Ranking All 9 Mariners' Deadlines Under Jerry Dipoto

Jerry Dipoto loves to trade. Or at least he did. The Mariners are no strangers to transacting under his leadership, but how have his in season deals actually panned out?

One of the most important jobs of an MLB General Manager is handling the decision that faces every team at some point during the season: should they add players at the trade deadline? Or should they sell off extra pieces to win down the road? The “buy or sell” conversation is certainly muddier than it used to be with the third wild card spot, making a difficult job much more difficult.

For the most part, Mariners GM/President of Baseball Ops Jerry Dipoto hasn’t ridden the fence. He’s often decisive despite not having the financial backing of ownership for at least the past 4 years. Dipoto’s decisions at the deadline are a bit of a mixed bag both in terms of acquisitions and process. But as he gears up for his 10th deadline with the Mariners (and if things go badly, possibly his last), let’s take a look at the previous 9 summers and see how he did.

9. 2016

It was his first season at the helm, but Dipoto’s 2016 deadline didn’t exactly instill a lot of confidence. The club more or less straddled the fence, unsure if they were a true contender. The club featured prime seasons from Robinson Cano, Kyle Seager, Nelson Cruz to go with a surprisingly good bullpen anchored by veteran Steve Cishek and a young flamethrower named Edwin Diaz, but the team went 45-45 in their first 90 games and sat 5 games back of a wild card spot.

With an awful farm system, Dipoto decided to work around the edges of the roster and do a bit more selling than buying. He traded Mike Montgomery and a prospect to the Cubs for 2 solid prospects. Montgomery was in the midst of a breakout season, having posted a 1.6 bWAR in 61 innings largely out of the bullpen, boasting a 2.34 ERA. Montgomery would help the Cubs end their 108-year World Series drought, pitching well for the Cubs down the stretch.

The two prospects the Mariners received were Daniel Vogelbach and Paul Blackburn. Both players would have decent careers, the Blackburn never threw a pitch for Seattle (he would be flipped for Danny Valencia just a few months later). Vogelbach became a fan favorite, but never settled into an everyday role. He did earn a ceremonial All-Star nod in 2019, but his career .196/.326/.397 slash in Seattle is hardly worth celebrating.

A week later, Seattle would swap struggling reliever Joaquin Benoit to the Blue Jays for a struggling Drew Storen. While he was solid for Seattle, Storen only threw 18.1 innings for Seattle before departing for free agency.

Perhaps the biggest win for Dipoto came from the most unexpected place. On July 31st, Dipoto flipped disgruntled starter Wade Miley for an unknown lefty named Ariel Miranda. Miley had posted a 4.98 ERA for Seattle and complained about their defensive shifts, so Dipoto sent him to Baltimore where he pitched even worse. Meanwhile, Miranda was worth nearly a win over the rest of 2016, posting a 3.54 ERA in 10 starts. Miranda’s success was shortlived, as he struggled as a full-time starter in 2017 before finding himself out of MLB after 2018.

Dipoto would make a few small waiver deadline deals for bullpen help that didn’t help, but did manage to swing a nice deal in late August, sending a minor league pitcher to the Yankees for Ben Gamel. In 3 seasons with the Mariners, Gamel hit .270/.333/.395 in 262 games with Seattle and would eventually help them land Domingo Santana.

Of course, the biggest miss of the deadline, and perhaps of Dipoto’s career, came a month before the deadline when he traded a 25-year-old prospect named Chris Taylor to the Dodgers for RHP Zach Lee. While Lee would never throw a pitch for the Mariners, Taylor went on to produce 14.6 bWAR in his remaining 5 years of club control and become a stalwart on the Dodgers’ best run in decades. Yikes.

8. 2023

It’s no secret to anybody who watched or listened to the Locked on Mariners or CtZ Podcast in the summer of 2023 that I absolutely hated this deadline. Dipoto did exactly what he couldn’t do: he waffled in the middle of a contention window. As more information has come to light, it does appear that Dipoto’s actual intention was to sell, with failed trades of Teoscar Hernandez and Ty France now public knowledge, but the process remained poor.

