The Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners have agreed to a deal which will send center fielder Leonys Martin and reliever Anthony Bass to the Mariners in exchange for reliever Tom Wilhelmsen, outfielder James Jones, and a player to be named later. Yahoo’s Jeff Passan broke the initial deal.
The Rangers have acquired RHP Tom Wilhelmsen, OF James Jones, and a PTBNL from Seattle for RHP Anthony Bass and OF Leonys Martin.
— John Blake (@RangerBlake) November 16, 2015
Martin fell out of Texas’ plans pretty quickly last season.
In 95 games, he hit only five home runs while stealing 14 bases to go with a .219 batting average and a .264 OBP. Martin was coming off two solid seasons before last year, where he stole 30+ bases in each. His real value is on the defensive side of the ball, where Martin is an above average fielder with great speed.
The 27-year-old had been starting in center field for the club since 2013, but with the emergence of Delino DeShields, the Rangers saw him expendable. Martin spent nine games in the minors, and clearly wasn’t in the Rangers plans going forward. He’ll fit in nicely with the Mariners, who were in need of a center fielder following the trade of Brad Miller to the Rays. He’ll likely get a shot to play there every day for Seattle. It’s not a bad reclamation project for new GM Jerry Dipoto project to take on.
Bass is a AAAA reliever, who will give the Mariners depth, but the 28-year-old righty isn’t much more than that. He made 33 appearances with the Rangers last season in a long relief role, posting a 4.50 ERA – which is right around his career average.
The Rangers get a pretty good reliever in Wilhelmsen. The 31-year-old partially regained his spot as closer, where he pitched for most of 2012 and 2013, taking over the spot for reliever Carson Smith in late August.
2015 was pretty much what you’d expect from Wilhelmsen. He sported a generally good 3.19 ERA, saved 13 games and posted good 8.7 SO/9 strikeout rate with a slightly alarming 4.2 BB/9 walk rate. Despite the control issues, Wilhelmsen seems to limit damage and his FIP numbers suggest his numbers aren’t a mirage. He’s posted consistent numbers his entire career.
The Rangers bullpen finished 24th in team ERA, despite a late season surge. Wilhelmsen adds an experienced arm to a young group. He’ll likely be a late innings reliever and can step in at closer should the opportunity be available. He’s under control for two more seasons of arbitration before hitting free agency.
Like Martin, the 27-year-old Jones is another defense-speed outfielder who was probably in need of a change of scenery. After starting more than half the 2014 season in center field for the Mariners, Jones completely fell off the map in 2015, where he only managed three hits total in 29 at bats, amounting to a .103 batting average. Jones spent most of 2015 in AAA. He’s got a chance at becoming a fourth outfielder for the Rangers, but his days as a starter are probably long gone.
The deal makes sense for both teams. The Mariners now have a competent starting center fielder (when Martin is right) and the Rangers improve their bullpen while both teams also pack on some depth. It won’t be the most exciting trade that happens this offseason but for both clubs, it was a smaller, necessary move.
