Midsummer trades of this century and who won them

Well Mariner fans, the Trade Deadline has passed and players like Marco, Domingo, and Dee will live to see (at least) another couple months in Mariners colors. The fun thing about trades is to see who will win it in the end and which GM will be scratching their head over letting that player getaway. In some cases, neither team wins the trade and it’s a draw.

Trades are the most significant part of a franchise. Unless your star players were homegrown through the Minors, they came to the team in some past deal. For those fans young and old, we take a look at notable deadline deals of our team’s past. What do you think, who really won the deal? Traded too soon, or the right call? Enjoy…

Freddy Garcia to Chicago

And the first winner is… the South Siders! After placing third for the 2001 Cy Young, Freddy’s Mariner tenure gradually spiraled downward and he never really recovered. Bill Bavasi sent him away for more youth yet it backfired on him.

Ben Davis never played another season again but Freddy made an immediate impact. In his first full Sox season, he won 14 games with 228 innings pitched. The only season he threw for more was the 116-win 2001. His success leaked into the playoffs as he won a ring. Freddy helped highlight a historic playoff rotation as in that ALCS, all four starters went the distance versus the Angels.

Jeremy Reed became a Bloomquist-Mclemore type player and never panned into a regular starter. Though Morse had a hot start his rookie year, he couldn’t muster consistent playing time and peaked as a National instead. Miguel Olivo couldn’t break past a low batting average and was dealt away the next summer. Morse and Olivo both had second stints with the club, neither breaking a .230 average.

July 26, 2006: Shin-Soo Choo for Ben Broussard

In one of the more lopsided deals of recent memory, the Tribe annihilated this trade. Similar to Adam Jones, Choo was a fan favorite from the get-go. Earning the nickname Choo Choo Train, he hit a revenge homer against the M’s his first game as an Indian. He didn’t stop there and became an on-base machine. He placed 14th in the 2010 MVP race and only once hit under .280 during his six-and-a-half-year Cleveland tenure!

Ironically enough, Broussard homered against the Tribe himself that very same series. However, he only played one full season as a Mariner and was similar to Seth Smith, a permanent reserve.

July 9th, 2010: Cliff Lee to Texas

Another trade victory for our opponent. Cliff may have lasted only a half-year with Texas but he helped turn this franchise’s momentum around en route to their first pennant. The Rangers finally found the ace they needed. Though his Rangers regular season wasn’t as good as his first-half Mariners tenure, the man took control in the postseason. His Game 5 ALDS complete game clinched the Rangers’ first-ever playoff series.

He humiliated the defending champion Yankees in their own house with a shutout win in Game 3 of the ALCS, moving to a 3-0 postseason record. On the Mariners’ side of things, Justin Smoak never panned out. He constantly struggled with batting average and though he showed some power glimpses, he never became the cleanup hitter the team tried to form. Similar to Michael Morse, Smoak peaked after he left the team for the Blue Jays.

July 20, 2016: Montgomery for Vogelbach

Folks looks like we have our first trade victory of this article. This trade seemed like a sure loss after Mike Montgomery threw the Cubs’ World Series-winning pitch that postseason along with a 3.10 ERA his first season-and-a-half. But his 2019 ERA has risen to 6.09 and the Cubbies shipped him to the rebuilding Royals for some reason.

You may be asking who in the world Paul Blackburn is, we’ve kind of found our future first baseman in that guy named Daniel Vogelbach. Whether it’s the fact that he hits moonshot homers or was an All-Star for the first time in his young and promising career, Cubs fans should be sweating out this one.

June 19th, 2016:  Chris Taylor for Zach Lee

The Mariners essentially gave away Chris Taylor via free agency as Zach Lee didn’t play one game for the team. The Dodgers outdid the M’s on this one. Unfortunately, Taylor is another one the team gave up on too soon. What has he done during his Dodgers tenure? I don’t know, how does going to two straight World Series sound to you?

His power numbers came to life once traded as he hit 38 bombs combined in the ’17 and ’18 seasons. His Mariner home run total was zero. But his piece de resistance in Los Angeles has been his stunning game-tying hit to knot Game 5 of the 2017 Fall Classic up at 12 apiece.

So who will remain and who will leave as of Wednesday? No one knows yet but Dipoto usually has something up his sleeve. Feel free to respond with trade ideas and/or opinions of your own.