Mariners: 3 Under the Radar Trades We Could See This Offseason

Since Jerry Dipoto’s tenure as General Manager of the Seattle Mariners began in the winter of 2015, Mariners fans have seen a flurry of “under the radar” trades that have become Dipoto’s calling card. By under the radar, I mean trades that don’t seem all that impactful on the surface, but (mostly) turn out to significantly benefit the Mariners in the long run.

A few examples of these types of trades manufactured by Dipoto over the last few years:

2021: Kendall Graveman and Rafael Montero to the Houston Astros for Abraham Toro and Joe Smith

2021: JT Chargois and Austin Shenton to the Tampa Bay Rays for Diego Castillo

2020: Austin Nola, Austin Adams, and Dan Altavilla to the San Diego Padres for Ty France, Taylor Trammell, Luis Torrens, and Andres Munoz

2020: Taylor Williams to the San Diego Padres for Matt Brash

2019: Edwin Encarnacion to the New York Yankees for Juan Then

This offseason, I expect we will see more of the same from our fearless leader, Jerry Dipoto: Trades that could fly under the radar, but will provide long-term benefit for the up and coming Seattle Mariners.

As the offseason gets underway, let’s take a look at three potential trades (in the margin) we could see in the next few months:

The Yankees are in the market for one of the big-name free agent shortstops this winter, such as Carlos Correa or Trevor Story, so some space in their infield will likely need to be opened up. DJ Lemahieu, Gleyber Torres, Gio Urshela, and Rougned Odor all spent significant time at the non-first base infield positions this season, so with a star shortstop potentially joining the fray, a logjam would be inevitable.

Gio Urshela has long been an underrated asset in the Yankees’ lineup, and at age 30 with 2 years of club control remaining, he could be a valuable addition in Seattle. His most natural position is third base, but he does have the defensive versatility to move around the infield, which is a feature that Mariners management values.

After trading several solid prospects for Joey Gallo and Anthony Rizzo at the trade deadline this year, the Yankees now have the 19th ranked farm system in baseball. I expect they would jump at the opportunity to trade a veteran infielder for minor league assets this offseason.

The Yankees already have familiarity with Juan Then, a hard-throwing right-handed pitching prospect, who was in New York’s system from 2017-2019 before being traded (back) to Seattle. New York loves their flame-throwing relievers, so Then could serve as an eventual addition to an already stout bullpen, while immediately sliding into the Yankees’ Top-10 prospects.

The Los Angeles Dodgers seem to always have an embarrassment of riches among their position players, and their current roster is no exception. Matt Beaty, who has served as the Dodgers’ secondary utility man (behind Chris Taylor) for the past couple of seasons, is without a solid position in Los Angeles, but could merit a decent trade return to help L.A. maintain their relative dominance in the National League.

The 28-year-old Beaty has distributed his major league appearances nearly evenly between left field, first base, and third base, and has a career .262/.333/.425 slash line as a left-handed hitter. As noted, Seattle loves defensive versatility, and a player with Beaty’s postseason experience who could pinch-hit against bullpen righties would be valuable on the Mariners.

With Kenley Jansen and Joe Kelly hitting free agency, the Dodgers are in need of another leverage arm in their bullpen. Drew Steckenrider was one of the best relievers in Seattle’s top-notch bullpen in 2021, and his two remaining years of club control would be attractive for L.A. as they aim to retool their second-ranked bullpen in the National League.

Beaty reminds me a bit of Abraham Toro and Ty France, two players the Mariners acquired from outstanding teams who had above-average offensive skills, but were blocked by All-Stars on their current team. If given more opportunities in Seattle, Beaty could blossom into an everyday player with four years of remaining club control.