10 Best Trades in Seattle Mariners History: Number 8

While we all wait for the return of Mariners baseball, we have an opportunity to reflect on some of the franchises’ rich history. Today, we profile the first of GM Jerry Dipoto‘s entries.

What are the 10 best trades in Seattle Mariners history? Well, what they are, first and foremost, are entirely subjective. While we can add together the numbers and find the statistically best trade, we won’t be doing that in this series. Instead, we will be blending our statistical analysis with several x-factors, including what the deal meant for the team at one time.

Remember, winning trade is good. But even an inconclusive trade or one that both sides benefit from isn’t bad. The goal isn’t to win every trade, the goal is to win games and to improve your team to help you win as many games as possible. Basically, a trade doesn’t have to be a disaster for one team for that trade to be considered for this list.

As I said, we won’t be laser-focused on the WAR outcomes (though those are part of our analysis), but rather what the trade brought the team in return. With that in mind, let’s reveal the first trade on the list that belongs to current GM Jerry Dipoto.

Mariners trade Taijuan Walker and Ketel Marte to Arizona for Jean Segura, Mitch Haniger, and Zac Curtis

What’s funny about this trade that it has actually lost some of it’s shine in the past year. Jean Segura was traded after two seasons in Seattle, Mitch Haniger had a poor 2019 that was cut short to injuries, and Zac Curtis never made any impact. In addition, Ketel Marte had a monster 2019, leading some to wonder if Dipoto’s “best trade” was really all that good.

But it’s still one of the best trades in Mariners history and certainly one of the 3 best in the Jerry Dipoto era. While Segura only lasted two seasons in Seattle before he reportedly ran himself out of town, they were two of the best seasons in Mariners amongst shortstops. In fact, Segura’s 2018 season was the best WAR produced by a Seattle shortstop not named Alex Rodriguez.

Seattle was able to flip Segura for what eventually became J.P. Crawford, 3 months of Edwin Encarnacion, Juan Then, and Isaiah Campbell. But Mitch Haniger wound up being the real prize of this deal.

In what amounts to just 2 full seasons, Haniger has already produced the 11th highest fWAR amongst Mariners outfielders in their history and still has 2020, 2021, and 2022 to move up the charts (if he stays in Seattle).

He has a good shot to get inside the Top 5 Mariners OF fWAR if he plays out his time with the Mariners. The process was good. The results have been good. And the trades branching off of this one have been quite good. For these reasons, Dipoto’s trade to acquire Haniger and Segura stands out as one of the best in franchise history.