The Seattle Mariners reportedly traded Erik Bedard to the Boston Red Sox in a three-team deal on Sunday afternoon, receiving two prospects in return. The Los Angeles Dodgers entered the mix, sending Trayvon Robinson to Seattle as part of a package that saw multiple players head every which way. For the Mariners, Robinson may be the centerpiece of the deal, giving the team a near-major league ready player that can be plugged into the outfield in Seattle.
Jack Zduriencik spoke to the media about Robinson shortly after the trade was announced, discussing how the deal came to pass and why the Mariners like Robinson (via Kevin Shockey)
Robinson w/ 26 hrs in AAA. Scouted them a lot. Told Erik. He is said to leave but excited to go to a contender. "Robinson is a runner. He's a switch hitter" Zduriencik on Trayvon Robinson. "Red Sox were persistent with this" Z on the Bedard trade
For a different take on Robinson, I asked Eric Stephen, of SB Nation Los Angeles and True Blue LA, for his thoughts. There are question marks and some fluky numbers involved in Robinson's stats, though it's clear why the Mariners like him.
He doesn't have the arm to play CF, and the concern is he won't hit enough to stick in the corners, but he has the tools, power and speed, but his K rate is too high in AAA IMO. Weird Trayvon stat: .2010 in AA: 23 2B, 9 HR; 2011 in AAA: 9 2B, 26 HR. Seems fluky. I'm always concerned with such a low doubles total like that. He does have 6 triples though.
Albuquerque, the Dodgers AAA affiliate, is known as a launching pad, so take the home run numbers this year with a grain of salt. Even still, he does have speed on the basepaths and seems to have decent gap power, as evidenced by his doubles numbers in AA.
The return for Bedard and Fields, the former of which is a rental player, is a solid one, and gives the Mariners at least one building block going forward. Combined with the Doug Fister trade, the Mariners were able to flip the two starters and two relievers in the deals for decent hitting prospects, a priority for the Mariners going forward.
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