Phillies Trade Chips: Jeanmar Gomez
By Matt Veasey
GOMEZ TO THE SEATTLE MARINERS
Are the Mariners contenders? Are they buyers or sellers? This could be one of the more interesting teams to watch at the deadline and for the balance of the season.
They sit at 49-47, just 5.5 games behind Texas in the AL West race and 4.5 games back of the final AL Wildcard berth.
Gomez could come in and take over the closer role from Steve Cishek, slot in as his setup man and insurance, or become the 7th inning guy with occasional late work if the M’s believe that young Edwin Diaz, their closer of the future, is ready for a key role on a contender.
Righties Joel Peralta and Joaquin Benoit are both here and have plenty of experience, but neither has been completely reliable this year, and Gomez would upgrade over both.
I would think that a price such as Paul Blackburn, a 22-year old righty just obtained as part of the Mike Montgomery deal with the Cubs, would be something the M’s could afford to part with, and who would be attractive to the Fightin’ Phils.