Mariners trade C David Banuelos to Twins for $1 million in international slot money in pursuit of Shohei Ohtani

We’ve got ourselves a late night trade as the Mariners jockey for position in the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes.

The Mariners gave up their 5th round pick, a well-regarded defensive catcher who hit respectably in Low-A Everett this year and signed for $300,000. Seattle’s number 10 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, Banuelos will be missed, particularly as this leaves Joe DeCarlo the best catching prospect left in the system, and he has been a catcher for under a calendar year, but if the result is Ohtani it’s tough not to see this as a win.

Seattle received $1 million in international slot money, putting them at just above $2.6 million, trailing only the Rangers at $3.5 million. Unfortunately, the Angels have returned serve.

The Angels have also received $1 million, putting them just shy of Seattle at $2.3 million. As it stands, the three AL West teams can all offer multi-million signing bonuses to Ohtani while the NL teams are all limited to just $300,000. That may not matter much to Ohtani, but it could to his agents. In the event that Ohtani signs elsewhere, there are still other places for the money to go, but there’s clearly a 1st choice and consolation prizes.

Note: We will update this is information progresses or put a new post up if a decision is made tonight.