Seattle Mariners Trade Retrospective: Jose Cruz to Toronto

The Seattle Mariners have made some weird trades in their 43 years of existence, but some are so odd you have no choice but to wonder: what were they thinking?

In 1997, the Seattle Mariners were in the hunt for their second AL West title in 3 years and were looking to improve their biggest weakness, the bullpen. So when the Mariners acquired Mike Timlin and Paul Spoljaric from the Toronto Blue Jays, it didn’t come as a major surprise to many.

But the shocking bit of news came in what the Mariners would end up giving up to acquire a couple of above-average relievers. Seattle agreed to send the Blue Jays their 1995 first-round pick, Jose Cruz.

At the time, Cruz was one of the best and most exciting prospects in the game. Taken third overall in 1995 out of Rice University, he was built up as an above-average bat with developing power and was thought to be a 5 tool player.

He made it all the way to AAA Tacoma by 1996, though he struggled in the PCL and wouldn’t make his debut until May of 1997, playing left field next to Ken Griffey Jr. Cruz would handle his first taste of the big leagues quite well, hitting .268/.315/.541 with 12 home runs and 12 doubles in 198 PAs.

But after just 49 games, Seattle decided to move on from their talented, young outfielder for some veteran arms. Now, to the Mariners credit, Timlin was just fine for the Mariners in 1997, posting a 4.01 FIP in 26 innings. But Spoljaric struggled with his command, posting a 6.0 BB/9 in 1997 and neither arm would be a major difference-maker, giving Seattle just 0.2 bWAR in 1997.

Cruz would finish the season with the Blue Jays. While his play did fall off in the second half, he did manage to post a 0.6 bWAR for Toronto in 1997 and finished second in the AL Rookie of the Year voting.

Timlin did have a very nice 1998 season for a bad Mariners team, posting a 2.5 bWAR season and a 3.16 FIP. He would leave via free agency after 1998. Spoljaric was awful in 1998 and the Mariners would trade him to the Phillies in November of 1998 for veteran pitcher Mark Leiter (who would pitch just 1.1 innings for Seattle).

Meanwhile, Cruz played in 6 seasons for the Blue Jays and proved to be a solid, everyday outfielder, posting 11.5 bWAR in his stint with the Blue Jays. In his 5 full-seasons with the Jays, Cruz would average 22 home runs, 16 steals, and a .252/.333/.462 triple-slash. Considering the difficulties the Mariners had filling in left field during their playoff years of 2000 and 2001, this trade stings a bit more.

At the end of the day, this trade wasn’t a good one for the Mariners. And if the same circumstances had played out in a pennant race in 2020, there is no chance any team would give up the equivalent of Jose Cruz . for the equivalent of Timlin and Spoljaric.

But at the time, the Mariners were in a pennant race and sometimes, the allure of a playoff chase can lead to some terrible decisions, just like it did here.