Sodo Mojo’s Mariners Trade Deadline Plan

The Seattle Mariners should have one of the busiest deadlines of any MLB team over the next 3 weeks. Naturally, we all want to play GM, so that is exactly what we have done.

Over the past few months, we here at the website have been in trade mode, trying to find the perfect player for the Mariners. The mission is simple: end the drought. We have examined countless players and will continue to do so throughout the month.

For the first time since 2014, the Mariners are undoubtedly buyers. Over the first 2 full-seasons of Jerry Dipoto’s tenure, the team has largely been caught in the middle. The trades that Dipoto has made around this time of year can hardly be deemed moves of a “buyer”.

In year 1, he acquired Ariel Miranda for Wade Miley. He also dealt away Mike Montgomery for Dan Vogelbach. 2 vets for two prospects. He also swapped Joaquin Benoit for Drew Storen. He would later acquire Ben Gamel, Arquimedes Caminero and Pat Venditte in August.

These deals were interesting, considering the team finished the year at 86-76. It was odd to see a team in the race make these types of moves, but 2016 Mariners were never expected to crack the playoffs.

In 2017, Dipoto acted much more like a buyer, despite having less reason to. Last year around this time, he acquired David Phelps, Marco Gonzalez, Erasmo Ramirez, and Yonder Alonso. He would later acquire Mike Leake on August 30.

In hindsight, these moves have had a much bigger impact on the 2018 squad than the 2017 team. The moral of this story? We really cannot climb into the mind of Jerry Dipoto. That is for the best.

However, that was not our mission in the plan we are about to present. Our goal was not to predict what moves the Mariners will make. Instead, we set out to play GM and offer up our thoughts on what we would do.

We have attempted similar projects in the past, including our 2017-18 Off-Season Plan (if you want a good laugh, give it a read). This time, we have new contributors to the plan. We tried to be creative, and we wanted to be aggressive. After all, 16 years is long enough.

Now, without further ado, we present, for your consideration, the 2018 Sodo Mojo Trade Deadline Plan.