Friday, August 01, 2008

Expect Mariners to Continue Trying to Deal Players

The fireworks have concluded following the July 31 non-waiver trading deadline, but expect the Mariners to continue to try to deal veteran talent for prospects as part of new General Manager Lee Pelekoudas' rebuilding effort.

The team was able to deal reliever Arthur Rhodes, but trading becomes more difficult now because players can be claimed by other teams before they can be dealt. Still, the Mariners remain motivated because of an abundance of expendable personnel, including but not limited to Ichiro Suzuki, Adrian Beltre, Jerrod Washburn, Raul Ibanez, J.J. Putz, Jose Vidro and Jeremy Reed.

Observers have advance the theory that Pelekoudas has been unsuccessful so far because he asks too steep a price.