to another city.
Seriously, though, isn’t it absurd that the Mariners opened the season with the idea of getting rid of all but three or four players?
Not in his wildest nightmares would Dipoto have considered keeping guys like Encarnacion, Jay Bruce and a few others past the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.
IT’S NOT just Seattle, obviously.
About a third of the major leagues’ 30 teams are dressed-up flea markets.
Their season’s goal is to unload as many veterans as possible, slash the payroll and start over.
You want a puzzle piece that might help you make the playoffs? Here’s a fistful of phone numbers.
The addition of wild-card teams to the playoffs has made this all worse, because we’ve added several teams willing to make silly deals just for a shot at a one-game postseason.
But hang on...
My unhappiness with this midseason “rental market” isn’t even limited to baseball.
Every big-league sport has a period during the season when the rich spend more money and the poor get some crumbs from the table.
Why does it have to be this way?
It’s tough enough on fans that their heroes are probably going to be wearing another uniform sometime soon.
Why can’t they do this business in the offseason, at least?
Play the damn schedule with your opening day roster.
Period.
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Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns for The Press appear on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Steve also contributes the “Zags Tracker” package on Gonzaga basketball once monthly during the offseason.
Email: scameron@cdapress.com