Can Seattle Mariners Trade For Bullpen Help in Wake of Matt Brash Injury?

The Seattle Mariners suffered a brutal blow on Wednesday, as ace reliever Matt Brash was placed on the 15-day injured list with a right lat strain.

It’s a worrisome development for Brash, who already missed time with the same injury earlier this season. It’s also worrisome for the Mariners, who are staring down the possibility of being without their most important reliever, for a potentially lengthy time period.

Brash currently has a 0.54 ERA in 20 games and is often the man that Dan Wilson turns to in the most critical moments of a contest.

Most fans believed the Mariners needed another high-leverage reliever anyways, but is there anywhere for them to turn on the trade market right now to help cover up for the loss of Brash?

We got the answer to that on the latest ‘Refuse to Lose Territory’ podcast with ESPN MLB Insider Buster Olney.

Seattle Mariners pitcher Matt Brash (47) throws during the seventh inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images

“Yeah, if the Mariners looking for help now in the bullpen, get in line.

There are so many teams that could use bullpen help. The bullpens this year have been really volatile. You know, you and I have talked about this: not every team has Mason Miller, and bullpens all around baseball are compromised.

And here’s the thing: There are just not a lot of players available right now. You know, recently, Red Sox president Sam Kennedy was on a radio interview, and said ‘there’s more trade talk than we’ve ever seen before.’

And I’ve had two general managers say to me that when they heard this, they were like, ‘really? There is?’

And they got on the phone and they’re calling their colleagues because they’re thinking, ‘I’m not doing my job. Like, I’m not aware of this’. And then they called colleagues and, and they were told, ‘yeah, no, that’s just the Red Sox.’

And so for now, especially with the American League being so mediocre, and as I said in early April the land of opportunity, I think that you’re seeing, a lot of teams might be poking around and asking about bullpen help them, but there’s just not that many available names.

I had one specific conversation with a general manager who said, and I can’t tell you who the the team is that he called, but he called this team and he basically asked for a second, third-tier reliever, and the next day got back, ‘nope, we’re not trading.’

Seattle Mariners reliever Matt Brash (47) delivers a pitch during the seventh inning against the Chicago White Sox at T-Mobile Park. Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images

And this was a team that’s not expected to contend, and I think that speaks to, generally speaking whether or not the relievers are available, which is why internal options, I think are going to become really important.”

As for the Mariners’ internal options? Well, they don’t have have anybody that can pitch to the capability of Brash. They’ll have to work on developing guys like Alex Hoppe, Domingo Gonzalez and Robinson Ortiz.

In addition to Brash, Cooper Criswell is also on the injured list, which poses an additional set of problems.

The Mariners (36-33), will take on the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday afternoon at 4:05 p.m. PT.

You can listen to the full ‘Refuse to Lose Territory’ podcast with Buster Olney here, or you can watch below:

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