Mike Carp Would Make Great Addition to Seattle Mariners

Mike Carp is not among the top 10 prospects in the Mariners organization according to baseballamerica.com. However, in terms of talent, Carp definitely ranks.

Carp was acquired in that three-team, 12-player deal that involved the Mariners, Indians and NY Mets. Overall, the Mariners got the best part of that trade.

Endy Chavez has done a nice job and, at one time, was hitting over .300 BA. Jason Vargas did a great job both at Texas and vs Boston. And Carp was, I think, the hidden gem in the trade.

Carp's stats as of May 18: .301 batting avg, nine HRs, 22 RBI, 41 hits, 31 SO, and 26 BB.

The good outweighs the bad in Carp's case. He's a power hitter than can hit for avg. When you see "31 SO" you might think that he's like Ryan Howard: HRs only. But you'd be wrong; 26 walks shows that he's got plate discipline.

Comparing Minor League stats to Major League stats leaves room for doubt, but, if you take his stats and compared them to the top mariners players, they could give you an idea of where he would rank.

He would rank second behind Russell Branyan in HRs with nine, second in hits with 41 behind only Ichiro with 46, first in RBI with 22, and third in BA behind only Ichiro and Branyan.

That's not bad, but, over time, he will get much better. Next season, he will likely be the starting 1B.

The only downside is that Carp has never played in a ML game. The Mariners should test him around August and September if they are still in it or way out of it. That way, he gets a taste of the Majors and he can learn from Branyan, who will not get traded to the Mets.