After an abysmal 2015, the Mariners went in a new direction, hiring Jerry Dipoto as their General Manager after firing Jack Zdurencik from that same job title months prior.

It was pretty clear what Dipoto’s idea was; act quickly and don’t slow down. It’s still true to this day; Dipoto has just made his 100th trade in nearly 4 calendar years. So why not analyze it?

Trade 1: Tampa Bay trades SP Nate Karns, LHP C.J. Riefenhauser, and OF Boog Powell for INF Brad Miller, 1B/DH Logan Morrison, RP Danny Farquhar on 11-5-15

At the time, there was a big hole in the projected 2016 rotation. The absolutes were Taijuan Walker, James Paxton, and Felix Hernandez. Hisashi Iwakuma was a free agent, and there really wasn’t anyone to step in the rotation. Karns was off a 3.67 ERA/4.09 FIP, 3.4 BB/9 and an 8.9 K/9 with 5 more years of control. Riefenhauser was reliever depth, and Boog Powell had a high OBP in the AA, and AAA levels and was probably going to be the starting center fielder for the 2017 Mariners and would have made his debut in 2016 because he fit that athletic, high OBP players Dipoto looked for that offseason… while the trade was good at the time, it turned into a disaster. Karns wasn’t good in his first year, was traded the next offseason, Riefenhauser was traded a month later, and Powell got suspended for PED’s, and never saw MLB action with Seattle.

Miller was the Mariners utility man in 2015 losing his starting job to Ketel Marte (traded a year later) and was nothing more than average offensively and below average defensively. Morrison was an average hitting first baseman/DH and Danny Farquhar was demoted and promoted from AAA and MLB countless times (actually demoted 4 times but). None of these people are with the organization they were traded to.

Trade 2: San Diego Padres trade RP Joaquin Benoit, Seattle Mariners trade SP Enyel De Los Santos and INF Nelson Ward (11-2-15)

The Mariners were in the midst of making an entire new bullpen in the offseason and Benoit was going to be their set up man (they later signed Steve Cishek, who was traded 2 years later). Benoit was 38, and a free agent after the year but he was still productive with San Diego (2.34 ERA, 67 G). That lasted until about mid season, cause he was traded.

SP Enyel De Los Santos did well for San Diego in the minors, and was traded to Philadelphia where he really did well and now is a rotation option for Philadelphia with 5 more years of control after this year. Nelson Ward is in independent league now so he’s irrelevant to the deal. But, this trade is still an L for Jerry in hindsight since De Los Santos is a viable rotation option for the Majors, and Benoit (plus the guy he was traded for) were only in Seattle for 2016.

Trade 3: Texas Rangers trade OF Leonys Martin, and RHP Anthony Bass to the Seattle Mariners for OF/RHP James Jones, RP Tom Wilhelmsen, and INF Patrick Kivlehan. (11-16-15)

This was a part of the bullpen makeover, trading Tom Wilhelmsen, who had a career 2.97 ERA/3.39 FIP with Seattle from 2011-2015 and was a free agent after 2016. The Mariners destroyed him in the very first series in Texas, and later in 2016 returned to Seattle after an ERA over 10 in 21 games. James Jones was a fast outfielder, which was about it, and Kivlehan is basically irrelevant now. Only Jones remains in the Texas organization, but now he’s a pitcher. Yep.

Leonys Martin was going to be their starting center fielder for at least 2016 (FA after 2017), and he also was for some time in 2017 when he wasn’t injured, and later DFA’d in 2017. Martin hit .234/.291/.362 in a Mariners uniform but had 3 DRS with the Mariners in the outfield in that same time. But yeah, he was bad offensively. Anthony Bass was depth at the time, but was granetd to release to play for a KBO team. And now, he’s back with the Mariners and performing well. Considering Bass is back with the Mariners, Martin was… something and Wilhelmsen returned to the Mariners (albeit a 5.01 FIP), Dipoto didn’t lose this trade for sure. But he didn’t really win it either.

Fun Fact: Tom Wilhelmsen hit Chris Ianetta in the second game of the season after giving up a bomb and caused the benches to nearly clear, and this is where you see Scott Servais say some really nice words for the Rangers manager at the time in Jeff Bannister. ( https://www.mlb.com/video/tempers-heat-up-after-hbp/c-574843683)

Trade 5: Baltimore Orioles trade C Steve Clevenger to the Mariners for 1B/DH Mark Trumbombs and LHP C.J. Riefenhauser (12-1-15)

Riefenhauser looks familiar right? That’s cause he was traded a month earlier! Shocker. Trumbo was about to get paid a good amount in arbitration and considering he was all power with no defense, Dipoto didn’t like that mold so he traded him for the 2nd time in his career. Yes, Dipoto traded Trumbo when he was with the Angels. Shocker. The Rockies also showed interest but he went to the Orioles.

Clevenger was going to be the backup catcher to newly signed Chris Ianetta after hitting .287/.314/.426 in 30 games for Baltimore. He was just bad for Seattle, only lasted 26 games, was DFA’d and then suspended by the Mariners for the rest of the season in September (https://t.co/LA1WtB4QaH?amp=1). He hasn’t played a game since. Whoops. Trumbo is still with Baltimore after signing a contract that heavily favored Trumbo and now he isn’t good and here we are. Riefenhauser hasn’t pitched since 2016. So, yeah. No winners here. Trumbo didn’t fit the Mariners with Nelson Cruz at DH, they saved money and. Yeah. I don’t even know.

Trade 7: Boston Red Sox trade SP Wade Miley and RHP Jonathan Aro for RP Carson Smith and LHP Roenis Elias (12-7-15).

This was a questionable trade at the time. Carson Smith had a 2.31 ERA/2.12 FIP with an 11.8 K/9 in 70 games with 5 more years of control and was dominant in the bullpen for Seattle. Elias was a serviceable back end starter (3.97 ERA/4.23 FIP in 51 G) for the Mariners from 2014-2015. But clearly, Dipoto sees the future because Carson Smith has pitched a grand total of 29 games from 2016-2019 for Boston. Elias was later traded back to Seattle in 2018 (and then traded to Washington in mid 2019).

