The Seattle Mariners aren't quite finished adding to their roster, and have shown interest in signing free agent outfielder Melky Cabrera. Rumor has it that the Mariners aren't trying to spend wildly after inking Nelson Cruz to a big contract, and won't go past three years for Cabrera.
Cabrera is reportedly seeking a five-year, $60 million deal, which general manager Jack Zduriencik indicated is out of the question.
"The high-profile, upper-echelon dollars," Zduriencik said, "we're not going to be in that market. It's just not going to happen. But I do think we have room to make a move that will help the club."
Last season Cabrera was a quality bat, slashing .301/.351/.458 with 16 home runs and 73 RBI. Cruz, who led MLB in home runs in 2014 with 40, slashed .271/.333/.525 with the aforementioned home run total, and 108 RBI.
While Cabrera's slash line is superior to Cruz's overall, the Grand Canyon-sized gap in home runs makes all the difference in the current baseball landscape. As steroid crackdowns have increased, power is fleeting.
The M's are in talks about a number of other players as well. The hottest rumor involves a trade with the Chicago White Sox that would land them Dayan Viciedo, but those talks have hit a snag.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Mariners?src=hash">#Mariners</a> have not made recent progress on a deal for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WhiteSox?src=hash">#WhiteSox</a> OF Dayan Viciedo, source confirms <a href="https://twitter.com/TNT_Mariners">@TNT_Mariners</a> report.</p>— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) <a href="https://twitter.com/jonmorosi/status/543207835560333313">December 12, 2014</a></blockquote>
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There is also chatter that the Mariners might be in on acquiring Atlanta Braves outfielder Justin Upton, who has one year and $14.5 million remaining on his deal. The question of whom Seattle would be willing to trade for a potential one-season rental could be a deal-killer, however.
The News Tribune reported that Seattle was nearing a deal for Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp, only to have it fall apart when Los Angeles insisted on Zduriencik including Taijuan Walker or James Paxton, two top-flight pitching prospects.
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