harmony55

https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=8&season=2026&month=0&season1=2026&ind=0&pagenum=6&pageitems=30 https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/2026-value-batting.shtml

In his last eight games before tonight, Josh Naylor had posted a .429/.500/.607/1.107 line in 34 plate appearances (and added four stolen bases): https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=naylojo01&t=b&year=2026

Cuban right-hander Pedro Ramos shut out the reigning American League champions at Yankee Stadium in the the Twins' first Opening Day game their move to Minnesota: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA196104110.shtml

Royce Lewis has only two years of team control after this season and has posted an OPS+ of 93 and 2.0 fWAR (1.3 bWAR) in 205 games since his impressive debut in 2022-23. With his Super Two boost in salary, Lewis could be a non-tender candidate down the road. Or Lewis could turn it around.

The Mariners reportedly had coveted Jose A. Ferrer since the left-hander was 19 years old in 2019: https://www.mlb.com/news/jose-a-ferrer-was-longtime-mariners-trade-target Seattle is in a win-now mode and hopes Ferrer will contribute more to the 2026 club than Ford would have.

Oakland AIs? The Ballers will be first professional sports team managed by AI: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6599707/2025/09/05/artificial-intelligence-baseball-manager-oakland-ballers/?source=athletic_user_shared_article_copylink&smid=url-share-ta

Harry Ford alone could not land MacKenzie Gore but a packaged headlined by Ford would be attractive to the Washington Nationals, who this year finished dead last in team WAR from the catcher slot (and a long ways from the 28th-place club). https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?lg=all&qual=0&season=2025&season1=2025&ind=0&team=0%2Cts&rost=&filter=&players=0&type=8&month=35 The top-ranked catching prospect in a weak Washington farm system is Caleb Lomavita at No. 11. FWIW I've seen Lazaro Montes and Jonny Farmelo (and Harry Ford) play frequently. I apparently saw Caleb Lomavita play in college😉: https://calbears.com/sports/baseball/stats/2024/stanford/boxscore/36002 https://calbears.com/sports/baseball/stats/2022/utah/boxscore/33528

Would Seattle be interested in Emmanuel Rodriguez when the Mariners already have outfield prospects Lazaro Montes and Jonny Farmelo, the 29th- and 75th-ranked prospects at MLB.com? Rodriguez is currently ranked No. 69. Baseball America had these outfield rankings in August: The Mariners already have a center fielder who has posted 22.9 bWAR before his 25th birthday. In any trade of Harry Ford, Seattle would likely seek MLB-level talent, perhaps left-hander MacKenzie Gore of the Washington Nationals, who this year finished dead last in WAR from the catcher slot.

The Mariners selected Alex Jackson with the sixth overall pick in the 2014 draft, the penultimate draft before Jerry Dipoto arrived in Seattle: https://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/index.fcgi?year_ID=2014&draft_round=1&draft_type=junreg&query_type=year_round Dipoto traded Jackson to the Atlanta Braves in November 2016: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/jacksal02.shtml#all_transactions_other

That would be five years of 24-year-old Brooks Lee, with 2026 projections of 2.1 WAR and a 96 wRC+ in 139 games, for six years of 22-year-old Harry Ford with 2026 projections of 1.0 WAR and a 98 wRC+ in 70 games. https://www.fangraphs.com/players/brooks-lee/31595/stats?position=3B/SS https://www.fangraphs.com/players/harry-ford/29958/stats?position=C Each plays a premium position but with a wealth of infield prospects Seattle would likely seek a better return. FWIW this year the Mariners ranked 13th in team WAR at third base and 17th in team WAR at second base (ahead of the Twins in each category).

Does Eduardo Tait have a higher ceiling than Harry Ford? A higher floor? Seattle has outfield depth as well and the Twins would be hard-pressed to offer a clear upgrade to the Mariners' incumbent right fielders.

Poor defense cost the Mariners this season. A step down from Ben Williamson to Royce Lewis could be tough: https://www.fieldingbible.com/drs-leaderboard/players?position=5 The Mariners might have interest in Mick Abel or Taj Bradley but a Seattle trade package for either pitcher and Lewis is difficult to compile.

🙂 Mild interest in Royce Lewis with a FanGraphs projection of 2.6 WAR in 131 games and a projected arbitration salary of $3 million. However, might prefer a return of Mariner third baseman Ben Williamson with his projected 1.8 WAR in 130 games at a league minimum salary.

Baseball Trade Values currently assigns Seattle catcher Harry Ford a surplus value of $21 million: https://www.baseballtradevalues.com/trades?page=1&q=harry+ford The Mariners have more pressing needs at other positions given the pending returns of Julio Rodriguez, Randy Arozarena, Dominic Canzone, Luke Raley and Victor Robles to the outfield.

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