Miley was off a 4.46 ERA/3.81 FIP for Boston with 32 starts in 2015 and was under contract for 2 more seasons with a club option for 2018. He was the first starter Dipoto traded for, but then later signed Hisashi Iwakuma that month. Miley was the mid rotation starter after Felix and Iwakuma, and ahead of Paxton and Walker. Miley was an absolute disaster for Seattle, and then traded at the deadline in 2016. Jonathan Aro was reliever depth at the time, and never pitched a game for Seattle. There’s no winner for this trade, really, another one of “those” trades.

Fun Fact: When Elias was traded back to the Mariners, it was for a PTBNL, who was Eric Filia. Filia was sent back to Seattle due to medical concerns and has since been suspended twice for PED’s.

Trade 9: Milwaukee Brewers trade 1B Adam Lind, Seattle Mariners trade SP Freddy Peralta, Carlos Herrera, Daniel Missaki. (12-9-15)

Freddy Peralta has really performed well in the minors for Milwaukee (before 2019, actually) and was serviceable in 2018 for the big league club with a 4.25 ERA in 14 GS. He hasn’t been good this year, but he still has 5 years left of control after this year. Peralta performing at the big league level wasn’t fun for Dipoto to see, considering Adam Lind was really bad. Herrera hasn’t done anything in the minors and Missaki hasn’t pitched since 2015. With neither Herrera and Missaki doing anything, the final trade is really Peralta for Lind.

Lind was a free agent after the year, and to be fair, Peralta wasn’t rated high before being traded. At the time, the Mariners first baseman was Jesus Montero. So, they needed a first baseman. Yet, I’m not sure this was the guy to do it considering the lack of control and the fact he needed a platoon partner for the entire year. Lind also hit .239/.286/.431 and yeah he wasn’t good. He played one year for Seattle and the Mariners have cycled through first baseman since.

Trade 12: San Diego Padres trade RP Nick Vincent, Seattle Mariners trade a PTBNL (3-30-16)

The Padres received OF Jabari Blash as the PTBNL, and he did… nothing. But Vincent was about to be DFA’d anyway so, they got something for him.

Vincent was actually a main stay and a big piece in the bullpen from 2016-2018, pitching in 191 games with a 3.62 ERA/3.55 FIP. He was supposed to be just a middle reliever but he was more than that by the end. He was non tendered in the 2018 offseason, signed with the Giants, now is really bad and there’s that,

Trade 14: Los Angeles Dodgers trade SP Zach Lee, Seattle Mariners trade INF/OF Chris Taylor (6-19-16).

We all know what happened, let’s move on.

Trade 17: Chicago Cubs trade 1B/DH Dan Vogelbach, SP Paul Blackburn for RP Mike Montgomery and SP Jordan Pries (7-20-16).

The Cubs had Anthony Rizzo at first, and neither him or Vogelbach played a 2nd position so Vogelbach was on his way out eventually. The Cubs added a left handed reliever with 5 years of control and was doing really well for Seattle in Montgomery. He had a 3.35 ERA from 2016-2018 and a 3,94 FIP. He also pitched the last out of the world series, but is now with Kansas City after being traded for Martin Maldonado just last month. Pries was rotation depth at most but he never saw major league time with Chicago.

The Mariners at the time were 48-47, 5.5 games out of the 2nd wild card spot. This wasn’t a seller move but it wasn’t a buyer move. They unfortunately lost a productive reliever but finally found someone who could be their future first baseman if he improves his defense. Their first basemen at the time were Adam Lind and Dae Ho Lee, so there was opportunity. Vogelbach had to hit .291/.411/.496 in AAA from 2016-2018 just to stay on the major league roster for more than a month. It also helped he was out of options coming into 2019. Vogelbach is now hitting .229/.355/.494 with 26 HR and was an all star, plus has 5 years of control remaining. He could be worse defensively (-4 DRS) too. Blackburn didn’t pitch in a major league game and was traded in the next offseason to Oakland. The Mariners had high praise for Vogelbach and now it’s paying off.

Trade 18: Toronto Blue Jays trade RP Drew Storen to the Seattle Mariners for RP Joaquin Benoit. (7-26-16)

This was merely a swap of bad relievers who were free agents after the season. The Blue Jays had acquired Storen the offseason prior for Ben Revere but Storen ended up only pitching to a 6.21 ERA in 38 games. Benoit turned it around after the deal though, pitching to a 0.38 ERA (2.81 FIP) in 25 games for Toronto, who eventually made the playoffs.

Benoit was bad for Seattle with a 5.18 ERA in 26 games, but like Benoit, Storen turned it around after the deal with a 3.44 ERA (2.76 FIP) in 19 games. Storen ended up signing with Cincinnati and Benoit signed up with Philadelphia in the offseason.

Trade 19: Baltimore Orioles trade SP Ariel Miranda, Seattle Mariners trade SP Wade Miley. (7-31-16)

On the same day as the infamous Steve Cishek secret agent for the Cubs scenario, the Mariners traded an underperforming Wade Miley (4.98 ERA in 19 games) and his salary to Baltimore. He ended up pitching to a 5.75 ERA in 43 games with Baltimore in a season and a half but Milwaukee fixed him, and the Astros have continued to rely on his success. But the trade for Baltimore wasn’t good, though Ariel Miranda wasn’t much either.

Miranda had a 5.61 FIP for the Mariners from 2016-2018 so he was rotation depth at most. Unfortunately, due to injury they needed Miranda to be more than depth. At one point in the season, in 2017, Miranda was their ace. Because everyone was injured. But he was just supposed to be the human the Mariners received for not good starter Wade Miley.

Fun Fact: The Steve Cishek incident was the night after my Bar Mitzvah, and my entire family was watching at my house. We laughed. I didn’t.

