Seattle Mariners beef up middle infield with Kolten Wong trade
In a move that could strengthen the argument for Seattle as a dark-horse outsider in the middle infield free agency shuffle, they pick up Kolten Wong
In all of the back-room chicanery that goes on around the league every free agency period, there is always a dark-horse, an outsider who can swoop in and shake up the league. Seattle is making a claim to be that team.
On the back of their first post season appearance in two decades, the Mariners have been whispered around the league as outsiders, who could possibly, just possibly pick up one of the Fantastic Four shortstops on offer. Most often linked to Xander Bogaerts, they have also been mentioned in relation to Carlos Correa as well, if only in whispers.
But with the announcement on Friday that they have picked up two-time Gold Glove winner Kolten Wong from the Milwaukee Brewers, there is now a level of credibility to the rebuild of their middle infield.
Wong is coming off a season where he posted a career-best 15 home runs for the Brewers and hit a .251/.339/.430 slash line. In return, the Brewers will send Wong and $1.75 million in cash and get outfielder Jesse Winker and infielder Abraham Toro from Seattle.
There have been rumblings that Seattle might look to rebuild their middle infield and are an outside player in the ongoing Xander Bogaerts saga. If they could pair him with the experience of Wong at second base, they would possess one of the strongest middle infields in baseball.
Whether they get Bogaerts or not, the addition of Wong will bring a level of strength to the Mariners that should see them build on last season’s 90-win run.