The Mariners sat at 55-51 on July 31st, winners of 7 of their last 10, 5 games back of the Rangers for the division lead, 3.5 back of the Wild Card. The team’s farm system was in a reasonable strong place. They had just broken the playoff drought and had series momentum with the fan base. And they decided to sell… kind of.

Of course, the biggest trade of the summer saw them trade closer and fan favorite Paul Sewald to the Diamondbacks. The quality of the return on the trade is still up in the air. Josh Rojas gave the Mariners 3 bWAR in 188 games, and was a solid bat for the 2023 squad before being one of the worst every day hitters in the game in 2024. Dominic Canzone has had his moments, but hasn’t caught on with any regularity and now finds himself on the outside looking in for playing time. Ryan Bliss might end up being the prize of the deal, as he currently battles for the starting second base job after a solid stint with Seattle in 2024.

Seattle would also acquire Trent Thornton and Eduard Bazardo at the deadline in a pair of waiver trades. Thornton has been a solid middle man in the team pen ever since, and Bazardo’s stuff appears to have finally solidified, finishing off the 2024 campaign with an impressive September. Seattle’s offense would get red hot in August and Seattle would briefly hold the AL West lead, but the team ultimately fell flat in 2023, thanks in large part to the lack of commitment from the front office at the deadline.

7. 2019

The 2019 Mariners were the first true rebuild team for the Mariners in nearly 30 years. They weren’t just bad, they were bad with a purpose. After a wild winter that saw the team decimate their MLB roster and restock the farm system, there was little doubt what Seattle was going to do in the summer. They started their work early, trading veterans Jay Bruce and Edwin Encarnacion before July. They didn’t get anything terrible interesting for either player, though Juan Then did make a few appearances for Seattle in 2022.

The Mariners made two significant deals at the deadline. First, they traded Roenis Elias and Hunter Strickland to the Nationals. They received a pair of lefty relievers, Taylor Guilbeau and Aaron Fletcher, neither of whom produced much for Seattle. They also flipped veteran innings eater Mike Leake to the Diamondbacks for a little known prospect named Jose Caballero. Cabby, as he became known, did grind his way to the big leagues in 2023 and provided a spark for their infield, posting a 2.4 bWAR in 104 games. This trade is still paying dividends as Caballero was flipped to Luke Raley who produced 3.2 bWAR in his first season.

There’s not much to complain about, but not much to celebrate. It took 3.5 years for Seattle to get anything out of these deadline deals, but nonetheless the Leake trade tree stands out as one of Jerry’s best. It’s also worth noting that the Mariners did make a trade in April of that year, flipping Nick Wells for a reliever named Austin Adams, who we’ll discuss a little later on.

6. 2017

The 2017 deadline was a weird one. Seattle was once again a fringe contender, but injuries ultimately led them to a rare sub-.500 record in the Dipoto era. Ironically, one of Jerry’s worst trades happened this summer, though at the time, nobody would have predicted it. While trying to salvage his second to last season with his aging core, Dipoto shipped a quartet of young prospects, headlined by an outfielder named Brayan Hernandez, to the Marlins for David Phelps.

Phelps got off to a good start for Seattle, but quickly landed on the IL with elbow soreness, ending his Mariners tenure with just 8.2 innings pitched. 3/4 of the package never sniffed the big leagues, but the 4th piece was a young teenage pitcher named Pablo Lopez. Yes, that one. Sometimes good process ends with horrible results.

One day later, Dipoto made one of his more controversial deals, sending the team’s second best prospect, outfielder Tyler O’Neill, to the Cardinals for a recently injured lefty named Marco Gonzales. The Gonzaga product became a fan favorite quickly and would give Seattle 800+ innings of solid baseball over the 6+ years in Seattle. Marco anchored the rotation during the rebuild and played a role in ending their 2-decade long drought.

The Mariners rotation was hurting, and with David Phelps now in hand, Dipoto flipped Steve Cishek to Tampa for Erasmo Ramirez. Ramirez was solid down the stretch, making 11 starts and producing a sub-4 ERA in route to a 0.7 bWAR output in 62 innings. Cishek was incredible for Tampa, giving us our second win-win trade of this deadline.

