The Seattle Mariners have come up in trade rumors involving Nick Franklin in spring training and now the Tampa Bay Rays have emerged along with the New York Mets as potential destinations and a deal could go down before the season involving names like David Price or Jeremy Hellickson.
The Mariners have a glut of players at shortstop and second base, as Franklin can play both positions, but with Robinson Cano and fellow rookie from last year Brad Miller on the roster, his name has come up frequently. The Mariners brought up Franklin and Miller last season, with Miller playing short and Franklin taking over second base. The team signed Robinson Cano so clearly there is no reason for Franklin to play second and with the Mariners liking Miller at short, Franklin could be the expendable one.
The Mariners could move him, but they don't have another position open where he fits, as Kyle Seager is developing into a nice third baseman and the outfield is crowded at the moment. This has all the feel of one of those Mariners trades that is misguided even with him not having a place on the field, as he is a young player with potential like Michael Pineda, Brendon Morrow...shall I go on? Yes, it could be a good move for the Mariners to trade Franklin, but chances are it won't pay off for Seattle.
CBS Sports reported the news first about the Rays and Jon Heyman wrote that the team could be looking into Franklin after having interest earlier in the offseason when the David Price trade rumors came up. Price is liekly staying put for now and Adam Rubin from ESPN.com, who reported the Mets news, wrote on Twitter that a deal was likely to go through for Jeremy Hellickson, but after he was injured, the two teams backed off the deal.
The Mets have been flirting with a move as well and this comes after the team has been connected with Stephen Drew, buty have been unwilling to meet his contract demands. The Mets could pull off a deal as well and this comes after Franklin played in just over 100 games and hit .225 with 12 home runs, 45 RBIs and six stolen bases and he also played 90 games at second and two at shortstop. The Mets could use him there for Rueben Tejada and he originally is a shortstop by trade and was moved by the Mariners.