Mariners miss out on obvious reunion as former closer signs with Diamondbacks

When the Mariners moved Paul Sewald to Arizona at the trade deadline back in 2023, players and fans alike were furious, with plenty pointing the finger squarely at Jerry Dipoto. This anger and frustration only grew by season's end, when the M's finished one game back of a wild card spot and two games adrift of the AL West summit, while Sewald went on to pitch for the Diamondbacks in the World Series.

So, what if we were to tell you that Dipoto had an excellent opportunity to reunite with Sewald for this coming season, and at potentially just $1.5 million. A lot of Mariners fans would believe the President of Baseball Operations would snap up the opportunity right?! ... right?!?!

Well apparently not, with MLB.com's Steve Gilbert reporting Sewald has signed a one-year deal worth $1.5 million to reunite with the Diamondbacks, who he also played for in 2024. Critics will point to the righty not being as effective the past two seasons, but in fairness he was limited to 59.1 combined innings due to various injuries, including just 19.2 last year in stints with the Guardians and Tigers.

Not Paul Sewald of old, but still…

Look, we're not saying the M's would have gotten vintage 2022 Sewald, when he set single-season bests of a 2.67 ERA, 139 ERA+, 0.766 WHIP and tied a career-high with a 1.6 bWAR. However, he easily enjoyed the best form of his career during more than two and a half years in Seattle, and his savvy experience combined with returning to the cavernous T-Mobile Park surely would have helped.

For the more nervous among Mariners fans (and we know there's planty of you), missing out on Sewald becomes more worrying when factoring in comments made by Jon Morosi during a recent appearance on Seattle Sports. As per Zac Hereth, the MLB Network reporter believes the M's bullpen is the one big question he has about their roster and their biggest weakness.

The Mariners have tremendous relievers with Andrés Muñoz, Matt Brash, Gabe Speier, Eduard Bazardo and offseason trade acquisition Jose A. Ferrer. However, the biggest detriment to the bullpen last year was a lack of quality depth (compounded by injuries), and you have to wonder if it's going to be a similar issue in 2026.

Mariners need more quality bullpen depth

Whether you agree with Morosi about the Mariners' bullpen being the team's biggest issue, it's easy not to be thrilled about what they've got at the back end. If you go by their FanGraphs depth chart just as a baseline, we're looking at the likes of Carlos Vargas and Casey Legumina, either of who could be replaced by Sewald and make you feel more comfortable about the setup.

We appreciate Vargas was one of the most used relievers by the M's last season, but durability only matters so much when you're as erratic as he was. Meanwhile, at one point last season Legumina was looking like the second coming of Sewald (slight hyperbole), but he ended the campaign with a -0.9 bWAR, 5.62 ERA, 68 ERA+ and 1.450 WHIP.

Cooper Criswell is currently the eighth man in the bullpen, but he has a career 4.48 ERA, 90 ERA+, 4.46 FIP and 1.435 WHIP in 154.2 innings over five years. One pitcher we would be intrigued to see regularly is Emerson Hancock, who converted from a starter to the bullpen last year and showed some promise.

Overall, there's enough doubt to reinforce the belief that Sewald could have proved invaluable for a cheap price, and keep in mind he never wanted to leave Seattle in the first place, and remains a fan favorite. It's fair to wonder if Dipoto and the Mariners will end up regretting not making a move, which seemed to make all the sense in the world.