Mariners-Diamondbacks series is a confrontation with 2 of Jerry Dipoto's worst trades

The Seattle Mariners are already in a funk that has seen them lose 10 out of their last 14 games. Yet that nagging "it could still get worse" feeling continues to linger, and it only gets heavier when you look at the Arizona Diamondbacks roster and see the names "Ketel Marte" and "Eugenio Suárez."

Those guys were Mariners once. They're not anymore because Jerry Dipoto traded them, and it's frankly impossible to resist ribbing him for it.

There's some recency bias at play here, as Marte and Suárez are in the middle of extended heaters as Seattle and Arizona settle in for three at Chase Field over the next three days. Marte has ascended from a star to a superstar over the last two seasons, going off for a .951 OPS and 48 home runs. Suárez started slow as a Diamondback, but his 38 homers since the 2024 All-Star break are the fifth-most of any hitter.

The Mariners are coming face-to-face with two sluggers Jerry Dipoto let get away

Between the trades that sent Marte and Suárez to Arizona, it is certainly the 2023 deal of the latter that looks like the bigger misfire in retrospect.

Heck, it was a shock to Pacific Northwest even at the time. Suárez had just hit 53 home runs in two seasons for the Mariners — including 31 for the 2022 squad that snapped the franchise's 21-year playoff drought — and yet there he went for...[checks notes]...a backup catcher and a middle reliever?

"Bang up job, Jerry" is a statement that worked then and still works now. Seby Zavala posted -0.3 rWAR for the Mariners in 2024 and is now buried in the Boston Red Sox's depth chart. While Carlos Vargas has become a solid presence in the bullpen for Dan Wilson, he's at best fourth on the trust tree underneath Andrés Muñoz, Matt Brash, and Gabe Speier.

True, maybe Cal Raleigh's $105 million extension doesn't happen if the Mariners don't unload the $26 million they would have paid Suárez across last season and (assuming they'd picked up his option) this season. But let's also be real about how this wasn't a huge savings by the standards of MLB contracts, and also about how the club's win with Raleigh's extension should not paper over its utter refusal to spend in free agency.

It's the Ketel Marte trade that has a more complicated legacy. It wasn't even "the Ketel Marte trade" when it was made in November of 2016, as he was a relative unknown next to more accomplished names. Taijuan Walker was the big get for Arizona, while the M's got Mitch Haniger and Jean Segura out of it. And yes, both did good things in a Mariners uniform.

When it comes down to it, though, he's how much WAR the Mariners and Diamondbacks have gotten out of the deal:

• Diamondbacks: 33.9 WAR
• Mariners: 22.4 WAR

A series of extensions have indeed kept Marte in Arizona long after he would have qualified for free agency, but it was clear even as far back as 2018 and 2019 that the Mariners had misjudged his potential. Whereas Dipoto primarily lamented having to trade Walker, his counterpart wasted no time hyping up the then-24-year-old Marte.

“We think there’s definitely some upside in the bat and the defensive ability, and the speed and the athleticism,” Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen told reporters. “All around, we feel he adds quite a bit to our club.”

Maybe Hazen didn't foresee Marte blossoming into one of the great players in MLB today, but that is what has happened. He's the best player that has been involved in a Mariners trade since Dipoto took over the front office in September of 2015. That it cost the team said player makes it an unavoidable black mark on Dipoto's record.

Of course, the fact that Mariners fans can still stew in their own juices over these trades doesn't mean the next three days can't have a happy ending.

As funky as the Mariners have been in recent weeks, the Diamondbacks haven't been any better. The 2023 National League champs have lost 12 out of 17, and the energy hanging over the team got that much dimmer when it announced on Friday that Corbin Burnes needs Tommy John surgery.

The loss of Burnes doesn't figure to help a pitching staff that has already allowed the third-most runs in the league. And while it is usually the offense that leads the way for Arizona, it has scored a modest 4.2 runs per game amid the club's 17-game slide.

For their part, the Mariners are coming out a three-game series in which they racked up 33 hits. Even if those only translated to 13 runs, it'll do for a sign of life for an offense that has had plenty of its own issues. Though he certainly seems determined to try, Cal Raleigh can't carry the lineup forever.

Naturally, the Mariners losing this series would be bad. Given the low production they're getting out of third base (.705 OPS) and second base (.673 OPS), it'll be that much worse if it's Marte and Suárez who continue to haunt them.

Game Times and Probable Pitchers for Mariners vs. Diamondbacks, June 9-11

• Monday, June 9 at 6:40 p.m. PT: Emerson Hancock vs. Merrill Kelly
• Tuesday, June 10 at 6:40 p.m. PT: Bryan Woo vs. Brandon Pfaadt
• Wednesday, June 11 at 12:40 p.m. PT: Bryce Miller vs. Eduardo Rodriguez