On Feb. 2 of this year, the Seattle Mariners acquired All-Star utility player Brendan Donovan in a three-team trade involving the St. Louis Cardinals and Tampa Bay Rays.

Seattle sent a top pitching prospect, Jurrangelo Cijntje, to St. Louis, along with another solid prospect in Tai Peete. The M's also lost a compensatory draft pick in the deal and sent third baseman Ben Williamson to the Rays.

Williamson was drafted by the Mariners in the second round of the 2023 MLB Draft out of William & Mary and made his debut in the 2025 campaign, playing in 85 games as the M's eventually won the American League West crown.

Not regarded as much of an offensive player, Williamson hit .253 with one homer and 21 RBIs while producing an OPS+ of 76. He was excellent defensively, but the team sent him to Triple-A at the trade deadline in favor of acquiring Eugenio Suarez.

Heading into this season, there was thought that he could be the team's starting third baseman again, or perhaps grow into the previous Dylan Moore utility role, but they included him in this trade. The Rays have utilized him as a utility infielder, and he's played in 63 games as of July 6.

He's hitting .238 with two home runs and 21 RBIs.

We caught up with Williamson on the latest edition of the 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast to talk about many things, including the trade out of Seattle, as the Mariners and Rays get set to play a three-game series this upcoming weekend in Tampa.

Brady Farkas: The trade happens, I believe, in late January (early Feb.) You were actually at Mariners FanFest right around the time that all this is happening. Was it weird? I mean, did you know something was happening when you were at FanFest? Or were you blindsided, for lack of a better word? Kind of take me through the trade, the days leading up to it, and everything around that.

Ben Williamson: "Yeah, I mean, I didn't really know that a trade was happening or if I was a part of a trade. I just remember the day of the trade, my agent called me and said, "Hey, there's rumors of a trade going on. Your name was thrown around in it. Just don't be surprised by it."

Then later in the day, Jerry (Dipoto) called me and was like, "You're being traded to the Rays. Thank you for everything you've done for us, and good luck," basically.

It wasn't that cold, but it was basically like, "We appreciate everything, and we wish you well with the Rays."

BF: A lot of guys have been traded before. A lot of guys will be traded again, but for you, what were your emotions like? I imagine it's tough to leave the organization that drafted you and gave you a chance, but also to go into a new organization with a great reputation where you were going to get a real opportunity to contribute. So kind of take me through the swing of emotions on your end.

BW: Yeah, I mean, it's obviously bittersweet. You came up with a bunch of guys through the system. You got really close to a bunch of guys. So I think that was the hardest part, just the relationships I'd built with the Mariners and leaving those.

But at the same point in time, if a team's trading for you, you know that they have a plan for you, and they want you in their organization. So that was pretty nice, kind of having both ends of the spectrum."

The latest edition of the 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast is now out, and it features former Mariners' 3B Ben Williamson. You can listen here, or you can watch the YouTube player below.

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