Trade 23: New York Yankees trade OF Ben Gamel to the Seattle Mariners for SP Juan De Paula and SP Jio Orozco. (8-31-16)

The Yankees had no room for Ben Gamel, and was rule 5 eligible so they got something for him in Juan De Paula and Orozco but neither are in the Yankees organization anymore, so this trade really didn’t mean anything.

Dipoto does like to target players who are performing in the high minors but don’t have a spot on the major league roster and that’s what Gamel was. He was hitting .308/.365/.420 in AAA for the Yankees in 2016. Accidentally, he got a lot of playing time in 2017 which wasn’t supposed to happen but with Leonys Martin, Jarrod Dyson and Mitch Haniger all spending time on the DL at different points in the season, there was a lot of playing time. Gamel was average with the bat hitting .275/.322/.413 in 134 games, but had serious first and second half splits. This was after Gamel lost the fourth outfielder job to Guillermo Heredia heading into 2017. After hitting just .272/.358/.370 for Seattle in 2018 after being the starting left fielder going into 2018, he was traded to Milwaukee. So, Gamel was basically average, and yeah. Maybe as a full time fourth outfielder he was better but as a starter he was seriously over matched.

Trade 26: Los Angeles Dodgers trade C Carlos Ruiz, Seattle Mariners trade LHP Vidal Nuno. (11-7-16)

Nuno had a 3.53 ERA (4.51 FIP) in 55 games and as a left handed reliever was… bad against lefties. So, there wasn’t much for LA to acquire here. Nuno didn’t pitch for LA, and ended up on Baltimore in 2017, I don’t know how. With Austin Barnes, and Yasmani Grandal, the catcher spots for LA in 2017 were locked up, and the Dodgers also saved salary ($4.5MM).

The Mariners get a backup catcher, a veteran behind Mike Zunino who seemed to actually do something offensively finally in 2016. Unfortunately, after Zunino decided to stop hitting in 2017 for a little bit, Ruiz got more playing time than was expected and finished 2017 with a .216/.313/.352 slash in 53 games. But, going into 2017, this was the first move after an 86-76 offseason and he was an improvement over Chris Ianetta. Nuno was later replaced by the signing of Marc Rzepczynski (who was really, really, really bad)

Trade 27: Oakland Athletics trade 1B/3B/OF Danny Valencia, Seattle Mariners trade SP Paul Blackburn. (11-12-16)

After a fight in the clubhouse, and clubhouse problems with every team he’s been with, Valencia was on his way out of Oakland right away as the offseason started. It also created a permanent place for Matt Olson once ready. Blackburn has a 4.84 ERA in 17 career MLB games with Oakland so he’s just pitching depth at this point.

The point to acquiring Valencia, who was a free agent after the year, was to be a platoon partner for Daniel Vogelbach at first base. Valencia had hit for a .792 OPS with 15 HR in 2016. But, Vogelbach was demoted to AAA in spring training after performing… bad, so Valencia got full time at first until August. He ended 2017 as 1) not a great clubhouse guy and 2) hitting .256/.314/.411. So, yeah, he wasn’t good. Whoops.

Trade 28: New York Yankees trade RP James Pazos, Seattle Mariners trade SP Zack Littell. (11-18-16)

Pazos threw hard and performed well in the minors for New York, but had a high walk rate. He didn’t have a space on the major league roster so they traded him. Littell had done pretty good for the Yankees in A+ and AA in the minors but he was traded for Lance Lynn at the deadline and is now a reliever for Minnesota.

The Mariners saw Pazos as their primary lefty who could pitch against righties as well. He had a 3.39 ERA in 119 games in the two seasons for Seattle, but, he had serious second half problems in both seasons. He was later traded in the 2018 offseason. Hard throwing lefties who throw strikes don’t come by every day, so the Mariners enjoyed him for the most part while he was there.

Trade 30: Arizona Diamondbacks trade SS Jean Segura, OF Mitch Haniger, LHP Zac Curtis for SP Taijuan Walker, INF/OF Ketel Marte. (11-23-16) Thanksgiving eve.

Arizona added a shortstop in Ketel Marte who had a good rookie season in 2015 but struggled bad in 2016, yet still had 5 years of control. He struggled in 2017 but found something in 2018 and has been great this year. Walker at the time had 4 years of control left, and he performed really well in 2017 before undergoing TJS in 2018 and yeah he hasn’t pitched at all this year. They sold high on Segura, traded Haniger who didn’t have a spot in 2017 and Curtis, just a reliever.

With this trade Seattle added Segura who was off an amazing 2016 season and they bought high on him, and had two years of control left on him. They got him on an extension in June 2017, however. After seeing Marte do really bad in 2016, they wanted something better at short, got Segura and he hit .302/.345/.421 in two seasons with Seattle. He was traded in the 2018 offseason. Haniger had a great season in the minors in 2017 with an OPS over 1.000 in 312 PA in the high minors. The Mariners thought high of him, and was their starting RF going into spring training and the regular season. He’s hit .271/.351/.486 since the start of 2017. Unfortunately he dealt with injuries in 2017 and has dealt with… yeah, in 2019 as well. Curtis was reliever depth and now is pitching somewhere on the globe I think. This was a big deal that saw 2 very good performers in 2017 and 2018 and really carried the offense for periods of time.

Trade 33: Kansas City Royals trade OF Jarrod Dyson, Seattle Mariners trade SP Nate Karns. (1-6-17)

After Karns didn’t do much for Seattle, they traded him and his 4 seasons of control to Kansas City for one year of Jarrod Dyson, risky, but the Mariners wanted more speed in the outfield because they had almost none of that in 2016 with Nori Aoki, and Seth Smith/Franklin Gutierrez on the corners. Karns pitched a grand total of 9 games with Kansas City however.

