It has been nearly three weeks since the Seattle Mariners traded Ichiro Suzuki, Brandon League, and Steve Delabar. Let’s take a look at the prospects acquired in the trades, and see how they are doing.
Ichiro netted a pair of pitchers from the New York Yankees, and both were assigned to Triple-A Tacoma.
Starting pitcher D.J. Mitchell has given the Rainiers’ rotation a big lift, delivering three solid outings before struggling Saturday in Memphis. Mitchell allowed three earned runs in his first 18 innings for Tacoma but gave up six in 4 innings Saturday in the Rainiers’ 7-5 loss.
Mitchell has shown a good sinking fastball that tops out at 89 mph, a good curve and a change-up. Mitchell has pitched with intelligence, says Rainiers manager Daren Brown.
“He has a good idea what he’s trying to do out there,” said Brown.
Reliever Danny Farquhar was also acquired in the Ichiro trade, and he has not allowed a run in his first 8 innings out of the Tacoma bullpen.
A 5-foot-9 right-hander from Pembroke Pines, Fla., the oft-traded Farquhar says that his success this year has been a result of using one consistent arm slot. He used to intentionally use different arm slots to give batters different looks, but it cost him command.
The two players acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the League trade were assigned to lower-level farm teams.
Logan Bawcom, a 23-year-old right-handed reliever, was assigned to Double-A Jackson after the trade. In four games for the Generals, he has shown some control problems – Bawcom has issued eight walks in 52/3 innings.
The good news is he hasn’t been easy to hit, allowing five hits and striking out seven, and has been unscored upon in three appearances.
Outfielder Leon Landry has been a hitting machine since the trade, collecting at least one hit in each of his nine games for Class-A advanced High Desert.
Landry has six multi-hit games for the Mavericks, two of them four-hit games – including a cycle on Aug. 3 at Lancaster, Calif.
A 22-year-old center fielder from Louisiana State University, Landry was the Dodgers’ third-round draft pick in 2010. He’s batting .476 through nine games for High Desert, going 20-for-42.
Landry was playing for the Racho Cucamonga Quakes, the Dodgers’ affiliate in the California League, prior to the deal, and his combined season-long statistics are something to marvel at: .344 average, 31 doubles, 17 triples, 10 home runs, 60 runs batted in, and 24 stolen bases.
One thing Landry does not do is walk. He has 11 unintentional walks in 387 at-bats, with none since the trade – but why walk if you are hitting .476?
Delabar’s prospect is Eric Thames, who is in the majors.
Mike Curto is the radio broadcaster for the Tacoma Rainiers.
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