Report: Mariners not engaged in serious talks for McCutchen
After trading outfielder Seth Smith to Baltimore on Friday, the Seattle Mariners opened up a vacancy in their outfield, but apparently the move wasn't made in order to land Andrew McCutchen of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Mariners are now in position to add another outfielder, but are not engaged in serious trade talks with Pittsburgh for McCutchen, according to a source of FOX Sports' Jon Morosi.
Seattle still does intend to add an outfielder, according to FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal, who added that the Mariners have no preference on whether the player hits from the right or left side.
As it currently stands, Seattle projects to utilize an inexperienced outfield trio of Leonys Martin, Ben Gamel, and Mitch Haniger, who've combined to play just 639 games in the bigs - most of which come courtesy of Martin.
| PLAYER | G | HR | RBI | OPS | DRS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leonys Martin | 572 | 35 | 167 | .671 | 42 |
| Ben Gamel | 33 | 1 | 5 | .569 | -3 |
| Mitch Haniger | 34 | 5 | 17 | .713 | 1 |
McCutchen's name has been mentioned frequently in trade discussions throughout the offseason, with a number of teams showing interest including the Washington Nationals (before they acquired Adam Eaton from the Chicago White Sox), the Toronto Blue Jays, and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
With McCutchen presumably not a target, the Mariners could turn to the remaining crop of free-agent players who can play the outfield, including Jose Bautista, Mark Trumbo, Colby Rasmus, Michael Saunders, and Brandon Moss. Seattle could also pursue a trade for the likes of Curtis Granderson or Jay Bruce, who've both reportedly been made available by the New York Mets.
The 30-year-old McCutchen was the 2013 National League MVP, has finished top five in MVP voting four times, and owns a career slash line of .292/.381/.487 during his eight big-league seasons, all spent with the Pirates.