Andrés Muñoz, Seattle Mariners
The Mariners are perhaps the most interesting of all teams on this list, as general manager Jerry Dipoto is an infamous shuffler and dealer. Seattle is always one of the most active teams on the trade market, and the team is constantly making head-scratching deals that send away prized players, only to land a star in a separate deal a week later. This winter's bizarre Robbie Ray bazaar is a prime example.
If Alec Bohm could be the DH, if the Phillies hadn't signed Trea Turner, or if there was a single everyday playing spot up for grabs on the team, it would be so tempting for the Phillies to steal back J.P. Crawford. He has turned into everything Phillies talent evaluators believed he could be, bringing an elite glove up the middle with elite plate discipline and even some gap power. He led the American League in walks in 2023 and garnered down-ballot MVP votes with an .816 OPS.
Sadly, he's been locked up for the long term by Seattle, and there's no real spot for him in Philly, so J.P.'s window in the City of Brotherly Love is truly closed.
Perhaps the next most overlooked star on the Seattle roster is late-inning man Andrés Muñoz, who has thrown 137 innings of 2.88 ERA ball with excellent peripherals.
Andrés Muñoz is one of 6 pitchers with a sub-3.00 ERA and 12.0+ SO/9 across the last 2 seasons (min. 100 IP). pic.twitter.com/gVR6NeSv0v
— Mariners PR (@MarinersPR) February 2, 2024
The flamethrower is a right-hander, so he would fill the Craig Kimbrel gap and pair well with José Alvarado at the end of games.
While he's considered one of the best young relievers out there, relievers are notoriously volatile and even a short stretch of underperformance or middling performance could change the outlook of an ever-finicky Seattle front office.
Obviously, if Seattle is out of the playoff race in July, they are more likely to listen on a star reliever than a building block position player. Even if Seattle is in the race, they recently bulked up their pen with the addition of Gregory Santos, and they could look to add to a below-average offense by dealing from a position of depth.
No matter what, Muñoz would come with a hefty price tag. Dipoto has explored three-way trades with other teams in the past, so the Phillies could get creative in working with another team to put together a package for what will always be one of their chief areas of concern.