San Diego Padres trade targets from the AL West

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - APRIL 06: (L-R) Domingo Santana #16, Mallex Smith #0, and Mitch Haniger #17, of the Seattle Mariners celebrate their win against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field on April 06, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - APRIL 06: (L-R) Domingo Santana #16, Mallex Smith #0, and Mitch Haniger #17, of the Seattle Mariners celebrate their win against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field on April 06, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images)
5 of 5
ANAHEIM, CA – APRIL 18: Mitch  Haniger #17 of the Seattle Mariners is welcomed into the dugout after being driven in by Tim Beckham #1 against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the third inning at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on April 18, 2019 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CA – APRIL 18: Mitch  Haniger #17 of the Seattle Mariners is welcomed into the dugout after being driven in by Tim Beckham #1 against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the third inning at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on April 18, 2019 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)

Mariners

This is where things could get really interesting for the Padres if they want to trade with someone in the AL West.

Seattle is in an obvious rebuild and has some solid assets they might be looking to trade away.

More from Friars on Base

At the very top of that list for any team hoping to trade with the Mariners is outfielder Mitch Haniger.

The price would be high on Haniger, but the reward could be huge as he was a 4.5 WAR player in 2018 before a disappointing season in 2019, which was aided by an injury that as a man I will not speak of.

Haniger was an All-Star in 2018 when he hit .285 with 26 home runs. This past season he hit just .220 but still had 15 home runs in just 246 at-bats.

And he’s under control through arbitration for three more seasons.

If the Mariners make him available, the Padres should be near the front of the line.

Domingo Santana is another outfielder for the Mariners who has some pop and could be available. He has two years of control left and should be much cheaper.

If the Mariners ate some of the money on Dee Gordon‘s contract he could be a potential target to help push Luis Urias at second base and be a solid bench bat/base runner.

Marco Gonzales has four years of control left so he might not be available yet, but he would be a solid trade target.

Mallex Smith was a name I considered in our mock Winter Meetings for center field. Depending on what else is out there, Smith could make some sense for the Padres as he’s an excellent defender in center and a great base runner.

Who would you like to see the San Diego Padres go after in a trade this offseason from the AL West? Let us know in the comments below.

Schedule