Dipoto would make a couple of post-deadline waiver trades as well. On August 6th they acquired Yonder Alonso for Boog Powell. Alonso posted a 116 wRC+ for the rest of the season, and Powell never blossomed. Seattle would also trade for Mike Leake on August 31st for Rayder Ascaino. Leake would throw 354.2 innings of quality baseball for Seattle and would later be flipped for big profits later on.

5. 2018

The 2018 season was the final crack for the quartet of Cano, Cruz, Seager, and Felix Hernandez. The team was dealt an early blow when Cano was suspended for 80 games in May for a positive PED result, and to his credit, Dipoto didn’t wait around. On May 25th, he flipped RHP Andrew Moore and Tommy Romero to the Rays for veterans Denard Span and Alex Colome.

Span went .272/.329/.435 in 94 games with the Mariners, providing 1 bWAR and helping to stabilize an offense without one of its stars. Colome was equally as helpful, posting 2.53 ERA in 47 innings. Colome would be flipped during the rebuild, so both players were rentals, but both provided instant value. Romero and Moore did very little for Tampa.

Unfortunately, Seattle’s limited farm system made making a big move unlikely, but Seattle did make 4 trades at the deadline in a final push for their aging core. In totality, Seattle would trade Seth Elledge, Chase De Jong, Ryan Costello, and Bryson Brigman for Sam Tuivailala, Zach Duke, Adam Warren, and Cameron Maybin. Unfortunately for Seattle, the 4 veterans combined for just 0.2 bWAR and another summer of solid process didn’t produce the results needed.

4. 2021

After COVID wiped out most of the Mariners' second rebuild season, many Mariners fans assumed 2021 would be similar to the last two. The goal was more about the development of youngsters like Ty France, J.P. Crawford, Kyle Lewis, Jarred Kelenic, and Logan Gilbert. But instead, something almost magical happened. The Mariners won 90 games and officially opened their window at least one full year before anybody could have reasonably expected.

The Mariners made 3 notable deals to try and bolster their surprising playoff push. First, they traded catcher Carter Binns to Pittsburgh for Tyler Anderson. Binns is still in the minors while Anderson was rock solid down the stretch (though, ironically got blown up twice by the Angels). The second deal saw Seattle hook up with Tampa yet again, shipping JT Chargois and Austin Shenton to the Rays for premier setup man Diego Castillo. Castillo’s run with Seattle was inconsistent, but he did post a solid 2.86 ERA in 22 innings down the stretch.

The most controversial trade came in the form of Kendall Graveman and Rafael Montero to the Astros for Joe Smith and Abraham Toro. Many players and fans were furious. Graveman was well liked in the clubhouse (at least by Seager) and shots were immediately fired at Dipoto. Of course, Seattle ended up coming out in front in this deal. Joe Smith ended up being the most valuable reliever down the stretch of the 3, posting a 2.00 ERA and 0.7 bWAR in 13 innings. The 24-year-old Toro was also solid down the stretch, posting a .252/.328/.367 slash, good for 0.9 bWAR in 60 games. This trade also produced one of the funniest moments in Mariners history, so bonus points are in order.

Despite the controversial move, Seattle did improve their club for that season. Before the Graveman trade, Seattle was 55-47, a 54% win percentage (I know, right?). After the deal, Seattle would go 35-25, a 58% win percentage. Hmm.

3. 2020

The 2020 season was wild, very little of it because of baseball. But when baseball did return for a 60-game sprint, the Mariners were in the midst of their second year in their rebuild. The 2020 squad was pretty entertaining, though they fell well short of good.

Dipoto took advantage of a small sample size and the expanded playoff field, ripping a pair of deals with the Padres that fundamentally shifted the timeline towards contention. In arguably Dipoto’s best deal, he shipped off a red hot Austin Nola, along with relievers Dan Altivilla and Austin Adams, to the Padres for a package including top prospect Taylor Trammell, Ty France, Andres Munoz, and Luis Torrens.

Of course, Nola couldn’t sustain his success in San Diego, and Altivilla floundered. Adams also struggled, ultimately providing a little value for the Padres, but nowhere close to what they gave up. Ironically, the prize of the deal was the least valuable piece. Trammell never found his footing in Seattle, and is now bouncing around the league. However, Seattle has extracted tremendous value from the other 3 pieces.

