Seattle Mariners trade Jean Segura to Phillies for Carlos Santana, J.P. Crawford
The Mariners and Phillies announced a long rumoured trade Monday, with the full exchange including a total of five players.
According to an official team announcement, the Seattle Mariners have acquired infielders Carlos Santana and J.P. Crawford in exchange for shortstop Jean Segura and pitchers Juan Nicasio and James Pazos. Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic, Jon Heyman of Fancred and Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports all contributed various bits of rumoured news prior to the official announcement of the trade.
This trade has the makings of being another one of Jerry Dipoto‘s famous blockbuster deals. While Segura was coming off an excellent season (.304/.341/.415, 10 HR, 20 SB, 29 2B in 632 PAs), J.P. Crawford, long considered to be one of the most promising infield prospects in the game, will now get the chance to grow in a younger, more improvement centred environment in Seattle. It is also worth noting that Segura has four (potentially five) years remaining on his incredibly team-friendly five-year, $70 million contract.
Also included in the deal are James Pazos, who pitched to an ERA of 2.88 in 50.0 innings last season with the Mariners, and Juan Nicasio, a veteran righty who tossed 42.0 innings for Seattle this past season to an ugly ERA of 6.00. Nicasio, 32, struck out 53 and walked 5.
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Pazos, 27, becomes arbitration eligible in 2020, while Nacasio still has a year remaining on his two-year contract that was signed last offseason. Pazos formerly pitched with the New York Yankees, while Nicasio also served as a member of the Rockies, Pirates, Cardinals, and Dodgers.
Finally, one of the largest pieces to change hands is Carlos Santana, the occasionally inconsistent former Cleveland Indian that will know be returning to the American League. Signed to a massive three-year, $60 million contract (that still has two seasons remaining), Santana, 32, was likely a salary dump at best.
Still, it’s possible that Santana, who currently sits 37th among active players in home runs and 46th in runs batted in, could contribute to the 2019 Mariners, though the team clearly isn’t thinking about contention next season. In 560 at-bats for the Phillies in 2018, he slashed .229/.352/.414 with 24 home runs, 86 RB, 28 doubles and 82 runs spread across 161 games.
J.P. Crawford, 23, rounds out the long list of players changing uniforms in this monumental deal. A first-round pick of the Phillies in 2013, he has yet to perform at the major league level, slashing a pedestrian .214/.333/.358 in 72 career major league contests. He also, funnily enough, has more career triples (4), than he does home runs (3).
Next. Seattle Mariners strongly trying to deal Kyle Seager. dark
While this deal is certainly subject to nearly endless analysis and argument, it remains, for now, one of the biggest trades to be made in an already hectic offseason. With word that Jerry Dipoto, the wheeling and dealing Seattle Mariners GM, isn’t quite done yet, we could be in for one exciting offseason. More analysis to come.