It's not Roy Halladay or Cliff Lee getting traded, but it's a start.
I'll let our resident Seattleite weigh in with the final word, but the Mariners have made a sudden, albeit unlikely, push for the playoffs with the acquisition of pitcher Ian Snell and shortstop Jack Wilson in exchange for five players including former first round draft pick Jeff Clement. The other guys being sent to Pittsburgh are major league shortstop Ronny Cedeno and Single-A pitchers Aaron Pribanic, Brett Lorin, and Nathan Adcock.
Clement is a great acquisition for the Pirates. He's a catcher who can hit for power, but he could also play first base if they asked nicely. The 24-year-old is hitting .227 in 66 games at catcher and designated hitter with the M's this year.
It remains to be seen if the pitchers Pittsburgh received will be of any use, but Adcock was listed as throwing the Mariners' best curveball in the minor leagues by Baseball America.
I remember watching "Jumpin' Jack" Wilson play with the Pirates back in 2001. It's amazing he's been with the team so long. And it must've been tough on him to be on rather bad teams for the entire decade. For the first time in his MLB career he has a slight chance to contend for the postseason. Seattle is 7 1/2 games behind the Angels for the AL West lead, and 6 1/2 behind Boston for the Wild Card. Why the Mariners are emptying their farm system now is kind of puzzling, but perhaps Snell and Wilson are players Seattle wants on their side for 2010.
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