The Seattle Mariners may have pulled off a Justin Ruggiano trade with the Cusb and could be discussing a Wil Myers trade with the Tampa Bay Rays and it may be a three team deal with the San Diego Padres getting stud prospect Taijuan Walker, as the M's are motivated to add an outfielder and this could be the move they make over a Justin Upton trade or a deal for Andre Either this offseason.
According to Hardball Talk, numerous reporters have been updating the story on Myers, which was first reported by Jim Bowden of ESPN and Sirius XM that the Rays and Padres were talking. Other reports had a third team getting involved and many speculated that it could be the Mariners. Jason Churchill of Seattle's 1090 The Fan wrote that there are "strong indications" that the Mariners are that third team and that if a deal goes down, the Mariners likely would get Myers, the Padres would get Walker and the Rays would get prospects in the move.
--UPDATE: Mariners have traded for Ruggiano.
The Padres are going for it this season after trading for Matt Kemp, while the Mariners feel the same way after they want and signed Nelson Cruz. The Padres want a fast turnaround, while the Mariners feel that they can win the AL west after finishing just one game back of the Athletics last season in the wild card standings. The Mariners have needed a right field bat all offseason and now it's even more glaring following the Michael Saunders trade. The team thought about Justin Upton, but the Braves have asked for too much for a one year rental.
Myers had a down season last year, but he was a former minor league player of the year and one of the top hitting prospects in baseball. The Mariners would have him under team control for multiple years and while losing Walker is a tough thing to think about, the team needs an outfield badly. Walker is the top pitching prospect for the team along with James Paxton and this would be a huge move for the Mariners if they pull it off. The Padres originally were talking about Myers with the rays, but now it looks like the M's are involved.
Last season Myers dealt with injuries and hit just .222 in 87 games with six home runs and 35 RBIs. In his first season with the Rays he played in 88 games and hit .293 with 13 homes runs and over 50 RBIs and that is the type of production that the Mariners would be hoping for. The team has some issues at SP and that is one reason why they don't want to trade Walker, but they desperately need to add some more offense to the lineup.
The Mariners signed Nelson Cruz in the offseason and they come in after ranking 18th in the league in runs last season. The team was 27th in on base percentage and 21st in slugging and they feel that adding Cruz can change things around. The team won 87 games last season with Felix Hernandez and Robinson Cano leading the way and now they are a sleeper pick in the AL to make the World Series. Making this move would be huge.
