Call to the pen
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Seattle Mariners: Evaluating the prospects in the Cano deal

By Benjamin Chase

SEATTLE, WA - AUGUST 22: Robinson Cano #22 of the Seattle Mariners adjust his cap before a game at Safeco Field on August 22, 2018 in Seattle, Washington. The Astros won the game 10-7. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA - AUGUST 22: Robinson Cano #22 of the Seattle Mariners adjust his cap before a game at Safeco Field on August 22, 2018 in Seattle, Washington. The Astros won the game 10-7. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images) /
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Seattle Mariners
WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 17: Edwin Diaz #39 of the Seattle Mariners and the American League pitches in the ninth inning against the National League during the 89th MLB All-Star Game, presented by Mastercard at Nationals Park on July 17, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

The Seattle Mariners were able to move the contract of Robinson Cano to the New York Mets on Saturday evening after multiple days of intense rumors. Who are the prospects the Mariners got back?

In what appears to be a significant teardown, the Seattle Mariners were able to unload one of the biggest contracts on their books on Saturday night when they traded Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz to the New York Mets (along with a reported $20 million in cash) for Jay Bruce, Anthony Swarzak, and three prospects. Mariners fans are certainly asking themselves just how good are these prospects in order to move the best closer in the game in 2018?!

First, we need to address something…

The Seattle Mariners farm system

Coming into the offseason, there were two things that were clear in the minor leagues as far as teams go – the San Diego Padres had the clear best system in the entire game, and the Seattle Mariners had the clear worst system. Some overtures have been made by Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto that he would like to see the Mariners be able to move themselves to one of the top farm systems in the game over the course of this winter’s dealings.

To put it kindly, that ain’t happening.

Even with the acquisition of three prospects that all would rank in the top 10 of Mariners prospects in their trade with the New York Yankees for James Paxson, the Mariners in my personal farm system rankings had moved from 30th to 28th. This deal, along with an admittedly shrewd acquisition of young lefty Ricardo Sanchez from the Atlanta Braves perhaps could get the Mariners more in the #20 range, if I sat down to examine it and draw them all out.

However, the Mariners would need to somehow milk elite prospects from some of the elite systems in each of their remaining trades of the offseason to even have a chance at top 10, let alone top 5 among the farm systems in the game.

With that out of the way, let’s take a look at the players involved in the deal, starting with the two pitchers…

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