Dyson was going to be the dominant side of the platoon in LF with Guillermo Heredia. Dyson was off his career best offensive season, so the Mariners thought they could trust him a little bit offensively. Before 2017, Dyson had never really been a full time starter, so this was a change of pace. Dyson only hit .251/.324/.350 in 111 games. He was injured for most of September as well. So, the trade was a disappointment but no one lost or won this deal. In hindsight, they really should’ve gotten some actual offense in this position. They already improved defensively in RF with Haniger but it happens. Dyson lasted a year, and then signed with Arizona.

Trade 34: Baltimore Orioles trade SP Yovani Gallardo, Seattle Mariners trade OF Seth Smith. (1-6-17)

The thing is, these trades are actually flipped. This one came before the Dyson one. Gallardo had seriously struggled in 2016, with a 5.42 ERA for Baltimore. And the Mariners wanted to move on from Seth Smith since had no defense and couldn’t hit lefties. They were both free agents after the season. Smith hit for a .744 OPS with Baltimore in 2017, his last season.

Gallardo was even worse with Seattle than he was with Baltimore. He was demoted to the bullpen at one point as well. He was supposed to be their #5 starter behind the quartet of Felix, Iwakuma, Paxton and Smyly. This trade created a hole in the outfield because at the time their outfielders were Leonys Martin, Mitch Haniger, Ben Gamel, Guillermo Heredia. That’s a lot of unproven outfielders, and Martin, the proven one, couldn’t hit anything. So, they acquired Dyson to fill the hole left by Smith but they did miss his professional at bats and his .342 OBP on the year. Both Gallardo and Smith moved on from their respective organizations after 2018.

Fun Fact: The Mariners and Red Sox almost swapped Drew Pomeranz for Seth Smith in that same offseason. The Red Sox backed out.

Trade 35: Atlanta Braves trade OF Mallex Smith, RP Shae Simmons for SP Luiz Gohara, LHP Thomas Burrows. (1-11-17)

There’s a lot to unpack in this trade and the next but this was the first deal so let’s start here. The Braves never really gave Mallex Smith a long chance, and he does fit the Mariners athletic, high OBP mold, and he had 6 years of control to go. Simmons had a power arm but didn’t really pitch much in the majors for the Braves (and had a grand total of 9 games for Seattle too). Gohara had pitched really well in the minors in 2017 in A+, AA, and AAA and then had a 2.75 FIP in 5 starts in late 2017. Then he had work ethic problems, he’s been injured for all of 2019 I don’t even know if he’s going to pitch again, and yeah. So there was promise with Gohara and now it’s nothing. Burrows is reliever depth at this point.

Mallex Smith was acquired for the simple reason he was going to be flipped an hour later. The Mariners did like Shae Simmons so they kept him, but they only acquired Smith for him to be flipped, and then he was to Tampa Bay. Losing Gohara wasn’t easy, but there seemed to be some issues with work ethic and his shoulder, so they thought it was okay.

Trade 36: Tampa Bay Rays trade SP Drew Smyly, Seattle Mariners trade OF Mallex Smith, SP Ryan Yarbrough, INF Carlos Vargas. (1-11-17)

For the Rays, they had a lot of starters and were looking to trade one of Matt Moore or Drew Smyly. They did add an outfielder to the mix in Mallex Smith though, and he really broke out in 2018. (yes, he was later traded back to Seattle) Yarbrough was another starter added to the mix and was the follower for the opener that was used for him and it’s helped apparently since he’s had a 3.91 ERA (3.95 FIP) the past two seasons. carlos Vargas is in A- currently.

The Mariners are taking a gamble here. Smyly had some injury issues in 2015 making only 12 starts but had a 3.11 ERA and in 2014 had a 3.28 ERA in 25 GS. He was healthy for 2016 making 30 starts but his numbers (4.88 ERA, 4.49 FIP) weren’t there, but the Mariners wanted to take advantage of this newly found outfield defense, acquiring this fly ball pitcher who is getting out of the AL East and into Safeco Field which in theory would really help. But, it didn’t. Because he had a soggy arm on March 29th, was put on the DL for 6-8 weeks with a flexor strain, and then in mid June had Tommy John Surgery. So, yeah. That. He was a free agent after the 2018 season. But he was released in December 2017, signed with the Cubs for a year with an option for 2019, and was traded in the 2018 offseason to Texas. And now he’s on Philadelphia. Mhm.

Fun Fact Galore: The Mariners and Reds nearly swapped Luiz Gohara for Zack Cozart at the 2016 trade deadline, but the deal fell through due to Gohara’s shoulder problems AND possibly the timing of the Jay Bruce deal. Dipoto had spent the entire offseason trying to acquire Smyly. And the Mariners traded Mallex Smith after roughly an hour after acquiring him, then traded for him again this past offseason for longtime starting catcher Mike Zunino, who didn’t sign an extension with Seattle the year prior.

Trade 46: Marlins trade RP David Phelps, Mariners trade OF Brayan Hernandez, SP Pablo Lopez, RHP Brandon Miller, RP Lukas Schiraldi. (7-20-17).

The Marlins did well here, trading a reliever at a high value when they weren’t doing so hot, and got 4 prospects back. Brayan Hernandez isn’t really anything, neither is Brandon Miller, and Schiraldi is at most a future middle reliever. But Pablo Lopez is the key. He has 5 years of control remaining and has a 3.57 FIP in 14 games this season.

David Phelps was supposed to be a big part of the stretch run for 2017, and then a very reliable reliever for 2018 as well. The stretch run turned into a 30-35 record after July 20th, and Phelps only pitched in 10 games, but Dipoto had high praise for his ability to throw strikes and go multiple innings and pitch high leverage innings. He talked about this for all of 2017 and then all of spring training 2018. And in comes the heart breaker: Phelps needs tommy john surgery on March 28th. The DAY before opening day. Cool. So, yeah, he’s out for the season and there goes a big reliever.

