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Seattle Mariners: The four trades Jerry Dipoto actually lost

By Ty Gonzalez

LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 04: Chris Taylor #3 in the dugout after scoring a run on a sacrifice fly by Alex Verdugo #27 of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the fifth inning of the game against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium on July 4, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 04: Chris Taylor #3 in the dugout after scoring a run on a sacrifice fly by Alex Verdugo #27 of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the fifth inning of the game against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium on July 4, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /
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…THE BIG ONE

The trade that ultimately sticks in everyone’s minds as the absolute worst of Dipoto’s tenure. Zach Lee started a whopping total of 14 games for the Mariners organization. Note that I said ‘the Mariners organization’ and not ‘the Mariners.’ The former first-rounder didn’t even break the big league roster once in Seattle due to the abysmal 7.39 ERA he posted in those 14 starts, and was DFA’d in the following offseason.

What did Chris Taylor go on to do? The Dodgers developed Taylor into one of the game’s premier utility players, not only in the infield, but in the outfield as well. Since the trade, Taylor has accumulated 9.1 fWAR and counting, and has been a crutch for Los Angeles in their recent postseason runs.

But again, determining these deals is easy when hindsight is 20/20. At the time of the deal, this looked like a good buy-low opportunity for the Mariners. Lee was formerly a highly-touted pitching prospect who seemingly needed a change of scenery and Taylor appeared to be a flash in the pan after following up a great 2014 campaign with an atrocious 2015 that saw him post a 23 wRC+.

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