The controversial Mariners trade for Dominic Canzone has aged into a masterpiece

The date is July 31, 2023, and Mariners players and fans alike are completely stunned. The front office has just traded Paul Sewald to the Diamondbacks, in order to acquire some offense and youth in Dominic Canzone, Ryan Bliss and Josh Rojas. M's manager Scott Servais admits the trade hurts because of the relationship the team has with Sewald, while the player himself all but says he's not happy about being shipped out of Seattle.

The Mariners do go on a run following the trade, but ultimately finish one game out of a playoff spot in the American League. As per Adam Jude of The Seattle Times, Cal Raleigh laments losing Sewald at the trade deadline, saying it definitely hurt the team. There are concerns that ownership is just not prepared to do what it takes to put a serious contender on the field.

Now fast forward three years, and the perception surrounding the controversial trade could not be more different. And it's mostly down to what Canzone has become during his time in the Pacific Northwest. Once considered by some as too big for his own boots, and unable to transfer his minor league success to the big stage, he's now arguably the best offensive threat on the Mariners roster.

The 28-year-old offered some glimpses of his potential during the 2024 campaign, but it was last season when he finally broke out his bat. Having always carried himself and acted like he was a star, he finally found the productivity to match his persona. Over 82 games he batted .300, with an .840 OPS and 140 OPS+.

Dominic Canzone has gone from part-time player to full-time hero

However -- fair or not -- critics still demanded more, wanting to see if Canzone could be effective over a full season in the majors. Well, we still have one-third of the 2026 campaign to go, but it's tough not to accept that the guy really is just as good as he always believed. Ahead of this weekend's home series versus the Twins, he leads the Mariners with 18 home runs, a .862 OPS and 145 OPS+, which all double as career-highs.

Admittedly, even the Mariners themselves were still not entirely convinced in what they had with Canzone, starting this season using him as a platoon player who mostly faced righties. However, they eventually put more faith in him, removing the platoon label and making him a full-time member of the lineup. And he has more than justified this decision, hitting .270 with a 1.059 OPS in 48 plate appearances versus the left-handed pitching which the team has struggled against all season:

While it brings us no pleasure to say this, further enhancing the trade from a Mariners perspective is that Sewald has been a declining asset ever since he left. The latest blow to the righty is losing the closer role in Arizona, as he has struggled to replicate his time with the M's. In fact nowhere has he enjoyed as much success as he did in Seattle, where he recorded a 2.88 ERA, 0.926 WHIP and 236 Ks over 171.2 innings.

We do hope that Sewald can rediscover some of his previous form, especially as a player who was extremely popular in the Mariners clubhouse. Ultimately though, the last three years have proven that Jerry Dipoto knew what he was doing with the trade, in part due to his ability to remove emotion from the equation. The irony in this is that M's fans now get to display emotion on a regular basis due to Canzone's success, and long may it continue.

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