1 Mariners trade Jerry Dipoto will regret and 2 that will be home runs

The last few off seasons, prior to this one, have been extremely similar and have yielded mixed results. The Mariners have gone out and acquired an elite bat, followed up with a move or two that were extremely underwhelming. They have acquired Jesse Winker and Teoscar Hernandez, guys that were expected to be key cogs in the lineup. The underwhelming list includes names like Tommy La Stella, Cooper Hummel, and Adam Frazier. The Mariners have repeatedly been one or two moves short of really having a solid off season.

This offseason has been another active one for Dipoto, but in a very different fashion. After rumors that they were going to be aggressive and have the funds necessary to really acquire some elite talent, there were a couple of salary dumps and news of the Mariners working under a stricter financial budget.

That didn't matter for Dipoto and Hollander. He has gone out and been extremely active and creative in building a competitive team. There is no doubt that Dipoto and Hollander have hit this offseason out of the park, all while not increasing the overall payroll. We will look back at this offseason as one that changed the trajectory of the Mariners. It seemed to be going to back to cheap ownership that wouldn't support a team and city that is ready to win right now, but things look a lot different. With that being said, there is one move that Dipoto might regret and a couple that we will look back on that changed the course of this team.

Dipoto will wish he could take back the trade with the Braves

There are two things I want to bring up about this trade and address. The first thing is that I don't think Dipoto makes this trade without the ownership squeezing his budget before the offseason really began. This move was strictly a salary dump move that saw them get rid of Marco Gonzalez and Evan White's atrocious contracts. To do this, they had to include former top prospect, Jarred Kelenic. I'm sure the Mariners had other opportunities, prior to this offseason, to unload the contracts of both of those two.

The second point I want to bring up is that while you may be thinking that I am of the opinion Dipoto will regret this trade because they had to give up Kelenic, you would be wrong. I think that Kelenic would have been traded this offseason, regardless of the financial restrictions. Kelenic showed a lot of immaturity and seemed to cause some issues in the clubhouse (his immaturity was on display again this offseason).

Dipoto will regret this trade because of Marco Gonzalez. The cost of a number five or six starter right now is pretty expensive, and while Gonazlez was scheduled to make $12M this year, that isn't that crazy considering his dependability and presence in the locker room. The Mariners were able to get rid of what sounded like a bad clubhouse fit in Kelenic (a guy who they were able to replace) but they lost a great veteran leader in Marco Gonzalez (and that replacement looks to be Emerson Hancock, Austin Voth, or maybe Trent Thorton). Those options just don't inspire a lot of confidence in the options after the top five in the rotation.

The Mariners will find their solution at 2nd base...finally

The Mariners thought they had their second baseman for a long time, signing all-star Robinson Cano to the largest contract in team history at that time (Julio would later surpass this). When that era of Mariners baseball seemed to come to an end, the Mariners sent Cano off to the Mets and what has transpired for the last five years has been one of the worst positions in baseball. The Mariners have rolled out Shed Long Jr., Dee Strange-Gordon, Dylan Moore, Abraham Toro, Adam Frazier and Kolten Wong. It has been a black hole for the Mariners.

That hole has been filled with the addition of all-star second baseman, Jorge Polanco. While Polanco has been hurt (playing 184 games in the last two years), he has been elite dating back to 2019, when he broke out. Since then (if you exclude 2020) he has put up a wRC+ of 120, 124, 119, and 118. He has been one of the best second baseman in baseball during that stretch. He has legit 25+ home run power, will hit .260+ and have solid walk and strikeout numbers.

The cost to get Polanco wasn't that much, the biggest cost being Justin Topa and Gabriel Gonzalez. This is a very aggressive move for the Mariners and one that we will look back on as an absolute score for the Mariners to have solved one of the perpetual holes in the Mariners team.