Rafael Devers is already looking like the best trade the Mariners never made

When Rafael Devers was traded from the Boston Red Sox to the San Francisco Giants in June, many Mariners fans wondered why Seattle did not make the trade themselves for the veteran third baseman. The M's still need help at the hot corner, after all, and Devers is a three-time All-Star at the position.

Looking back, it looks like the best trade the Seattle Mariners never made.

The Mariners may have dodged a bullet in not trading for Rafael Devers

Devers has played 30 games in San Francisco and has been worth -0.1 bWAR. He's slashing .227/.336/.345, good for an OPS+ of 99. That's 51 points below the 150 OPS+ he was putting up in Boston. While Devers has slumped before, this is among the worst and most prolonged slumps of his career.

The 28-year-old also just played the field for the first time on Tuesday, making his long-awaited debut at first base. Despite an injury to Matt Chapman that occurred just before Devers joined the Giants, San Francisco kept him off the field and restricted him to designated hitter. It's no wonder the Giants have gone 12-18 since trading for the slugger. They've fallen out of the NL Wild Card picture completely and are now struggling to catch up.

A DH struggling to hit is bad enough as it is, but Devers' contract situation makes the trade look even worse. San Francisco is on the hook for the $254 million Devers is owed over the next eight seasons.

While there is still plenty of time for Devers to bounce back and become the player he was in Boston, the early returns have been poor. It goes to show that no matter how good a player is, teams should always exercise caution before making a trade. The Mariners, at least for now, look like winners, and all they had to do was nothing.