Taylor Trammell has been a headline name among prospects each time he’s been traded. The speedy outfielder now finds himself in the Seattle Mariners organization after a trade in August from the San Diego Padres.
It was a full-circle moment for the 23-year-old who had introduced himself to one of his idols, Ken Griffey Jr. at the 2018 Future’s Game. He also had a chance to show off in front of him.
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As far as the team’s mark in the AL West, Trammell believes the one team that could give the Mariners the most worry in the division next season is the A’s.
“Because of who they got on their team,” Trammell said on the latest episode of Balk Talk. “Honestly their infield is stacked, but I think that for me, looking at their guys that they have, you know [A.J.] Puk and [Jesús] Luzardo, those guys are a hard, one-two punch.”
“Everyone knows that guy is a dog,” Trammell said about Luzardo.
Luzardo looks to be one of the top starters in the A's rotation next season, A's manager Bob Melvin said during Winter Meetings media availability. And as far as Puk goes, he's on his way to joining the team around spring training after dealing with a few injury setbacks.
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Trammell did say there are obviously still moves that need to be made despite a very productive offseason for his former Padres team, but for now he felt confident saying Oakland is the tough matchup in 2021.
Yes, I did slightly bait Trammell on choosing the A’s as the Mariners’ biggest threat, but he really liked what he saw from the “stacked” infield.
“I see Matt Olson having a huge year, I just see the way he works, he’s from Georgia, I hit with him sometimes, I see the type of work he puts in, how detailed he is, he’s a very, very good hitter, and very good fielder,” Trammell said.
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Trammell said the Gold Gloves from both Olson and third baseman Matt Chapman “speak for themselves.”
“On paper, I think they’ll have a really good year,” Trammell said.