The MLB trade rumors for 2014 are starting to heat up into June and names like David Price, Jeff Samardzija, Cliff Lee and Jason Hammel are in the mix with Justin Masterson as targets for the Seattle Mariners and NY Yankees and this comes as the M's are in the second wild card and waiting for the returns of James Paxton and Taijuan Walker from injuries.
The Mariners are in the second wild card in the AL as of June 10 and that puts the team in playoff contention heading into the summer, while the Yankees are struggling while dealing with injuries. Both teams could use upgrades in the rotation, as they have major players out, with the Yanks missing CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova and Michael Pineda, while the Mariners are down their two best young pitchers in Paxton and Walker.
The Mariners have been hanging around in the AL West this season and with rumors of a Nick Franklin trade still brewing, the team is expecting to get back both Taijuan Walker and James Paxton for the pitching rotation by June and that could set up the team for an exciting race to the wild card in the American League after going even with a 25-25 record through 50 games in the first season with Robinson Cano and now they are five games over .500.
The Mariners came into the season with high expectations after signing Robinson Cano and while they did not say they would win the division, the franchise expects to show some improvement and expects to contend for the wild card this year. The team has been out of it by the summer time in each of the past few years and while they are only at .500 right now, the team has shown signs of life with Dustin Ackley and Hisashi Iwakuma and getting back Paxton and Walker could be a huge boost.
According to Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times, Walker is set to start his rehab assignment in the majors and he could be back in the rotation by June if there are no setbacks. Walker is the top prospect for the Mariners and they have high hopes for him and he looks to come back after dealing with a shoulder injury. Walker was supposed to join the rotation before the season started in spring training before he went down with an injury and Paxton started the season in the rotation before getting put on the DL after making two starts.
Paxton was farther along than Walker in his rehab, but things are on hold for him after he made a start in Triple A Tacoma and felt some tightness the next day. Paxton threw 62 pitches in three innings in his first game action since April after suffering a strained back and now he is waiting to see how his sore triceps feel in the coming week. Paxton could be back in the rotation as soon as next week and he would take over for Brandon Maurer, who is only 1-3 this season. Funny enough, Paxton made two starts against the Angels before hitting the DL and his next scheduled start is against Anaheim as well.
Seattle has the best record heading into June for the team in the past 10 years and while they are just even right now, it's a distinct improvement from last year and having Cano in the fold has gotten fans into the mix as well. The Mariners have been able to stick around in the west division in the American League this season and the pitching has been excellent despite the fact that the rotation has not been 100 percent staffed and now that the two youngsters are coming back the M's have high expectations for the back stretch of the season.