The Seattle Mariners have made some head scratching moves this offseason by parting ways with OF Jarred Kelenic and 3B Eugenio Suárez. However, they gave their fanbase a sense of direction yesterday by taking the trade market by storm and finalizing two trades.
The first trade comes in the form of former Cy Young Award winner, Robbie Ray. Ray signed with Seattle in 2022, a year after winning the AL CY Young Award with the Toronto Blue Jays. Although Ray had a quick fall from grace in his two seasons with Seattle. Posting a combined 3.79 ERA over 192.1 innings in his past two seasons, was not what the Mariners envisioned.
The Mariners sent Robbie Ray to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for OF Mitch Haniger and RHP Anthony DeSclafani. Haniger, 33, is a familiar face as the Mariners traded him to the Giants just two seasons ago. Haniger slashed .209/.266/.365 with 6 home runs for the Giants in 2023. DeSclafani, 33, posted a 4.88 ERA last season over 99.2 innings last season. Also heading to Seattle is cash in order to relieve Seattle of some of the five-year, $115 million contract that Ray signed with the Mariners.
The second trade the Mariners made today came when Seattle acquired OF Luke Raley from the Rays in exchange for INF José Caballero.
Caballero made his MLB debut this past season and slashed .221/.343/.320 with 4 home runs. Caballero was ranked 19th in the Mariners prospect system by Fangraphs. The 27 year old will now have his shot to become the starting shortstop for the Tampa Bay Rays.
Heading back to the Mariners is OF Luke Raley. Raley has spent his three seasons in Major League Baseball with the Dodgers and Rays. Raley, 29, has his best season yet in 2023, slashing .249/.333/.490 with 19 home runs. Raley gave Tampa Bay some big production and helped their push in October.
The Seattle Mariners acquired a total of three players in their trade market splash being Luke Raley, Mitch Haniger, and Anthony DeSclafani. These three acquisitions give the Mariners and their fanbase a better sense of direction. Unloading a big piece of Robbie Ray's contract gives them even more financial freedom. The Mariners are not expected to be done as their are plenty of options on both markets of free agency and trades.
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