Trade 47: St. Louis Cardinals trade SP Marco Gonzales, Seattle Mariners trade OF Tyler O’Neill. (7-21-17)

This one drew some heat on the Mariners side. Tyler O’Neill hit .293/.374/.508 with 24 HR in 130 games in AA in 2016. Then in 2017, in AAA, O’Neill hit .246/.321/.499, a much lesser output. The Mariners were not big fans of his strikeout rate and they needed another starting pitching option for the future. O’Neill has also seen some inconsistency in his major league team with an ISO over .250 last year, but at .155 this year, and a walk rate at 5% and a strikeout rate over 35% as well over these past two seasons so there are some holes but he is still young.

Marco has been one of Seattle’s best starters over the past two seasons, with a 3.65 FIP in 54 games. He is an earlier recipient of Tommy John Surgery, and that’s a huge risk, but so far, it’s been good though. He was untouchable in this past offseason, and for good reason. The future rotation would be a lot more bleak without him.

Trade 48: Tampa Bay trades RHP Erasmo Ramirez, Seattle trades RP Steve Cishek. (7-28-17)

You’re not normally going to see two teams in the wild card hunt trade major league pieces, but, it happened. This trade saw a swap of two pitchers, a starter and a reliever. The Rays got Cishek, who had a 4.81 FIP with some very unimpressive peripherals at that point, and trade Erasmo Ramirez, who was in their pen at the time and more impressive peripherals at that point than Cishek did. But it worked out since Cishek had a 2.14 FIP the rest of the season for Tampa Bay.

Erasmo was inserted right into the rotation that at the time had healthy starters James Paxton, Felix, Gallardo, Miranda and then a slew of number 5 starters, plus newly acquired Marco Gonzales. Erasmo had a 3.92 ERA/4.71 FIP in 11 starts for the Mariners in 2017, and was just so bad in 2018 that no one wanted to watch him anymore. Then he was non-tendered in the offseason. Thank god he is gone. But, the tradde at the time was good because the Mariners needed another starter, and Erasmo had another year of control as Cishek did not. Unfortunately it didn’t go as planned in the second season.

Fun Fact: Erasmo was traded from Seattle to Tampa Bay for Mike Montgomery just hours before opening day 2015. That set up a lot of things for all teams involved with these players.

Trade 49: Oakland trades 1B/DH Yonder Alonso, Mariners trade OF Boog Powell. (8-6-17)

The Boog Powell story was not a good read, and now he’s on the El Paso Chihuahuas. Really, Alonso was destined to be traded, and they wanted to see if they can get something out of Boog Powell. They barely did for a slight time in 2017 and then never again. Alonso was a free agent after the year anyway.

Alonso was meant to be the dominant side of the platoon with Valencia and then hit .265/.353/.439 for Seattle for the rest of 2017. He wasn’t brought back, and yeah, that was that. Unexciting at best. But better than Valencia, which wasn’t hard.

Fun Fact: Ownership was really not happy with Dipoto trading for a rental in August for Powell but, oh well. Also, Dipoto didn’t even complete the trade. Assistant GM (at the time) Jeff Kingston did. So is this trade really Dipoto’s?

Trade 52: St. Louis Cardinals trade SP Mike Leake, cash, Seattle Mariners trade INF Rayder Ascanio (8-30-17).

I didn’t know who Ascanio was when he was traded, and hardly anyone does now, so, it’s good. The Cardinals wanted to trade Leake during what was a basically normal year for him, and the Cardinals had their share of starters at the time so trading Leake didn’t mean much to them. Seattle needed innings since their starters all decided to take a vacation to the DL.

Leake had a 4.16 ERA and 354.2 IP with Seattle in his time, as a good innings eater in the rotation. He wasn’t meant to be anything but an innings eater so he did his job perfectly. He was just traded a couple of weeks ago, however. Still, this trade was pretty under the radar for Jerry’s best moves. The trade wasn’t meant for 2017 as much as it meant for 2018, too.

Trade 54: Oakland trades 1B Ryon Healy, Seattle trades RP Emilio Pagan, INF Alexander Campos (11-15-17).

\Oakland wanted to get rid of Healy since Olson and Chapman had the corners and Khris Davis was a DH who hit .247. Seattle needed a first baseman with Valencia and Alonso gone, and they still didn’t trust Vogelbach’s defense. Trading Pagan was questionable, since he had a 3.22 ERA (3.28 FIP) in 34 games and had 6 years of control left. But, they felt they had enough reliever depth with Phelps (haha) and others. Though, Dipoto acted really quickly to grab this first baseman when there were lots of otpions. They did have interest in Carlos Santana at that time, too. (Fun fact, Santana was traded to Seattle, and traded from Seattle the next offseason). Pagan wasn’t good for Oakland, so they traded him to Tampa Bay and he’s doing really good. Campos is irrelevant at this point.

Ryon Healy hardly walked in 2017, and struck out a decent amount. But, he had power and his defense could have been worse (hint: it was, his DRS went from -2 to -9 with Seattle). But, he did have 5 years of control left so that was the big thing, so they felt like they had their future first baseman. It didn’t pan out that way as Healy was below average in 2018, and has dealt with about 17 injuries in 2019 and he’s a non tender candidate at this point. The trade really didn’t work out for Seattle and it would’ve been nice to see another alternative here.

Trade 55 & 57: Mariners send C David Banuelos to Minnesota (12-6-17), and RP Thyago Vieira to the White Sox (11-16-17) for international bonus money in return for both.

I’m packaging these two trades together considering they filled the same need; more international bonus money for the Shohei Ohtani pursuit. Vieira threw hard, which was about it, and Banuelos was just a guy. Minnesota and Chicago were out of the pursuit of Ohtani so, the Mariners capitalized. By the end of a series of trades to bring in international bonus money, the Mariners were certainly up there for how much money they had in their pool. It…… didn’t……. work. Yes, I’m still sad.

Trade 56: Yankees send RP Nick Rumbelow, Mariners send RHP J.P. Sears and RHP Juan Then. (11-18-17).

