Marlins Acquire Brayan Hernandez, 3 Others, for David Phelps

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The Mariners and Marlins engaged in a true coast-to-coast deal. You cannot get much further than Miami to Seattle.

Miami Marlins trade:

David Phelps

Seattle Mariners trade:
Brayan Hernandez
Brandon Miller
Pablo Lopez
Lucas Schiraldi

David Phelps was a Super-2, so he will go through arbitration for a fourth time this offseason, giving the Mariners—they hope—two years of quality high-leverage relief pitching. He rates well in several categories (at a quick glance, he appears to be top 40 out of approximately 310 RP with at least 30 innings pitched over the last two years in ERA, FIP, xFIP, K/9, and WAR; primary negative is roughly middle-of-pack in K:BB ratio).
Granted, Phelps is making good money but still underpaid using standard WAR:dollar ratios.

So, the Mariners are receiving an underpaid reliever who is reasonably among the top 15-20% of relievers.

They give up:

Brayan Hernandez

Hernandez originally signed with the Mariners in 2014 for $1.85M. He was ranked 14^th in our preseason Mariners top 50. That is in line with other outlet’s pre-season rankings: 16^th at Baseball America and 12^th at Fangraphs.

Our Mariners’ writer had this to say:

He was one of the top international prospects in the 2014 class and that was for his ability to showcase the 5 classic tools scouts salivate over. As of now, he is a line-driver hitter who can bat from sides, and play a solid centerfield. The onus is now on Hernandez to continue to develop his considerable gifts moving forward.

And a quote from Baseball America:

He has a smooth swing geared for solid, consistent contact, but struggles with breaking ball recognition and gets too pull-happy at times. He has average power potential at best.

Eric Longenhagen also noted Hernandez’s difficulty recognizing breaking pitches; however, he also noted that Hernandez has a compact swing that should enable him be a league average hitter.

Brandon Miller

Miller was the Mariners’ 6^th round pick in the 2016 draft. Since then, he has continued to prove himself and distinguishing himself as one of the Mariners better starting pitching prospects. He currently uses a 3-pitch mix with the changeup still needing refinement.
Ranked 23^rd in our pre-season rankings, here is what our writer had to say:

Miller’s middle name might as well be Brandon Command Miller. He has the best command of any pitcher arguably right now in this system. As with other pitchers that are on this list, he has the potential to be a #4 or #5 type pitcher for the Mariners.

And, again, from Baseball America:

[He] is durable and throws all his pitches for strikes, and profiles well as a back-end starter as long as his changeup continues to develop

Pablo Lopez

Lopez was unranked—regrettably—in our pre-season top 50. As a 20-year old in Single-A with good K:BB ratios and despite an unsightly ERA, he was probably deserving. For example, John Sickels gave him a C+ which puts him roughly in the top 25.

Lopez has displayed great progress since Tommy John surgery sidelined him in 2014. So far, he has delivered positive results with a three-pitch mix that delivers a healthy dose of groundballs. One concern is that as he progresses, his inability to induce strikeouts (currently spotting a 8.0 K/9 in A+) may derail him despite great command of the strike zone.

Lukas Schiraldi

Schiraldi looks to be a classic low-floor but potentially good relief pitcher (i.e., lots of strikeouts accompanied by lots of walks) that always fits well as an add-on piece. Of course, he has good bloodlines as well.