Seattle Mariners Trade Rumors: David Price for Taijuan Walker?

You are the general manager of the Seattle Mariners and the phone rings. It is the Tampa Bay Rays, and they are offering David Price for Taijuan Walker in a one-for-one swap. Do you do the deal?

Whether this deal materializes or is even discussed remains to be seen. The Rays don’t have to trade Price, but this may be the time where he has the most value. He is healthy, pitching well and has a season and a half left on his current deal.

So, worst-case scenario you trade for Price and then possibly trade him next year at the deadline. If only it were that simple.

For the Mariners, this represents a dilemma. Price is a known quantity. He is an ace, a proven star and a game-changer on the mound. Pair him with Felix Hernandez and you might have the best pair of starters in all of baseball.

The problem is time. Baseball, like other sports, is all about deciding between the needs of the moment and the possibilities of the future. Realistically, Price may not want to stay with the Mariners beyond next year, and even if he did, he would be extremely expensive.

Walker represents “the future,” whatever that means. If Walker blossoms into the star that everyone hopes he will be, he could be an ace for the next decade.

Decisions, decisions.

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If you focus on the present, you think hard about doing this deal. Felix Hernandez and Robinson Cano are not going to be stars forever. At some point this franchise has to make a serious run at a World Series.

If you focus on the future, you put your trust in Walker’s ability and hope that King Felix, Cano, Kyle Seager and Walker can thrive in a multi-year window that starts this season. That would obviously be ideal, but there is no guarantee that Walker will develop.

In the end, this deal may not materialize simply because some other franchise may overpay for Price’s services. There are plenty of teams out there that would be willing to give up the farm for a player like Price.

So let us ask you, the people, would you do this deal?

Let us know why you made your choice in the comments section. In the next couple of weeks, you may find “Walker” and “Price” showing up in the same headline.