Shocker, another Yankees player that didn’t have space on the 25 man roster so they traded him for lottery tickets. Except, they are more than lottery tickets now. Juan Then doesn’t look to dang bad. Obviously, Then is not going to scratch a top 100 prospects list for a couple of years, if ever. Sears turned in a pretty decent 2018 when he pitched but 2019 has been less fortunate. Sears could be a future reliever in the majors, but, who knows at this point.

The Mariners liked Rumbelow because of his spin rate, something Dipoto has mentioned a lot, but, yeah, it didn’t work and the trade would be even worse had they not brought back Juan Then in a later deal with the Yankees. Rumbelow pitched to a 7.58 ERA in 16 games for Seattle in 2018 and 2019, and has been DFA’d, and yeah, his tenure is over thankfully. While the idea was right, the execution was evidently horrible, and thank god Juan Then is back.

Trade 58: Marlins send 2B Dee Gordon, international bonus money, Mariners send SP Nick Neidert, RHP Robert Dugger, INF Christopher Torres. (12-7-17)

Okay, this is a big one. It came as a shocker to every baseball fan in the world. Trading Dee wasn’t the shocker. He was well on his way out in that offseason like everyone else was. But, the recipient of Dee Gordon was the shocker. Dee was a second baseman. He’s never played the outfield. The Mariners needed a center fielder, and second base was taken by Robinson Cano. So, the logical thing to do was to grab a center fielder? Yep. But screw it, Dee Gordon. Can’t say no to that. So, their plan was to play Dee full time in center field.

Losing Neidert out of the Mariners system wasn’t fun, and it turns out, it still isn’t fun. Neidert was really good in 2018 for the Marlins AA squad and would have definitely made his debut in the rotation this season if not for injuries. He still has a very good chance of making the majors next year, though. Dugger has pitched well in AA the past couple of years but his time in AAA hasn’t been fun. Dugger was mostly a reliever for the Mariners minors before being traded, and Torres isn’t much of anything.

Dee Gordon. Oh, man. Well let’s start off with his CF defense… Don’t ever put him in there again. Not only does he not want to do that again, absolutely no fan wants to see it either. How about his offense? He’s hit .272/.294/.355 and his 46 combined stolen bases in 2018 and 2019 is lower than his total with Miami in 2017. A toe injury just ruined his 2018 season from May, and on. He’s combined for 20 walks in 872 PA. Jesus Christ. He was very much a trade chip for the Mariners heading into the deadline. And then he got injured. Again. Dee was supposed to play CF the entire 2018 season, but the Cano suspension hit, Dee was moved to 2nd and his defense became average at 0 DRS. His offense was worse, though. It’s just. Yeah. He’s a great clubhouse guy, but this trade is awful now.

Trade 69: Rays send RP Alex Colome, OF Denard Span, Mariners send RHP Andrew Moore, RHP Tommy Romero. (5-25-18)

Normally you don’t see trades like this occur in late May. but it was needed. The Mariners bullpen needed more thump in the back end, and there was an open spot in the outfield after Gordon was moved back to the second and Cano was suspended. The Rays had been shopping Colome and were going to move Span at some point during the season. Andrew Moore is just a nothing really (he’s back with the Mariners now) and Tommy Romero could well be something with a 1.85 ERA in 20 games (15 starts) for the A+ Rays minor league club.

Colome was really good in the 8th inning for Seattle, and Span hit .272/.329/.435, so roughly average in 94 games. It was odd seeing the Mariners grab Span rather than a center fielder, because their need wasn’t in left, it was in center, but, it worked, in a way. Heredia slid full time over to center, and was. Not good. Span out produced Gamel in left so it was kind of a wash. This trade came from the new found money from the Cano suspension, and this was their way of putting it back on the field, and it turned out pretty good. But, Heredia’s defense in center wasn’t really there so there was a hole left there. Heredia and Colome were later traded to seperate teams the next offseason.

Trade 70: Cardinals send RP Sam Tuivailala, and Mariners send RP Seth Elledge. (7-27-18)

Their first deadline move was unexpected. The Cardinals were on the fringes of the playoff race, so it was interesting to see them part with a major league reliever. Little did we know it was a start of a whole bullpen makeover for them. The Mariners got a reliever who was good against righties and at the time had 4.5 years of control left. Elledge is a relief prospect that was pretty good at the time, but has since struggled with Cardinals organization.

Tui pitched in 5 games before being injured for the rest of the season, and then just came back in July to, so far, pitch 6 games this season. So, no one really knows anything yet about him, maybe we find out next year and finally fulfill the role of middle relief like he was intended to.

Trade 71: Minnesota sends RP Zach Duke, Seattle sends RHP Chase De Jong, INF/OF Ryan Costello. (7-30-18)

This trade was… I’m not sure. The trade itself at the time was good. De Jong was a fringe 40-man guy, now he’s not on a 40-man, and Costello is just a guy. The Twins are selling off pieces at this time, and Duke was a free agent after the year.

The Mariners desperately needed a left handed reliever for the playoff run with Marc Rzepczynski being released earlier in the season, and James Pazos having another struggle in July. Duke was great against lefties for Minnesota before the trade. Then he had a 5.52 ERA in 27 games the rest of the season for Seattle. Well, he wasn’t terrible. He had a lot of appearances that were scoreless but didn’t have enough innings to overcome the bad outings. Duke’s first appearance as a Mariner was giving up a 2 run homer to Josh Reddick. That was the first homer he gave up to a lefty all season. Duke wasn’t great, the Mariners were awful after this point, let’s move on.

Fun Fact: In Chase De Jong’s MLB debut in 2017, the opening series against Houston, he gave up a walkoff homerun to George Springer.

Trade 72: Yankees send RHP Adam Warren, Mariners send international bonus money. (7-30-18).

Hey another reliever trade for Seattle at the deadline, maybe this one won’t bite us in the ass like the last two! Just kidding! He had a 4.82 FIP. No, he could have been worse. But man, was it annoying seeing every pitch go down the middle or be so far out of the zone that the camera man took a swing a couple of times. And it probably would have gone out. It didn’t cost the Mariners prospects, and he was a free agent after the year, so whatever. But, the trade looked good at the start, he just didn’t do a whole lot for them after the trade.

