New prospect rankings confirm Mariners are winning Jerry Dipoto's latest trades

This offseason, the Mariners traded away two notable prospects: Harry Ford and Jurrangelo Cijntje. Both were highly-touted first-round picks and came with their respective upside. Harry Ford was seen as one of the best catching prospects available and aside from being a strong pitcher overall, Cijntje possessed the unique skillset of being able to use both arms.

Ford was the first piece to be moved and was sent to the Nationals last December in exchange for Jose A. Ferrer. Cijntje was part of a convoluted three-team trade that ultimately brought Brendan Donovan to the Mariners. To some, it was a risky move to offload two top 10 prospects that were on the cusp of making it the majors but with more data, it looks Seattle made the right move at the right time.

The Harry Ford and Jurrangelo Cijntje trades are already paying dividends for the Mariners

In Baseball America's latest update to its list of top 100 prospects, neither Ford nor Cijntje were present and a closer look at their numbers so far paints a clear picture as to why. Across 109 plate appearances with Triple-A Rochester, Ford has a 44 wRC+ with no home runs and a 28.4% strikeout rate. His power, which used to be one of his more notable qualities, has yet to make an appearance this year. He's slugging just .215 and his quality of contact numbers are almost all in the bottom quartile of Triple-A players.

While Seattle primarily had concerns about where Ford would fit on the depth chart, Cijntje's main issue was that his splits as a left-handed and right-handed pitcher were quite skewed. He struggled immensely as a left-handed pitcher and this year has been more of the same. It took him until April 22nd to record his first out as a southpaw and his overall numbers in Double-A Springfield are evidence that he still has a lot to fix. Across 26.2 innings, he has a 5.74 ERA and 6.55 FIP.

On the other side of these deals, the Mariners have gotten excellent results from both Ferrer and Donovan. Ferrer started the season by catching his fair share of flak from fans but has turned it around and become one of the best arms in the bullpen. He has already pitched 19.0 innings to a 1.89 ERA and 2.24 FIP, holding opposing hitters to a 3.6% walk rate and a 1.6% barrel rate.

Brendan Donovan just returned from the injured list following a groin strain but prior to going down was the hottest hitter in the lineup. After 71 plate appearances, he has a 174 OPS+ with three home runs and despite missing so much time, ranks third on the team in rWAR (0.7).

To many, the Mariners are good at developing pitching talent and recently, have started to excel in player development, consistently landing top talent in the draft and signing exciting international free agents. The organization has also been consistently aggressive at the trade deadline over the past few years but hasn't received the same praise for their savvy in striking deals.

Turning two declining prospects into crucial pieces of the major league roster isn't the front office's only victory and there will likely be more successful moves to follow.

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