Analyzing Every Seattle Mariners Jerry Dipoto Trade: 2015-16 Edition

Analyzing every Jerry Dipoto trade during 2015-2016 as Seattle Mariners GM

From the moment that Jerry Dipoto took over as general manager of the Seattle Mariners, trades have been plentiful. Dipoto hasn’t hesitated to make moves to both improve the Mariners roster and the team’s prospect cupboard, which was empty when he took over.

When you look solely at trades, Jerry Dipoto’s tenure can be really split into two tenures.

1) When Jerry Dipoto was trying to build a roster to compete for the postseason, he made a handful of fairly questionable trades. The organization parted ways with a handful of young talents, that have since emerged as legitimate MLB players. And for the most part, the veterans that Jerry Dipoto acquired via trade considerably underperformed.

2) However, since Dipoto has moved the team into a rebuild, he’s flipped the script some. Through trades, draft picks, and international signings, he’s been able to reconstruct a weak Seattle Mariners farm system and fill the system with talent.

Now, the Seattle Mariners have a top-ranked farm system and arguably one of the brightest young talents in the entire minor league system, Julio Rodriguez.

Starting with Jerry Dipoto’s first year in 2015, here is a dive into his trades throughout his tenure as the Mariners General Manager.

Seattle Mariners November 2015

To Seattle: Boog Powell, Nate Karns, C.J. Riefenhauser

To Tampa Bay: Logan Morrison, Brad Miller, Danny Farquhar

Riefenhauser never pitched for the Mariners and Karns threw one unspectacular season. Powell was great in Tacoma, but ended up getting dealt to Oakland. Morrison and Miller each had 30 home run seasons and Farquhar pitched another few years before a medical issue forced him into retirement.

Miller and Morrison didn’t fit into Jerry Dipoto’s plan for the future of the team, but the Seattle Mariners really didn’t get much in return for two everyday players.

To Seattle: Joaquin Benoit

To San Diego: Nelson Ward, Enyel De Los Santos

Benoit was poor in his 26 games with the Seattle Mariners before being flipped again to Toronto. Ward ended up back in the organization before moving to independent ball, and De Los Santos has thrown 16 games since 2018 with mixed results.

De Los Santos is still 25 so there is an opportunity for him to provide value, while Benoit’s stint in Seattle was forgettable during his solid career.

To Seattle: Anthony Bass, Leonys Martin

To Texas: Tom Wilhelmsen, James Jones, PTBNL (Patrick Kivlehan)

This is one of the wilder trades in Jerry Dipoto’s tenure. Bass opted to go play overseas, before returning to the team in 2019 and Martin was the team’s everyday centerfielder for the better part of two years.

Jones ended up converting to the mound, and the Mariners wound up getting both Wilhelmsen and Kivlehan back eventually. Considering the Seattle Mariners ended up getting most of what they gave up back, this has to be considered a total win for the club. At the moment, fans were a bit shocked to lose the fan-favorite: “The Bartender.”

To Seattle: Luis Sardinas

To Milwaukee: Ramon Flores

Flores never played for the Mariners, and Sardinas hit .181 in 32 games in Seattle. This deal is about as low-impact as a trade could be. Let’s move on to December.

Seattle Mariners December 2015

To Seattle: Steve Clevenger

To Baltimore: C.J. Riefenhauser, Mark Trumbo

Yikes. Trumbo didn’t fit into Jerry Dipoto’s plans either, but he proceeded to 47 home runs the following year in Baltimore. Clevenger wasn’t any good on the field, and then proceeded to come under fire for racist comments which led to his suspension and subsequent release. Riefenhauser never appeared for either team.

To Seattle: Ryne Harper

To Atlanta: Jose Ramirez

Ramirez had two solid years for Atlanta, after a brief stint in Seattle (phew, it’s not THE JOSE RAMIREZ). Harper was in the Seattle Mariners system for a couple of years, and did get promoted at one point but never made an appearance with the club.

He’s actually turned into a solid reliever though for Minnesota and Washington, but this trade wasn’t a particularly impactful one to the Seattle Mariners.

To Seattle: Jonathan Aro, Wade Miley

To Boston: Carson Smith, Roenis Elias

At the time, this trade was met with intense backlash. Smith was a rising star in the bullpen and Elias had flashed solid potential as a starter. Miley was established at the time but had never exactly been an ace.

