Case Closed: David "The D.A." Aardsma Should Be Traded

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I present to you the case for trading David Aardsma.

Aardsma has been fantastic for the Mariners this year. At the time of this article he is 27/30 in save opportunities (blown save tonight versus the White Sox) with 29 walks, 62 strikeouts, and a 1.55 ERA. Pretty good numbers.

The problem I have with Aardsma is his heavy reliance on his fastball, and only his fastball, to close games. It is his out-pitch, his "I'm in a jam" pitch, and everything in between. Occasionally he's been known to mix a change-up and a curveball in, but those pitches come few and far between. 

As we saw with Brandon Morrow at the beginning of the year, when a pitcher relies on his fastball and the hitters know that all of his other pitches are un-spectacular, they tend to sit on the fastball, waiting for an opportunity to make the pitcher pay. Usually it ends up hurting the club. 

Most fans would tend to agree that a pitcher who last year sported a 5.55 ERA, is less likely to continue in the trend he is in this season (see above statistics) after a mediocre (to put it kindly) career. However, Aardsma is young (26) and has settled into—and thrived in—the role as Seattle's closer. 

As soon as the 2009 season has come to a close, and teams are able to resume trading players in the normal manner, the Mariners have an opportunity to cash in (in a big way) on a statistic that is, in general, the most overrated in baseball: the save.

According to the Rules of Baseball, Rule 10.19, "The official shall credit a pitcher with a save when such pitcher meets all four of the following conditions:

1. He is the finishing pitcher in a game won by his team.

2. He is not the winning pitcher.

3. He is credited with at least 1/3 of an inning pitched.

4. He satisfies one of the following conditions:

I.) He enters the game with a lead of no more than three runs and pitches for at least one inning.

II.) He enters the game, regardless of the count, with the potential tying run either on base, at bat, or on deck.

III.) He pitches for at least three innings. 

Over the last few years, general managers and managers alike have begun to vastly overvalue this statistic. This was demonstrated perfectly last offseason when the New York Mets signed Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez to a three-year $37 million deal, making him the highest paid relief pitcher in baseball history.

While Aardsma is no K-Rod, last offseason the Mariners were able to trade J.J. Putz, Sean Green and Jeremy Reed to the Mets and Luis Valbuena to the Indians, in exchange for centerfielder Franklin Gutierrez (having a career year for the M's), Aaron Heilman, Miguel Cleto, Mike Carp, Jason Vargas, Endy Chavez, and Ezequiel Carerra.

Not bad for a day's work. Pretty good for what was essentially trading J.J. Putz, a former All-Star closer, and Sean Green, a decent relief pitcher, for a future All-Star, stud defensive centerfielder and prospects. Jeremy Reed was a throw-in, as he's been considered a scrub by the Seattle fanbase since shortly after his arrival in the Freddy Garcia trade with the White Sox. 

All that after Putz spent the majority of his time in 2008 on the disabled list (where he currently resides for the Mets). If Jack Zduriencik were to trade Aardsma, along with a few other players, after this season, I am absolutely positive that he could bring back a haul of talent much better than what he got last year for Putz. 

That talent could go a long way towards improving Seattle's offense, helping the team build on a surprising season that finds them in contention in mid-August.

Fans might ask, "Who is going to be our closer in 2010?" and the answer sits with the guy who is currently acting as the bridge between the starting pitcher and "The D.A.", Mark Lowe.

Lowe has talent. Everyone knows it. Opponents know it too. Up until this season, he was having difficulty utilizing that talent on a regular basis. Last season he was recovering from Tommy John surgery, and this year he struggled to start the season. 

Then it happened. Pitching coach Rick Adair decided that he wanted Lowe to change his delivery. It wasn't much of a change, really. Adair had simply noticed that when Lowe pitched from the stretch, instead of from his usual wind-up, he had improved velocity, and better control. All of his energy ended up going towards home plate. 

The result? Lowe went from having a 94-96 MPH fastball to having a 96-100 MPH fastball with better command of all his pitches. Recently he's been able to use his slider with almost as much effectiveness as his fastball, and he's begun to work an 89 MPH changeup in there every once in a while.

Keeping hitters off balance goes a long way towards getting hitters out, and when the hitter knows he's got a 99 MPH fastball in his arsenal, he has to stay on his toes, making his off-speed pitches that much more effective.

Lowe is becoming a complete pitcher, one who can throw the ball up there in triple digits on occasion, and then come back and baffle the batter with an off-speed breaking pitch. That is the perfect recipe for closing success.

If the Mariners decide that Lowe's not the answer in the ninth, they can always turn to one of the many closers in their farm system. Chad Cordero signed a contract with the Mariners this offseason but hasn't, as yet, regained his velocity after having surgery in 2008.

Josh Fields was drafted in the first round in 2008 as a closer out of Georgia. Phillipe Aumont, the Mariners first round selection (11th overall) in 2007 has been converted from a starter to a closer (which puzzles everyone after seeing him pitch in the World Baseball Classic for Canada). 

Aardsma's value, currently, is far too high for Seattle to sit on him. He's cheap, playing at the league minimum, and, while his salary is sure to go up after arbitration, he is considered an elite closer and will be much cheaper than a free agent of the same caliber. 

Closing won't be an issue in Seattle, not with the amount of talent that has been converted to closing in Seattle's minor league system. 

Case Closed. D.A. needs to go.