Mariners & Cardinals
Submitted by: Billary Clinton
Mariners
| Name | Age | Level | P1 | P2 | Availability | Years | AFV | Salary | Surplus | Low | Median | High |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riley O'Brien | 31 | Majors | SP | 4 | 8.3 | 3.7 | 4.5 | 3.6 | 4.5 | 5.5 | ||
| Brendan Donovan | 29 | Majors | 2B | Medium | 2 | 46 | 13.5 | 32.5 | 26 | 32.5 | 39.1 |
Total Value:
37
Cardinals
| Name | Age | Level | P1 | P2 | Availability | Years | AFV | Salary | Surplus | Low | Median | High |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lazaro Montes | 21 | Minors | OF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24.6 | 19.7 | 24.6 | 29.6 | ||
| Jurrangelo Cijntje | 23 | Minors | SP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14.5 | 11.6 | 14.5 | 17.4 |
Total Value:
39.1
Comments
8
💁🏼♀️ I’m skeptical that the Mariners would be willing to include the switch-pitching marvel Jurrangelo Cijntje with a mid-rotation starter's mix as a righty, and a lefty specialist's toolkit from the left side. But I like it. 👍👍
When I read these articles from The Athletic et al, I cringed. Alphabet is interesting but I really want Sloan and if not him, maybe Miller and 2 lower end prospects. A SP and a position player lower on the M's list. The Cards need "stuff" not sideshow draws.
That may be what the Cardinals are looking for, but it's not in the interest of the Mariners. Trading from the current rotation is a non-starter as Dipoto and Hollander have made publicly clear. Sloan is believed by many to be untouchable, and is also criminally undervalued by this platform. He's top 50 by MLB pipeline, Baseball America, Keith Law, and Kiley McDaniel.
NEWSLETTER? SURE, SIGN ME UP!
Cijntje is very much available from the perspective of the Mariners. All five starting pitchers are under contract for at least '26 and '27. Kade Anderson and Ryan Sloan project with much higher ceilings than Cijntje and will both debut by '27. Honestly, I'm more skeptical they would include Montes here. Two top-100 prospects feels like a bit of an overpay.
I’m skeptical the Cardinals would be interested in Monte, I think he’s limited defensively and may be striking out to much for some analytical front offices. But, he has top-of-the-scale raw power from the left side of the plate, and all front offices like that. I don’t know where the floor is for the two that the Mariners are sending but the ceiling is up there.
Yeah agreed. He's a very polarizing prospect. If I'm the Mariners FO, I'm holding onto Montes unless it's part of a package for a truly elite player like Marte. His ceiling is too high to give away easily. I could also see why an acquiring team would be skeptical for the reasons you mentioned.
When you're paying for Donny, you're paying for one of the most consistent player's in the league. '22 - .773 OPS, '23 - .787 OPS, '24 - .759 OPS, and '25 - .775 OPS. So as close as you're going to get to a sure thing offensively. 2 top 100's make sense for 2 years of this consistency, especially when you consider a possible extension. Even with a lockout at that point, it would make some sense. I would just disagree on the Riley O'Brien. I would think a Gordon Graceffo or someone of that level.
He's a very solid 2-3 win position player with two years of team control. That typically does not cost a top-50 plus top-100 prospect. I'm declining this if I'm Seattle, but St Louis may well be able to find a suitor that will pay that price.