Trade 73: Marlins acquire INF Bryson Brigman, Mariners acquire OF Cameron Maybin. (7-31-18)

The first move to acquire an actual center fielder that played center field since 2015, Cameron Maybin was supposed to be the Mariners starting center fielder down the stretch run in 2018. And the Marlins just wanted a body for the free agent to be, and Brigman is, at this point, just a guy.

Maybin was just so bad. He played in 30 games and had 97 at bats because he was that bad. He hit .242/.289/.319. That’s better than what Austin Jackson did for Seattle in 2014, though. The Maybin trade didn’t work out. Heredia was still starting in center field, and yeah. None of these trades, except maybe Tui eventually, at the 2018 deadline worked out. The Mariners were searching for a starter, didn’t get one. They showed some interest in Asdrubal Cabrera and other infielders, didn’t get one. And. Yeah. Moving on.

Trade 75: This is where you’re going to see a change in philosophy. Buckle up. Rays send OF Mallex Smith, OF Jake Fraley, Mariners send C Mike Zunino, OF Guillermo Heredia, and LHP Michael Plassmeyer. (11-8-18).

Basically every single move made prior to the 2018 offseason was about buying, and winning. This one wasn’t really about selling, however, but more of a change. The Mariners have claimed to want to take a step back, get younger, more years of control and all that, you know. Their target year for contention again was late 2020, and then all of 2021 and beyond. Keep that in mind.

So, the Mariners sent their long time catcher Mike Zunino, the poster child of failed development by the former regime and Jack Z, and outfielder Guillermo Heredia. This 1) created a need at catcher and 2) was showing that a change was coming, moving on from Mike Z who has spectacular defense and was on display in Seattle for a long time. Heredia was just so up and down that it was fine moving him. And Plassmeyer is a really interesting pitcher who has a 2.13 ERA in a 20 start season split between A and A+.

Mallex Smith was a guy who actually played center field, at least averagely played it, and had a .367 OBP and 40 stolen bases, with 4 more years of control after 2018. Fraley was a breakout outfielder in the Rays organization hitting .347/.415/.547 in A+ in 66 games. The key here for Seattle is Zunino is a free agent after 2020, two years of control. And Mallex is a free agent after 2022, four years of control. And, Plassmeyer had finished A- in 2018. Fraley was going to start the year in AA, much closer to the big leagues. Smith has struggled a little, but has been really good since June 1st though his future probably isn’t a center fielder anymore, but we’ll see there. Fraley dominated AA, has done well in AAA and would be up in the majors if not for a current injury. Zunino has struggled and so has Heredia.

Trade 76: Yankees send RHP Erik Swanson, SP Justus Sheffield, OF Dom Thompson-Williams, Mariners send SP James Paxton. (11-19-18)

Paxton was a part of that group of players who was a free agent after 2020, and since the Mariners may or may not be in contention then, they figured it was best to trade those guys, and Paxton was one of those guys. It brought back Sheffield who is supposed to lead the rotation in the future for Seattle, Swanson who is a back end starter or multi inning reliever, and Thompson-Williams who had a breakout 2018 in A+. The Yankees got their ace, but this ace has had a hard time staying healthy since 2014, so there are some flaws in that regard. But, he is still a top of the rotation pitcher and trading him wasn’t easy, but it had to be done.

Sheffield, Swanson and DTW all brought 6 years of control. Sheffield needed to fix his control and command problems. He didn’t do that in AAA as he was terrible, though that could also be due to the new ball, because since a move to AA, he’s had a 1.49 ERA in 10 games with a 1.9 BB/9, 9.6 K/9, and has yet to give up a homerun. Sheffield is going to see time in the majors again this season, and the Mariners don’t (and shouldn’t) want to put him in AAA again with that ball, and would rather him learn it in the majors. Swanson has struggled in the majors, but also had injuries and was promoted too early (out of necessity) so he could just be a future multi inning reliever but we’ll see on his starter status. Williams only has a .704 OPS so his time as a future Mariner is dwindling, especially since that’s in AA at the age of 25 next April. In this trade the Mariners have added a future starter (or two) a possible future reliever, and an outfielder which well… yeah. But this was the first move of the “sell” category. More to come.

Trade 78: White Sox send C Omar Narvaez, Mariners send RP Alex Colome. (11-30-18)

Straight up major leaguer for major leaguer here, the Mariners fill their catcher void, while sending a reliever who was a free agent after 2020. The White Sox are beefing up their pen, and trading from what is sort of a deep spot for them. Colome has been really good for them as well, so this trade isn’t too bad for them now, especially since James McCann is good now, but we’ll see if it lasts another year.

Narvaez has four years of control left, so he, like Mallex, is a free agent after 2022. Since this is more of a transition and development year, the Mariners are allowing Omar to work on his defense, which was abysmal for the White Sox. His offense has been tremendous (.292/.366/.469 with 16 homeruns) in 96 games, and his framing has moved up to average, around 0.0 which is a huge improvement over last year. If he continues to improve his defense this is a big win for Seattle.

Trade 79: Mets send OF Jarred Kelenic, SP Justin Dunn, RP Anthony Swarzak, 1B/OF Jay Bruce, RP Gerson Bautista for INF Robinson Cano, RP Edwin Diaz, cash. (12-3-18)

Oh, boy… Honestly, I don’t need to explain this one. Everyone knows why on both sides (for the most part), everyone knows what the result has been, we can just move on.

But for those of you that don’t know, Kelenic was promoted to AA yesterday. He has the disney fast pass to the major leagues.

Fun Fact: The original trade offer had Jeff McNeil instead of Gerson Bautista. Also, Swarzak and Bruce are now on the Mets rivals, and both of their respective teams, plus the Mets, are in playoff contention.

