There is also the problem of a “suitable replacement”. If he’s available for the Mariners (i.e. Hudson, Lopez, Cabrera, even Kennedy), he’s available to the Twins. There is no reason to give up anything to trade for Lopez.

Just two cents from the other side…

There is just a good of chance that he puts it all together and hits on the road and at home than not. If he dose put it together, he’s a top 5 2nd baseman. Then trade him.

I feel the opportunity for a “beneficial trade” and “suitable replacement [via free agency]” almost contradict each other. As stated by the blog earlier, this is certainly a buyers market. There are simply too many free agents with too few holes for teams to fill. And this is no more evident than by the 2B market. There’s a surplus of free agent 2B, (enough that Mark Loretta was forced to retirement, and it’s not like Orlando Cabrera is getting countless offers to play SS so his name might be added to the 2B market) and not enough teams that need 2B.

Ultimately if Orlando Hudson, Adam Kennedy, and Felipe Lopez are of equal value to Jose Lopez and are available to the Mariners for a “fair price,” then they’re also availble to the Twins and Nats at that same fair price. So why would the Twins give up a Fransisco Liriano and why would the Nats give up a Josh Willingham if their 2B holes can be filled with similar talent via free agency without losing any assets?

I feel like these suggested trade scenarios would require Jack Z to do some serious duping of other GMs to convince them Jose Lopez is significantly better than the free agent alternatives. Sometimes it seems we get caught in a Mariner’s-centered vacuum where we don’t put ourselves in the other team’s shoes. (see Ben Sheets – of all the M’s fans who said “let’s sign Ben Sheets,” how many put themselves in Billy Beane’s shoes? I certainly didn’t.)

If Lopez can put his 08 home numbers together with his 09 road numbers he is a top 5 MLB 2nd baseman.

I for one would like to see him get that chance.

Triunfel would definitely get the most use out of his arm on the left side of the infield or RF, but it wouldn’t be wasted at second.

I agree that he may be the key piece in a trade once you can get full value from him and he’s close to the major leagues. Kind of sucks because I was hoping to see him in a Mariners uniform one day, but oh well.

I say hold onto him and trade him at the end of this year. I doubt the secondbase market can be anymore flooded than this year. I don’t think he hurts that much. Plus I see Ackley as the secondbaseman come 2011. Also, on that note, I’m coming to believe that Triunfel is not going to be a Mariner in the future. I see him as a cornerstone in a trade in the next couple years. It seems he slots best at 2nd and 3rd and if Ackley works out, they are set at those positions for years to come.

They’re both expected to see the big leagues before Lopez’s contract is up, and both are potential full-timers by 2012, when Lopez would be a free agent.

One other upside to keeping Lopez that no one talks about, will be the compensatory draft pick(s) when he leaves. Both Hudson and Polanco were Type A free agents this year despite similar production to Jose over the last two years. Added to that, Jose has more power than either of those two put together, and we all know that the Elias rankings love home runs.

There is a lot of hidden value in a cheap, league average infielder, with SOME upside (though as Jon notes maybe not as much as we think), who will be ranked highly when he departs.

Gut feeling though, do you think he actually gets traded before spring training?