Who will be heir to the King?

With Beltre out the Mariners' IF goes from problem to disaster and I have no doubt the team is working on a solution. As Dave Cameron has pointed out several times, the team has pieces to trade in Bedard and Washburn, and sending those guys away hurts the team less than people think. But what kind of solutions are out there? I've spent a little time poking around ML rosters this afternoon trying to answer this question. What follows is by no means thorough, but is meant to be more of a jump off point where people can perhaps throw in their own suggestions.

In terms of players, I think basically any infielder except 1B can help the team. Since the team is already considering moving Lopez to third, then dealing for a 2B who is a significant improvement over Lopey and is under team control for a few years would be just as good as a 3B rent-a-player despite the higher cost. Similarly, finding a real ML shortstop would shift Yuni to 2B, where his range will play better, and Lopez to third. It's not that I'm a big fan of Lopez at third base, it's just that there aren't a lot of third basemen available and if the team is about to play Cedeno and Woodward at second base and move Lopez anyway.

Anyway, onto the trade-fantasies. By the way, in all these scenarios I'm figuring it's Washburn on the block on account of he's healthy and I don't really see Bedard getting much interest with Sheets hanging out waiting for a contract.

The first place to look, of course, is the Brewers; first place team, close race, loads of talent, and after Gallardo not much pitching to speak of. They have a few players who merit some attention. Craig Counsell, for one, is a lefty with an above average career OBP and gap power (sometimes). He's a GB hitter without the speed to make it really work, and some of his small sample success this season is on acocunt of a BABIP some forty points above career average. Still, ZiPS thinks he can hit for a .310 wOBA the reast of the way, and when that is combined his defense he's a valuable player. Oh, I forgot to mention, he's an excellent, excellent fielder. His career UZR/150 is in the 10< X <20 range at both 2B and 3B.

JJ Hardy is a little less tantalizing, if only because he's in the middle of a poor offensive year. Otherwise, he's a quality glove at SS, has above average power and a better eye than all but one of our current infielders. I'm not seriously considering him though because I don't think the Brewers can replace him as easily as Counsell. Bill Hall and Mat Gamel are also somewhat redundant, but I'm not that excited about either player, as one's not much of a hitter and the other's not much of a fielder.

The Phillies' rotation can use all the help they can get, so I spent a bit of time looking over their roster. Pedro Feliz is a great fielder whose bat will be a pretty good match for what Betlre had given us so far this season. But that's not a good thing. He's a righty with a below average OBP... I don't know why I even mention him.

Baker brought up Garett Atkins, and he has to be considered on account of he'd come real cheap. But he sports a career .730 OPS away from Coors comparet to over .900 at home, and he's a fuck-up fielder. One interesting thing about his splits is it's primarily his average that suffers away form Coors. His ISO is about the same, and he still has a pretty good eye. Anyway, he'd be better than Woodward and that's... actually that sums it up pretty well.

The best candidate, and of course the least likely, would be Willy Aybar. Tampa Bay is looking up at two excellent teams, has been getting poor performances out of Price, Kazmir, and Sonnastine, and could use some bullpen help on top of all that. In the meantime, with Longoria, Bartlett, Zobrist and Pena there isn't much room for Aybar in the infield, and while it's awesome to have a super sub like him, it's more awesome to have a starter who doesn't suck and use a guy like Brignac for your super sub. Aybar is a switch hitter with a good eye average power and a good enough glove. He's under a ridiculous contract through 2010 with a team option for '11 and his versatility would allow the team to be creative with the MIF situation in those years. I don't know how precious he is to the Rays' management, but right now he seems to me like the most desirable infielder in the majors who combines all the elements the Mariners need yet is not an essential cog in his team's machine.