Trade 80: Phillies send SS J.P. Crawford, 1B/DH Carlos Santana for SS Jean Segura, RP Juan Nicasio, RP James Pazos. (12-3-18)

This trade was so questionable at the time. Crawford has struggled since being a top prospect, and the Mariners traded Segura, who was well on his way out like the rest, but not just Segura, it was Segura and Pazos and Nicasio for him plus Carlos Santana. That’s four years of a reliever in Pazos, and a definitely not negative value in Segura for a place holder first baseman and a shortstop who has really struggled.

Well, things have changed. Pazos has been traded to Colorado, Nicasio has been bad again, and Jean Segura (99 wRC+, 2.3 fWAR) and J.P. Crawford (98 wRC+, 1.5 fWAR) are not completely far a part here. The difference is Crawford also has 6 years of control, and Segura is getting paid a lot more for less amount of time. It felt like a bad trade not getting anything interesting in addition to Crawford, but the Mariners just wanted to get rid of Segura after another second half disappointment, the clubhouse fight, and all. Now, the trade isn’t so dang bad,

Trade 81: Indians send 1B/DH Edwin Encarnacion, Mariners send 1B/DH Carlos Santana. (12-13-18)

We’re just swapping first baseman and DH here. The Indians get (at the time) the probably better player, save money for 2019, and the Mariners take on more salary for 2019, but he would be leaving to free agency after 2019, unlike Santana. Edwin was later traded to New York.

Fun fact: I was in 2nd period when this trade went down. My Phone was off and I turn it back on in 3rd period to give me alerts that Santana was traded for Encarnacion. Then comes Bob Nightengale saying Edwin was traded to Tampa Bay. K, but he wasn’t. And then Scott Miller says a source CONFIRMED that Edwin is heading to Tampa in a separate deal. He was almost right 6 months later.

Trade 82: Brewers send OF Domingo Santana, Mariners send OF Ben Gamel, RP Noah Zavolas. (12-21-18)

While the Mariners do lose a year of control here from Gamel to Santana, Santana is the far more polished offensive player, and Gamel is a fourth outfielder, which fits Milwaukee better, and if Santana turns it around offensively he’s probably traded at the deadline, or could just be the Mariners future left fielder for the next 3 seasons.

Gamel has struggled offensively, and Santana has turned it around offensively. His defense in LF was some of the worst I’ve ever seen, but he’s been passable since a move to right field. He probably would have been traded at the deadline if not for an elbow injury that has caused him not to play in the field for a while. He still brings a lot of right handed power and on base ability so he’s probably traded this offseason. Still, the deal worked.

Trade 83: Yankees (or Reds, who really knows) send INF Shed Long, Mariners send OF Josh Stowers. (1-21-19)

Stowers was an outfield prospect but was a couple years away from making his debut. The Mariners were stocked with outfield prospects, but very very shallow on infield prospects. Shed Long was the infield prospect they needed, and would be the M’s starting second baseman if not for a current injury that has him on the minor league IL. The Yankees loved Stowers but he hasn’t been all that good since the trade.

Trade 84: Giants send C Tom Murphy, Mariners send Jesus Ozoria. (3-29-19)

Still don’t know who Ozoria is, but we have a backup catcher, yeah!

Trade 85: Rangers send RP Connor Sadzeck, Mariners send Grant Anderson. (4-2-19)

This trade is more interesting with Garrett Anderson instead of Grant, but now Sadzeck doesn’t have awful control and throws hard. Relievers!

Trade 88: Nationals send RP Austin Adams, Mariners send RHP Nick Wells. (5-4-19)

Austin Adams has a 2.23 FIP and an 15.8 K/9 in 21 games with the Mariners. Hot damn.

Fun Fact: Nick Wells was a part of the Mark Lowe trade to Toronto in 2015.

Trade 89: Braves send RP Jesse Biddle, RP Arodys Vizcaino, Mariners send RP Anthony Swarzak.

What you need to know: Mariners reliever Anthony Swarzak is bad. Braves reliever Anthony Swarzak is good. Mariners reliever Jesse Biddle DFA’d. Mariners reliever Arodys Vizcaino is not going to ever pitch for the Seattle Mariners.

Trade 91: Phillies trade INF Jake Scheiner, Mariners trade 1B/OF Jay Bruce, cash. (6-2-19)

Bruce didn’t know how to hit something that wasn’t a homerun for Seattle, and was blocking time from Vogelbach. He has a .266 OBP with Philly, yet 10 homeruns in 120 at bats. Scheiner is just an infielder in A+. Yeah.

Trade 93: Yankees Acquire 1B/DH Edwin Encarnacion, send SP Juan Then in return. (6-15-19)

Edwin hits bombs. Still does. And Juan Then is back!

Trade 96: Dodgers send INF Daniel Castro, Mariners send INF/OF Kristopher Negron, Chris Taylor part 2. (7-28-19)

Negron is Chris Taylor part 2 and Castro is infield depth in AAA. That’s. Yep.

Trade 97: Nationals send RP Aaron Fletcher, RP Taylor Guilbeau, SP Elvis Alvarado, Mariners send LHP Roenis Elias, RP Hunter Strickland. (7-31-19)

This deal was Mariners send two relievers, one of which pitched in roughly 5 games this year for 3 relievers, one of which are making their debut in 2019. Neat.

Trade 98: Diamondbacks send INF Jose Caballero, Mariners send SP Mike Leake. (7-31-19)

Leake was supposed to be traded to Arizona in June, but now he’s there. And the Mariners got someone fast and someone who gets on base, as an infielder in A+. Kind of cool.

Trade 99: Dodgers Acquire C Jose Lobaton, Mariners don’t. (8-9-19)

HOLY SHIT IT’S HAPPENING

Trade 100!: Twins Acquire OF Ian Miller, Mariners not sure where the other twin is and acquire cash only. (8-10-19)

So, yeah. There’s the ride of Some of Jerry Dipoto’s trades. These were the major ones. The other ones were just blech small ones, but it was interesting to ride this roller coaster as a fan because you never knew what was coming next.