The mention of Austin Shenton reminded me how useful he could be as a prospect now. Or Pablo Lopez, or Freddy Peralta. We got some value from Castillo the first year and a half, but wish we hadn't traded Shenton. Love to see a Mariners after Midnight or Baseball Things episode assessing DiPoto's trades, as compared to what he's done in drafting and developing. We've gotten Brash and Munoz and some good years of Ty France in trades where we didn't give up much, but it feels like DiPoto's track record in signing and developing is better than his record in trading.
Shenton, as much as I like the player and the dude, enters 2024 as a fringe roster guy, two and a half years after being traded.
But...
Luis Castillo.
Eugenio Suarez.
J.P. Crawford.
Tom Murphy.
All significant contributors, all acquired by trade, on top of France, Brash, Munoz, and that's only counting acquired players STILL on the roster.
Mitch Haniger, Jean Segura, Denard Span, Alex Colome, Omar Narvaez, Edwin Encarnacion, Carlos Santana, Josh Rojas, and Erik Swanson were good players acquired via trade, too.
Trades of the small-mid type are very difficult to win big with, too, and that's the approach when you have little resources like the Mariners had 2016-2021.
Every GM has their Pablo Lopez, Freddy Peralta stories, and even much worse. Ask the Dodgers about Yordan Alvarez. Ask the White Sox about Fernando Tatis Jr. Ask the Yankees about Jay Buhner or Fred McGriff. The Cubs about Josh Donaldson. The D-Backs about Max Scherzer. The Padres about Anthony Rizzo and Trea Turner. The Expos about Randy Johnson. And on and on and on.
Most of Dipoto's trades have been shot-taking. Only a small handful have been with a clear, current-roster purpose, and the jury is out on mosy of them, still, including the big one with the Mets after the 2018 season.
The mention of Austin Shenton reminded me how useful he could be as a prospect now. Or Pablo Lopez, or Freddy Peralta. We got some value from Castillo the first year and a half, but wish we hadn't traded Shenton. Love to see a Mariners after Midnight or Baseball Things episode assessing DiPoto's trades, as compared to what he's done in drafting and developing. We've gotten Brash and Munoz and some good years of Ty France in trades where we didn't give up much, but it feels like DiPoto's track record in signing and developing is better than his record in trading.
Shenton, as much as I like the player and the dude, enters 2024 as a fringe roster guy, two and a half years after being traded.
But...
Luis Castillo.
Eugenio Suarez.
J.P. Crawford.
Tom Murphy.
All significant contributors, all acquired by trade, on top of France, Brash, Munoz, and that's only counting acquired players STILL on the roster.
Mitch Haniger, Jean Segura, Denard Span, Alex Colome, Omar Narvaez, Edwin Encarnacion, Carlos Santana, Josh Rojas, and Erik Swanson were good players acquired via trade, too.
Trades of the small-mid type are very difficult to win big with, too, and that's the approach when you have little resources like the Mariners had 2016-2021.
Every GM has their Pablo Lopez, Freddy Peralta stories, and even much worse. Ask the Dodgers about Yordan Alvarez. Ask the White Sox about Fernando Tatis Jr. Ask the Yankees about Jay Buhner or Fred McGriff. The Cubs about Josh Donaldson. The D-Backs about Max Scherzer. The Padres about Anthony Rizzo and Trea Turner. The Expos about Randy Johnson. And on and on and on.
Most of Dipoto's trades have been shot-taking. Only a small handful have been with a clear, current-roster purpose, and the jury is out on mosy of them, still, including the big one with the Mets after the 2018 season.