France was a fantastic glue guy for Seattle, appearing in 561 games and slashing .266/.343/.407 while accumulating 8.2 bWAR and helping build the culture of the post-rebuild Mariners. France made an All-Star team and prior to a series of injuries to his left arm, he was one of the most underrated hitters in baseball.

Munoz has since emerged as one of the premier relievers in baseball. Since becoming a regular in 2022, Munoz has posted a 2.49 ERA, a 2.67 FIP, and a 12.5 K/9. All in all, Munoz has been worth 4 wins in 173 innings as a true fireman out of the pen and may have just scratched the surface to what he could be.

But Dipoto wasn’t done with the Padres. On August 31st, he sent rental Taylor Williams to San Diego for a relative unknown arm with big stuff and no control. Since this trade, Matt Brash has been regarded as having some of the filthiest stuff in the game and he showed his dominance in 2023, posting a 2.26 FIP and collecting 107 strikeouts in 70 innings. Brash is currently working his way back from Tommy John surgery that cost him all of 2024, so Brash’s long-term value is a bit up in the air.

Seattle would also flip Taijuan Walker for Alberto Rodriguez, but Rodriguez has never appeared in a big league game.

2. 2022

The 2022 deadline could have been special. Dipoto took the biggest swing of his Mariners’ career and nailed it, acquiring Luis Castillo for Noelvi Marte, Edwin Arroyo, Andrew Moore, and Levi Stoudt. Castillo was nails for the Mariners down the stretch, helping them secure their first playoff birth in 21 years. He was dynamite in Seattle’s first post season game, firing 7 shutout innings against a high flying Blue Jays lineup. Castillo followed up with a great 2023, finishing 5th in Cy Young voting and making an All-Star team.

Unfortunately, Seattle didn’t push their chips in much further. They would acquire Curt Casali, Matthew Boyd, and Jake Lamb for a pair of minor leaguers. But of the trio, only Boyd played particularly well, and even then it was only in 13 innings.

Seattle’s big offensive addition came in June, when they flipped William Fleming to Kansas City for veteran first baseman Carlos Santana. Santana was simply an average bat for Seattle, but his penchant for hitting clutch homers certainly made his acquisition impactful. Overall, Dipoto did well, but stopped just short of putting this team over the top, despite having the resources to do just that.

1. 2024

Perhaps it is recency bias, but Dipoto absolutely cooked at last year’s deadline. Needing to patch his terrible offense and add some bullpen help, Seattle came out swinging, acquiring one of the best players available, snagging 2+ years of All-Star outfielder Randy Arozarena. While he wasn’t incredible for Seattle, he still posted a 118 OPS+ and was worth a full win in just 54 games with Seattle.

But the Mariners weren’t done. Looking to lengthen the lineup, Seattle acquired veteran first baseman Justin Turner. The Dodgers legend quickly became a fan favorite and an important voice in the clubhouse down the stretch. Turner appeared revitalized, joining a pennant race and hitting .264/.363/.403 down the stretch, posting 1.2 bWAR in just 48 games. Arozarena and Turner stabilized the lineup, and Seattle was a Top 10 offense, finishing 9th in runs and 5th in wRC+.

Dipoto also added to the bullpen, acquiring Yimi Garcia who was in the midst of an All-Star quality season. Unfortunately, like so many other high leverage arms for Seattle, Garcia hit the IL shortly after he was acquired. Dipoto also acquired Chargois once again. In total, Dipoto added two everyday bats, a high-leverage arm, and a middle innings arm for the cost of Brody Hopkins, Aidan Smith, Will Schomberg, and Jonatan Clase. With a healthy Garcia, Seattle is very likely to make the playoffs.

The Mariners figure to be in the mix for the playoffs yet again in 2025. After a disappointing off-season, Seattle will almost certainly need to be active at the deadline yet again to avoid missing the playoffs for the 23rd time in 24 seasons. Hopefully, Dipoto is aggressive and has a deadline similar to those at the top of this list, not the bottom of it.