Mariners’ July Deals

The Mariners have been by far the busiest team this month as the trading deadline looms. (It’s just over an hour away as I write this.) It’s not a big surprise, as the M’s organization was left in a shambles by the prior GM. There’s a LOT of work to do, and the horrible contracts that have been signed are forcing some creativity.

The deals have been rather splashy. Let’s look at each one in turn:

Yuniesky Betancourt and some cash for Derrick Saito (LHP, A) and Daniel Cortes (RHP, AA).

Yuni had pretty much developed a reputation for being a zero work-ethic, uncoachable, under-average SS. Some fielding metrics showed him to be BY FAR the worst defensive shortstop in baseball. Yet The M’s managed to pull a low-level reliever that strikes out a ton of guys and the Royal’s third-best prospect for him. A steal. Even if they’re paying a couple million of Yuni’s salary this year and next. They’d be paying him anyway.

Wladamir Balantien for Robert Manuel (RHP, AAA/MLB).

Balantien had played his way out of the organization and had been DFA’d. The M’s got an arm for him. Balantien will do much better in Cincinnati than Seattle as that park is much friendlier to right-handed pull hitters. Manuel is 26, just making the show and may, or may not, ever help the M’s. But he’s got a better chance of doing so than Balantien, so we’ll call this a good one but it’s a “eh” deal.

Jeff Clement, Ronny Cedeno, and 3 decent A-level pitchers for Jack Wilson (SS), Ian Snell (RHP, AAA/MLB), and cash.

This is the big one. Clement had pretty much shown he can’t catch, and the organization is overloaded with 1b/DH types, and they’re one of the easiest assets to acquire. Ronny Cedeno is all-glove, no hit. Jack Wilson is a better glove, and slightly better bat but older and more expensive than Cedeno. Ian Snell is a bit of a headcase (he told Pittsburgh he’d rather stay in AAA and work on his mechanics there than be called up. Huh?) but has some pretty good upside. He has performed well in the past (won 14 games one year in Pittsburgh) but has regressed. He is MLB-level talent, though, probably up to a #3 starter or so. I’ve seen the opinion go a few ways on this trade, with a slight leaning to the M’s overpaying for Wilson and Snell. That third pitcher tips it Pittsburgh’s way, though getting nearly all of Wilson and Snell’s salaries paid this year helps balance it out.

Wilson is likely the Mariner SS for this year and next, then leaves as a free agent. This gives the team a year to find his replacement, because there’s nothing in the farm system even remotely close to the majors. Snell could be in the rotation for a while if the M’s figure out how to get his head screwed back on. Or, he could flame out. He likely needed a change of scenery, and having an expansive park with a good defense behind him should help. A lot.

Jarrod Washburn for Luke French (LHP, MLB) and Mauricio Robles (LHP, A)

This one looks like the cliche’d win-win, and here’s the main reason why: The Mariners are not making the playoffs this year even with Washburn. And Washburn’s not coming back despite his comments about liking Seattle. (He’s a free agent with Scott Boras for an agent – he will get paid far more than he’s actually worth.) The M’s needed to trade him to get value back. And value they got. Luke French is almost a carbon-copy of Washburn, but 12 years younger, MLB minimum salary, and under team control for 6 more years. That would have been a decent deal right there. But on top of that, they got a pretty good A-level arm to replace some of those we’d lost earlier. And Detroit gets a guy pitching real well right now for a playoff push. Hopefully, for their sake, Washburn doesn’t regress to the mean until next year.

So, what’s the actual net effect here?

The Mariners have, for this year and next, upgraded SS, and deepened the rotation. Yes, losing Washburn hurts a little bit right now, but getting Olson/Jak out of the rotation helps. They tweaked around their low-minors pitching. (Traded away three A-level pitchers for two A-level and one AA-level pitchers.) They also received a reliever and a starter trying to establish themselves at the MLB level.

What did they give up? Four players that had no current useful roles with the organization or were being replaced by incoming players, and a starter who was going to be with them for two more months. To get an average-but-expensive MLB starting SS, two MLB-quality back-end-of-the-rotation starting pitchers, and an MLB-ready reliever. And a rather large break in the payroll for the rest of the season.

I’ll take it. It’s refreshing to not have to worry about who’s fleecing the M’s next. A good GM goes a long way to making happy fans…