The Seattle Mariners didn’t get a ton out of this deal, with just 19 starts from Miley and one appearance from Aro, but Smith never reached his potential due to lingering issues and Elias ended up back in Seattle twice. At the end of the day, it was a solid enough deal for Jerry Dipoto.

To Seattle: Evan Scribner

To Oakland: Trey Cochran-Gill

Cochran-Gill never made it above AA and is currently pitching in independent ball while Scribner appeared in 20 games for the Mariners with a 3.80 ERA. Not a hugely impactful deal on either side, but the M’s at least got something out of Scribner.

To Seattle: Adam Lind

To Milwaukee: Carlos Herrera, Daniel Missaki, Freddy Peralta

The Mariners got essentially what they expected in Lind, as he hit 20 home runs and slashed .239/.286./.431 in his lone year in Seattle. Missaki never pitched in the Brewers organization and Herrera never made it above A-ball. But boy oh boy did the Mariners make a mistake with Peralta.

The 25-year old righty has been one of the best pitchers in baseball this year, boasting a 2.79 FIP and a 2.4 WAR, placing him 13th in the league as he is likely headed to Colorado for the All-Star game in a couple of weeks. With the Seattle Mariners rotation ravaged by injuries this season, this one stings just a little bit extra than it already would have.

To Seattle: Cash

To Los Angeles: Tyler Olson

Olson was a Gonzaga product that never pitched for the Dodgers, but did end up appearing in another 113 games with the Yankees and Indians, including a dominant 2017 in which he didn’t yield a run in 30 appearances.

Considering the Mariners got nothing of substance in return, they maybe wish they had kept the southpaw reliever. Now, onto the months leading up to the trade deadline.

Seattle Mariners 2016 Season Pre-Trade Deadline:

To Seattle: Joe Wieland

To Los Angeles: Erick Mejia

Mejia has actually appeared in 17 games with the Royals, but without much to show for it. Wieland made all of one unimpressive start for the Mariners in 2016, and that was that.

To Seattle: Nick Vincent

To San Diego: Cash

Vincent became a legitimate middle-relief option for the Mariners, even serving in the setup role at times in a solid three-year stint with the Mariners. He was also a workhorse out of the pen, appearing in 191 games and providing some stability when the team needed it.

The trade didn’t cost the Mariners much of anything either, so it is fair to say it was worth the small price.

To Seattle: Zach Lee

To Los Angeles: Chris Taylor

Well, we all knew this one was coming. At the time, it really wasn’t even that bad of a trade. Chris Taylor didn’t appear to have much promise left at almost 26 years old and seemed headed to irrelevancy sooner rather than later.

But the trade to the Dodgers jumpstarted his career after making some batting stance adjustments, and he’s become an everyday player for the World Champs. Lee never appeared for the Mariners and left every Seattle fan wondering what could have been.

To Seattle: Wade LeBlanc

To Toronto: Cash

The first of LeBlanc’s stints in Seattle, he was effective both from the bullpen and in the rotation and quickly became a fan favorite in Seattle, ending up back in Seattle multiple times. As a general rule. if the team gave up cash to bring in a player of any caliber, they probably won the trade. Considering they actually got production from LeBlanc, it’s safe to say the Mariners did well here.

To Seattle: Dan Vogelbach, Paul Blackburn

To Chicago: Mike Montgomery, Jordan Pries

This is another tough deal to analyze. On one hand, Montgomery was a quality and versatile arm, and the Mariners had to watch him record the final out of the World Series in 2017.

But on the other hand, Vogelbach hit 30 bombs and was an All-Star for the M’s in 2019. Both teams got value out of this deal, so in some ways, it’s kind of a wash. Although the Cubs will probably take the World Series win over the All-Star nominee.

To Seattle: Drew Storen

To Toronto: Joaquin Benoit

This was simply a veteran reliever for veteran reliever swap and it generally worked out for both parties. Benoit was brilliant in Toronto, and Storen was solid in the back end of the bullpen for the Mariners as well. Not much “wow” factor, but an effective deal for the M’s.

To Seattle: Ariel Miranda

To Baltimore: Wade Miley

Miranda was a relative unknown who became a decent back-end starter for the Mariners over 43 appearances, including posting a 3.54 ERA after the team acquired him.

Miley struggled in Baltimore, but has since continued to find homes around the league. Finding a quality, cheap starter is always a luxury and Seattle did exactly that with Miranda in this deal. Lastly, the post trade deadline months.