Mariners Moose Tracks 2/9/20: Emilio Pagan, Sis Bates, and somehow still the Mookie Betts trade

I wrote this on my phone at 11:30 post tequila sodas so treat typos kindly thank you. -John

Don’t worry, it’s only 9:30 here so I will clean this up. Although I can’t say there were “no” tequila sodas involved. -Kate

In Mariners news...

• Baseball America ($) counted up all the players who got at least one Top-150 vote in the creation of their top 100 list. The Blue Jays, Braves, Indians, Rangers, Cardinals, Red Sox, Yankees, and Mariners all placed at least five players on the list. The Mariners had five: Justin Dunn, George Kirby, Kyle Lewis, Justus Sheffield, and Brandon Williamson. Of these five, however, only Kirby and Williamson are not MLB-adjacent/haven’t been on top prospect lists before. Noelvi Marte apparently didn’t receive any votes, which is something we expect to change by next year. Cal Raleigh also didn’t receive any consideration as a top-150 prospect, apparently. [Show me the people who voted for Cole Roederer from the Cubs and not Cal. I just want to talk.]
• Mariners prospect [Janet voice: not a prospect] Penn Murfee took a brief jaunt from Arizona up the coast to his alma mater, Santa Clara, to get in a little pre-spring training work. It’s exciting to see the players filtering into Arizona as baseball gets . . .slowly. . .closer.

• Meanwhile, Kyle Lewis is probably wishing he was headed to Arizona. Side note: “what going onnnnn?!” is my new favorite reaction gif.

In Astros cheating scandal news...

• (Yeah, I made a whole new category for this because this is the story that will not end, yes it goes on and on my friends.)
• Charlie Morton is sorry for not doing more to stop the sign-stealing scandal.

• Despite being present and in a leadership role in Houston for most of the known cheating timeline, Orioles GM Mike Elias is confident neither he nor other Orioles employees will be connected to the scandal.
• Technically Red Sox cheating scandal news, but notable since Peter Gammons suggested otherwise.

In Moribund Red Sox trade news...

• Hopefully this one will be an equally short-lived category.
• Honestly, I’m not even sure where we are on this. The same place as Saturday, I guess? The Twins are out, except they aren’t officially out, and no amount of tweets is moving this process along, much to everyone’s annoyance.
• Look, Ken has been reduced to trying to solve the problem himself. Also, somewhere Brodie Van Wagenen read the last sentence of this tweet and emitted a gentle “ha.”

• The trade has now dragged on long enough that MLB players like Justin Turner and Trevor Bauer are weighing in. I don’t always agree with Trevor Bauer, but on this thing I do: literally no one cares who had it first. [I guess I’m technically agreeing with Justin Turner, but I agree with the sentiment of both tweets.]

Around the league...

• The Rays had their FanFest yesterday, which must be fun, right? Anyway, that’s why the links are somewhat Rays-slanted today. Tyler Glasnow says he’s ready for spring:

• While the Mookie Betts trade remains on life support, the Rays completed a trade of their own:

The Rays have relievers coming out of their ears so getting a position players makes sense, although many have pointed out that Margot, a defensive specialist and center fielder, seems redundant on a roster that also contains Kevin Kiermaier. Who knows, maybe the Rays have a plan to deploy a two-man outfield in 2020. Let’s get weird.

• Sean Gilmartin is not himself a memorable player, but makes an appearance in links today for being the one (1) player whose name Kate remembered and John did not. A former first-rounder escaped Dipoto’s clutches? Jerry, pal, you’re slipping.

• Who wants a little light cheating for brunch?

• The Blue Jays are here to make sure the Rays don’t hog all the fringe signing news, as they’ve signed Rafael Dolis to an MLB deal:

• Tommy Hunter also has found a home, making him the 70th person in Phillies camp this spring, per Todd Zolecki.
• In sadder news, former Rockies and Cubs outfielder Angel Echevarria has passed away at the age of 48.
• Celebrate Black History Month with Marvin Freeman and “Team: The Fellas” (I know this isn’t how this is supposed to scan but I like the idea of a team called The Fellas better)

In other Seattle sports...

• So many new categories of links today! The XFL kicked off yesterday and while we did not ourselves watch it, it seemed to be a hit, judging from the buzz it generated over social media. The Seattle Dragons lost in the fourth quarter to the DC Defenders, but no one seemed overly worked up about it, and everyone seemed to appreciate the Defenders taking this victory lap. Low-stakes sports are fun! [I promise there is not someone from the Mariners FO pointing a gun at my head while I type that.]

Kate’s pick:

• UW Softball played a doubleheader yesterday with Georgia Tech and won both games. Sis Bates continues to play incredible defense at short:

She’s pretty good on both sides of the ball, actually, knocking in this walkoff single to secure Game 1 of the doubleheader: