*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*
Down in Southern California, the San Diego Padres had themselves quite a logjam in the infield. This crunch of players made an all star expendable. The Seattle Mariners have acquired 2B/OF Adam Frazier from the Padres in exchange for LHP prospect Ray Kerr and OF prospect Corey Rosier, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan. The trade has been confirmed by both teams.
Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said of the interest in Frazier that "This dates back to midseason last year. We thought we were at the goal line to acquire Adam at the Trade Deadline last year, obviously, we missed out. We stayed in touch with the Padres as we headed into the offseason, knowing that they had a pretty robust roster. We just liked the player so we stuck with it through the GM Meetings until yesterday, when we finally were able to agree on players and push it across."
Frazier brings defensive versatility and all star experience to a Mariners team looking to make serious noise in the AL playoff picture this coming season. He will likely be the starter at second base for now, but he also plays the outfield, which can give Mariners manager Scott Servais more playing time for Frazier if players need days off, or if he wants to give Frazier a different look. Frazier is scheduled to be a free agent after the season ends.
Asked about his role with the Mariners, Frazier said in his press conference that "Jerry and I had a great talk. I’m excited to be joining and they're excited to have me. I’m ready to get to work. I'll play a lot of second base and maybe hop in the outfield. That’s how I feel I can impact the team."
Last season, with both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Padres, Frazier hit to a .305 batting average with a .779 OPS, hitting just 5 home runs but driving in 43 runs in an all star season for Frazier, largely a contact hitter, as evident of his low home run count. Frazier played in 155 games last season, 98 of which were with the Pirates, and the other 57 with the Padres.
Across 6 seasons of major league baseball, Frazier has a lifetime .281 batting average with a .757 OPS, hitting 40 home runs and driving in 215 runs, stealing 30 bases with an OBP of .344, playing in 665 career regular season games, with all but 57 of them being in a Pirates uniform. He was traded at last year's trade deadline to the Padres.
One piece heading to the Padres is Kerr, a lefty recently added to Seattle's 40 man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft. Spending time at Double A Arkansas and Triple A Tacoma last season, Kerr had a 2-1 record with a 3.18 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP, throwing 39 2/3 innings while appearing in 36 games, starting just one. Kerr is a flamethrower, with his 100 mph velocity making him a depth option in the Padres system.
Padres president of baseball operations AJ Preller said of landing Kerr that "He’s a power left-handed arm, and a guy that gives us some real depth and left-handed relief help possibly at the Major League level. He’ll have a chance to come in and compete, and see if he can help our club out this year."
The other piece heading to San Diego is Rosier, an outfield prospect who isn't as far along in the minors as Kerr is. He was a 12th round pick by the Mariners in the 2021 draft out of UNC Greensboro. Since he started off pro ball, he has done nothing but hit, posting a .380 batting average and a 1.022 OPS last season, hitting 3 home runs and driving in 23 runs, split between the ACL Mariners, the Rookie Ball affiliate, and Low A Modesto.
Preller said of Rosier's skill that he's "A left-handed bat, a plus to double-plus runner, and he has a knack for squaring up the baseball. He’s getting a lot of hits, getting on base a lot and playing up the middle. That’s very intriguing. Even though it’s just been a few months in pro ball, he made the most out of those few months and put himself on the radar."
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