Breaking down the Mets-Mariners deal

By: Daniel Multz

The Mariners and Mets finally completed the blockbuster deal we’ve been waiting all week to see and now it’s done and all I can say is this: THE DEAL IS BAD FOR BOTH TEAMS!!

Okay okay, now that I’ve taken a deep breath let’s take a look at what each side is getting out of this deal

The Mets are going to get aging second baseman Robinson Cano, and all the rest of the 120 million dollars on his contract, along with reigning AL Reliever of the Year Edwin Diaz and 20 million dollars from Seattle.

In return, Seattle will take on a plethora of bad Mets contracts: Jay Bruce, Anthony Swarzak and Gerson Bautista, along with two former first round draft picks in 23 year-old righty Justin Dunn (19th overall pick in 2016) and 19 year-old outfielder Jarred Kelenic (6th overall pick in 2018).

Kudos to the Mariners’ front office. GM Jerry Dipoto found a suitor for MLB’s worst contract since A-Rod in 2008. He got rid of Cano, who is 36, still owed WAY TOO MUCH MONEY from his 10-year deal, and is now a known steroid user, but at a huge price.

It’s clear that with the Mike Zunino and James Paxton trades and now with this one that Seattle is completely tearing the team down and choosing to restock their terrible farm system and rebuild, but losing Edwin Diaz couldn’t have been part of the plan. Diaz is only 24 and just put together a historic relief season. Unfortunately, losing him (and 20 more million dollars) was the price to pay for selling Cano.

On a quick side note, with Cano willing to waive his no-trade clause to return to New York, it’s all the more clear that he was never a fit in Seattle and that he should’ve never left New York. He loved New York and New York loved him. He never led Seattle to so much as a division title and Yankees fans dreaded his departure from day 1. Now he’s back in New York and all everyone is saying to him “we told you so.”

Now back to the trade. Kudos to the Mets’ front office for announcing their commitment to winning NOW with this deal. New GM Brodie van Wagenen is beginning to make moves to fix the team’s problems, but he too is paying a very hefty price. Yes, it’s great that some bad contracts are going away and that he brought in some impactful big leaguers, but also 2 out of the last 3 top draft picks. That’s the future of the team, and potential stars, but clearly the Mets’ priority is to win now, and hey, those prospects may turn out to be duds. No one knows but father time.

Additionally, the Mets haven’t solved all of their big league roster’s problems. Yes, they addressed second base and getting a closer, but this team still needs another reviler and desperately needs a catcher. Hopefully, with the $20 million New York got from Seattle, they’ll try to make those moves, because with this “win now” mentality, they need everything to be right, and that will likely mean having to spend money on the market instead of making trades (something this organization isn’t always willing to do).

The moral of the story is that both teams won and lost to a degree from this deal. New York is better off for the “now,” but at the cost of the future. Seattle’s breakdown just took the biggest weight off of its shoulders, but at the price of the team’s best young talent.

With this move, along with all of the other trades, we’ll likely see the Mariners shop the more players who can bring a big return, including Jean Segura, Mallex Smith, and maybe even Kyle Seager.

For the Mets, the next goal is to patch up the rest of the holes in this roster to make this team fully ready to contend in a very deep NL East. With the Braves already making move and the Phillies linked to many big free agents like Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Patrick Corbin and more, the Mets need to keep pace with their rivals’ offseason restocking.

This was a major splash in the offseason, one of a few big trades we’ve now seen in just over a month since the 2018 season ended, but we are still waiting for most of the free agents to sign deals, and with the Winter Meetings looming, hopefully the hot stove will finally begin to earn it’s title for this offseason.