Mariners Trade Alex Jackson In 2-For-1 Deal With Braves

The Mariners have traded away former first round pick, and top prospect, Alex Jackson to the Atlanta Braves in exchange for the talented young right arms of Max Povse and Robert Whalen.

The other day, GM Jerry Dipoto, made it clear that his offensive pursuits are finished for this off-season. He didn’t wait very long to switch gears to building up his pool of pitchers.

In another Dipoto evening deal, the Mariners sent the baseball world abuzz with their two-for-one one exchange of top prospects. The Mariners are shipping outfielder, Alex Jackson -who was their top prospect to start 2016- to the Atlanta Braves for a potential fifth starter in Robert Whalen and the lean, mean, green bean machine (and another potential fifth starter) in Max Povse.

Dipoto has already made one bold decision this week, sending promising, young right-hander, Taijuan Walker to the Arizona Diamondbacks for the multi-talented infielder, Jean Segura. Now when you add this trade on top of the Walker/Segura swap -sending the team’s former top prospect and past first round pick in Jackson- Dipoto becomes the boldest man in any room of Safeco Field.

Examining Whalen

Don’t get me wrong, Whalen has been great in the minors and even showed glimpses of talent worthy of future all-star chatter in his brief majors debut stint. His twenty-five K’s in 24.2 innings pitched were very good, but his twelve walks (including three games in which he gave a free pass to three or more batters) were not.

His twenty-five K’s in 24.2 innings pitched were very good, but his twelve walks (including three games in which he gave a free pass to three or more batters) were not.

But to see his true potential, you must go back and look at his time in the minors. Four games in the big leagues with no real way to prep for that type of shift just isn’t a fair indicator.

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Over his five years at the minor league level, Whalen had an incredible ERA of 2.45 in sixty-six games -he started sixty-two of those matches. He managed to work his way up five minor league levels before his MLB debut.

He not only struck out eight batters per nine innings but allowed just 3.4 walks in that same span. What really stands out though is that he give up a home run once every three games. Although, that didn’t hold true in the majors where he allowed a home run every six frames, but imagine if he curbed those numbers back to what they were.

The Mariners should feel hopeful that this athletic big man could play a major role on the team next year, even though he has some control issues (hence the glaring numbers with the Braves), but that’s nothing he and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyer can’t fix.

Examining Max Povse

Povse is quite the imposing figure on the mound. He stands six feet and eight inches tall, while only weighing in at one hundred and eighty-five pounds. Povse’s measurements qualify him to be considered a miniature Randy Johnson.

Hopefully he can pitch like the full-grown Johnson once he gets his shot on the Mariners rotation or in the bullpen.

Povse is a three-trick pony. He has a low-to-mid ninties fastball with some two-seam break action. And, he has a low-eighties changeup to mix things up from the heat. But his specialty (when on point) is his swooping curve.

The curve’s success depends on his leg movement and the force he can create from it. Think the changes Taijuan Walker made with Stottlemyre in September right before his near no-no. When Povse puts all the pieces together, the curve becomes nearly unhittable.

Again, the teamwork of Stottlemyer and a new acquisition could be what makes Povse a breakout star instead of a big, lumbering bust.

Next: AFL Season Review: Mariners Best Pitcher

In Conclusion

Both men have proven that they have the potential to be a success at the minor league level. With the help of the Mariners coaching staff, Povse and Whalen could be an integral part of the Mariners 2017 playoff run and maybe their first playoff stretch in sixteen years.

After all, the Mariners don’t have Povse and Whalen ranked at tenth and fourteen respectively on their prospect rankings for nothing.