The Seattle Mariners seem poised to upstage themselves for the biggest trade of the MLB offseason thus far.
The Mariners and New York Mets are reportedly nearing completion of a blockbuster trade that would send Seattle All-Star second baseman Robinson Cano and All-Star closer Edwin Diaz to New York.
The reported deal, according to Fancred’s Jon Heyman is “close,” but it’s likely the trade isn’t officially announced until Saturday at the earliest, which makes sense given all the pieces involved.
According to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, here’s what the reported deal looks like:
New York acquires: 2B Robinson Cano, RHP Edwin Diaz
Seattle acquires: OF Jay Bruce, RHP Anthony Swarzak, RHP Justin Dunn, OF Jarred Kelenic, RHP Gerson Bautista
As Rosenthal notes, the addition of Bruce and Swarzak in the return is mostly financial. It’s unlikely either player does a whole lot to make the Mariners much better in 2019. What it does, however, is offset some of the money left on Cano’s massive contract. The Mets will owe the 36-year-old infielder $120 million over the next five years.
Heyman also noted the deal is taking a while to complete because of the contracts, and it’s unknown how much money the Mariners would send the Mets as part of the deal.
But the Mariners aren’t just getting financial relief by offloading Cano’s burdensome contract. Dunn and Kelenic are two bona fide prospects who will help improve Seattle’s farm system.
The Mets drafted Dunn out of Boston College with the 19th pick in the 2016 draft, who’s on the older side for a prospect but pitched well in 2018, striking out more than 10 batters per nine innings with time at High-A and Double-A. He’s currently MLB.com’s No. 89 prospect.
Kelenic was an even higher draft pick, who New York selected with the No. 6 pick in the 2018 draft. MLB.com already has him ranked as the No. 62 prospect in baseball.
It should come as no surprise, then, that Mariners general manager Jerry DiPoto “was said to be euphoric,” according to Rosenthal, even if it means parting with Diaz, an elite and controllable All-Star reliever who is striking out 14 batters per nine innings for his career and finished eighth in Cy Young Award voting as a closer in 2018.
