Giving the Mariners a grade for the 2021 Trade Deadline

The 2021 MLB Trade Deadline has passed, and it was fun watching all the rumors fly by. It’s time to take a look at all the moves that the Mariners made. It’s hard to look at each of them individually, especially when Dipoto made it known that he had a bunch in the fire all at once.

That’s why it can be tough looking at just a single trade and grading it on its own. If sending out a player in the first trade makes it possible to make a secondary trade that helps your team, then it should be viewed with that in mind.

Let’s grade the entirety of the trades the Mariners made at the 2021 deadline.

I think this becomes a good way to look at the deadline and the trades that the Mariners made. So, I’m going to list out everyone that they sent out, and everyone that came in. This way we can look in its entirety, and see if the Mariners truly got better or not at the 2021 Trade Deadline.

Mariners Received:

• Joe Smith
• Abraham Toro
• Tyler Anderson
• Diego Castillo

Mariners Sent out:

• JT Chargois
• Austin Shenton
• Rafael Montero
• Kendall Graveman
• Carter Bins
• Joaquin Tejada

So what does it all mean when you look at it as a whole? First off, Montero is gone. Lots of fans despised him, and whether you wanted to keep him or get rid of him, he is gone now. That trade had to happen that day because of DFA rules, which led to some players being upset. It was still a win though, as yes, the team gave up Graveman, but they got back Joe Smith and Abraham Toro.

If you were worried about the strength of the bullpen, it was immediately remedied when the Mariners made their trade with Tampa. They sent out Shenton and Chargois and got Diego Castillo back. Chargois could easily be a splash in the pan bullpen guy, whereas Castillo has been great his entire career. He takes over the “ace” role that so many fans thought Graveman held, offering up his own turbo sinker.

The Mariners also plugged the hole in the rotation due to all the injuries (Paxton, Sheffield, Dunn, Newsome, Margevicius) by getting Tyler Anderson. They sent out Tejada, a very young international signee, and Bins, who is a good catcher, but down the organizational depth chart a bit. Depending on your feelings about Anderson, the Mariners could’ve gotten a solid back-of-the-rotation guy for pretty cheap from Pittsburgh.

The only complaint that I have is that they didn’t go after a more immediate solution at second base. The “dream” was to see them swing a deal for Merrifield. Many fans thought that it was going to happen, especially after Dipoto said he thought he made a good enough offer to get Adam Frazier from the Pirates.

It seems like they are sticking with some sort of Toro, Long, Moore rotation at second. We have one of the worst season-long batting averages at second base, in the 180s, so even as it is, it will get better. Even someone like Harrison (who went to Oakland) or Schoop from the Tigers would’ve been a nice get for the Mariners.

When it comes down to it, I like everything that the Mariners did. Yeah, the clubhouse morale dropped a bit. If this team is truly the playoff contender some think, then winning will fix that. So will seeing a return to greatness by Smith and Castillo’s filth. That’s why I’ll give the Mariners a “B” grade for the 2021 MLB Trade Deadline.