The M's had a productive offseason, but there is something that the master trader wishes he didn't have to do.
Coming off the best playoff run in franchise history, the Seattle Mariners attacked the offseason with fury in an effort to get to the World Series in 2026.
Though the M's were disappointed to lose Jorge Polanco in free agency, they went out and acquired All-Star utility player Brendan Donovan from the St. Louis Cardinals and hard-throwing reliever Jose Ferrer in a separate move with the Washington Nationals.
Seattle also brought back Josh Naylor on a five-year deal worth $92.5 million, solidifying the middle of its order. Couple those moves with a still-excellent farm system and the Mariners look like one of the best teams in baseball heading into the new campaign.
They are certainly the favorite to win the American League West for the second straight year.
In order to make these moves happen, the Mariners traded away a strong group of prospects, including top ten prospects Harry Ford (for Ferrer) and Jurrangelo Cijntje (for Donovan). The M's also dealt the well-regarded Tai Peete to St. Louis. However, even more than the players traded, M's executive Jerry Dipoto recently told Overslot Baseball's Joe Doyle that he was disappointed in having to trade a Comp. B draft pick to St. Louis in the Donovan deal.
Jerry Dipoto in Dec. 2024. Jerome Miron-Imagn Images..."This is a pretty deep draft. You know, of all the things that we did this offseason, what I think was a very productive off season for our major league club. I hated trading our B pick because this is a...
(Doyle interjects) "I was going to ask you about that, Jerry. Is it as painful as trading a player? It must be."
(Dipoto): "It really is, not only because we think this is a deep draft and a pick in the 70s is a really valuable thing, but it just gives you so much leverage in the way you view the draft, things you might be able to do, pushing money forward or back..."
In addition to the financial benefit of having an extra high pick, it's likely that Dipoto is disappointed by the idea of trading an unknown entity with limitless potential. In theory, the Mariners came to terms with trading each of the players they did and are aware of their strengths and limitations.
A player you haven't drafted yet doesn't have those limitations, and therefore, you'll always wonder who you could have gotten and what could have been...
We discussed more of this on the most recent 'Refuse to Lose' podcast.
But if Donovan helps the Mariners win the World Series, he'll get over it.... we think.
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