Grading the Mariners' Deadline Performance

Jerry and Justin knew they had expectations to meet this July, and they pulled off a few deals. As Jason Wang pointed out in his recent piece, the Mariners added power in the lineup and gas in the bullpen. By acquiring Arozarena and Justin Turner, they've added two veteran hitters with playoff experience. In adding Yimi Garcia and JT Chargois, they've added two quality right-handed relievers, both of whom can provide much needed innings. Obviously, this Mariners club is better than it was a week ago. The two questions at hand are a) Did they win each deal? and b) did they do enough?

• July 26: Acquired OF Randy Arozarena from Rays in exchange for OF Aidan Smith (#12 ranked prospect in Mariners' system), RHP Brody Hopkins (#22 ranked prospect in Mariners' system), and player to be named later
• July 26: Acquired RHP Yimi García from Blue Jays in exchange for OF Jonatan Clase (#10 ranked prospect in Mariners' system) and C Jacob Sharp
• July 29: Acquired INF Justin Turner from Blue Jays in exchange for OF RJ Schreck (#29 ranked prospect in Mariners' system)
• July 30: Acquired RHP JT Chargois from Marlins for in exchange for RHP Will Schomberg

As you can see above, Jerry pulled the trigger with Erick Neander in Tampa on the Randy trade a full four days before the deadline. Because of this, I think many Mariners fans were expecting a bigger move for a bat, like Vlad Jr. or Luis Robert Jr. For me personally, I consider Arozarena a pretty big acquisition as an All Star and ALCS MVP. He's averaged 3.4 bWAR over his three full seasons, and he's under team control for 2025 and 2026.

Giving up Aidan Smith is tough (same name yes), especially when you consider he'll likely be a top 100-top 120 guy with updated prospect lists. Hopkins is an exciting big right hander with a plus fastball and plus slider. Getting him in the 6th round looks like a steal right now. That said, Arozarena is a right handed bat with a .876 OPS vs lefties this year.

As we all know, the Mariners are really struggling against left handed pitching, so I love this fit. I've been talking about this deal for almost two years, and they finally pulled it off. For this move, I'd give the Mariners an A- grade, for actually getting the right guy in my view, and.they have him for 2+ years. It's tough to see Smith go, but not giving up Ford or any of the top middle infielders is a huge win.

In acquiring Justin Turner, Seattle has landed Carlos Santana 2.0 as far as clubhouse guys go. Everyone loves JT, and Boston would have kept him if they didn't give Yoshida all that guaranteed money. He's a 39 year old DH, but he's still hitting and he has an advanced approach. He can play some first base, but it's probably not advisable to put him at the hot corner too often.

Randy isn't a good defender either, so offense was clearly the goal here with these two moves. The Jays get a 9th rounder from 2023 in RJ Schrek, a corner outfielder who played four years at Duke. Schrek could be a bench bat at some point at the MLB level but that's close to his ceiling based on scouting reports. Great deal for the the Mariners getting a veteran right handed hitter for almost nothing, Grade: B+

When you consider what the Padres paid for Jason Adams and Tanner Scott, it's hard to figure out how the Mariners got Yimi Garcia for Clase and Jacob Sharp. I think Clase is a burner with a good glove. He has a weak arm and has little game power, so he's probably not going to play everyday in the MLB.

Sharp is a 17th rounder from 2023, and doesn't crack the top 30 list. He's really more of a depth piece, so the Mariners effectively gave up org depth and a burner for 2+ months of Garcia. He had a 153 ERA+, and he put a consistent 3.44 ERA over 163 appearances for his stint in Toronto. Again, considering the context of how much other teams paid for relievers, this is a good deal. Grade: B+

JT Chargois is under team control for 2025, which I like. His K rate continues to decline, and his HR rate seems to be ever increasing, which I do not like. He's got a career 3.40 ERA, with a slider that has a 110 stuff +, a great mark. I can't wait to see what the Mariners' pitching lab can do with him, I'd like to see the K's move back in the right direction.

Miami is acquiring Will Schomberg, an undrafted starter from Davidson. He's pitched well in both A and A+, so we'll see if he can find his way to the show. He's likely a back-end, filler starter best case, but honestly I don't know too much about him. Chargois is an under the radar acquisition, but they're giving up a depth piece for 1.5 years of a proven MLB reliever with a few yellow flags. Grade: B

From a compound standpoint, these deals are all B or better, so a B+ grade would probably be sufficient overall. However, I will give the Seattle front office a B because we didn't see Seattle acquire a bat like Brent Rooker or Vlad Jr. Even if we had acquired one of the top bullpen arms like Jason Adams or Tanner Scott, I would bump this grade up. There wasn't a prospect traded on Baseball America's top 100 list, but I would have liked for the Mariners to swing big and move one of these guys. Why not see what you can do with Harry Ford in a deal? Maybe this winter, we'll see.