Mariners, Rays make trade

             The Seattle Mariners have acquired RHP Alex Colome and OF Denard Span from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for RHPs Andrew Moore and Tommy Romero.

              For the Mariners, injuries to their core players, like CF Dee Gordon (we'll get into that later) and 2B Robinson Cano's 80 game suspension have tried to stop the M's from being contenders. This trade shows that they aren't out of it yet. In a division with the Astros and Angels, two very good teams, it will be hard for the team to make the postseason. Colome was the Rays closer, but with Edwin Diaz as the team's closer, Colome will probably be the set up man for Seattle. With Gordon out, Span will temporarily be the starting center fielder, then go to 4th outfielder when everyone is healthy. Span is a pending free agent, and Colome is under team control through 2021.

              Colome, 29, has a 4.15 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, 23 strikeouts and 11 saves in 21.2 innings for the Rays this year. In his MLB career, all in Tampa Bay, Colome has a 3.21 ERA with a 1.24 WHIP, 265 strikeouts and 95 saves in 294.1 innings.

              Span, 24, has a .238 batting average with four homers, 28 RBIs and six steals in 173 Plate Appearances for the Rays this year. In his MLB career for the Rays, San Fransisco Giants, Washington Nationals and Minnesota Twins, Span has a batting average of .282 with 64 homers, 460 RBIs and 182 stolen bases in 5628 Plate Appearances.

              For the Rays, they unload two players, but I think they could have gotten more for them, especially Colome. Moore is a younger pitcher with a very small amount of MLB experience . Romero is a young, lower leveled prospect.

              Moore, who will turn 24 a week from the day of the trade, hasn't played in the majors this year. Last year, his only year, featured Moore with a 5.34 ERA, with a WHIP of 1.15 and 31 strikeouts in 59 innings.

            Romero, 20, has a 2.45 ERA with 54 strikeouts in 44 innings for Class A this year.