Kendall Graveman, Seattle Mariners.
Twelve games ago, the Seattle Mariners traded away Kendall Graveman and Rafael Montero. The latter of the two was designated for assignment (DFA) before the trade, so losing him was of no consequence. Losing Graveman, on the other hand, has resulted in massive consequences.
The fallout from trading Graveman trade prompted General Manager Jerry Dipoto to inform disappointed M’s fans that it was the first of several moves. He said it would all make sense after the trade deadline. Here we are two weeks since the trade, and it still doesn’t make sense.
When the trade happened, there were still a couple of days left until the deadline. The Mariners just played an incredible game where they came from behind to beat Houston. It was an Astros team on the brink of falling apart due to injuries, COVID, and a bullpen that struggled to keep leads.
Trading away a team’s best pitcher out of the bullpen happens all the time. In fact, the Seattle Mariners were part of one of the worst trades in baseball history when they dealt away prospects Jason Varitek and Derek Lowe for then Red Sox closer Heathcliffe Slocum. It was a disaster, and while the Graveman trade doesn’t seem to be on track for that label, the results have so far been atrocious.
After beating the Astros on July 26, 11-8, thanks to a Dylan Moore grand slam and clutch pitching from Graveman. Then Graveman was traded to the other dugout. To a team that the Mariners still had two more games against. And to a team that Seattle was chasing in the division. The win put them six out of the American League West lead, but only a game out of a wild card spot. If that wasn’t bad enough, the Mariners’ trade filled a massive hole in the backend of Houston’s bullpen. The same hole the M’s exploited in their come-from-behind victory.
The timing of the trade to the Astros didn’t make sense, and if the Astros GM, James Click, put pressure on Dipoto to make the deal, then there shouldn’t have been a deal. That’s not the only reason, though. Clubhouse leadership and chemistry are vital to a team that makes a run to the playoffs. There are plenty of examples of teams that won championships with amazing chemistry versus teams with a plethora of talent.
The Mariners weren’t going to win a world series. At least that wasn’t in the realm of even the most ardent Seattle fan. Making the playoffs? That is the most important thing to most M’s fans. That and praying that all of the prospects the Mariners have will pan out.
Teams need leadership to get there. The infield has Kyle Seager, the outfield has Mitch Haniger, the starting rotation has Marco Gonzalez, and the bullpen had Graveman. These leaders are the guys who keep the rest of the Mariners pumped up, motivated and stop them from getting down.
Dipoto removed one of those leaders. He added Pirates starting pitcher in Tyler Anderson to an ailing rotation. Then came his “watch this” move. The M’s sent reliever J.T. Chargois and a prospect to Tampa Bay in exchange for sometimes closer Diego Castillo. The trade made almost no sense at all on the Rays side. They gave up a really good reliever, and the price for Seattle was nothing.
A team is the sum of its parts. On paper, the Mariners basically traded Graveman and Chargois for Abraham Toro and Castillo. The goal of a Major League Baseball team is that you score more runs than your opponent as many times as you can. Since the trade, Toro has been lights out. He’s hitting .386 with a 1.142 OPS in 50 at-bats with Seattle. Those are impressive numbers, but the Mariners are 4-8 in those games. What’s missing is a reliable bullpen.
In the first game after Graveman went to Houston, the M’s lost 8-6. Starter Chris Flexen was knocked around by the ‘Stros. Game 2 was a bullpen disaster. All four relievers who pitched after starter Yusei Kikuchi gave up at least one run, and the Mariners lost 11-4.
The opening game of a series with the Rangers was next. It was a success, but not because of the bullpen. Logan Gilbert pitched well, and the M’s won 9-5. The ship seemed to be righted, but then disaster struck in Dallas.
Anderson’s first game with the Mariners was a decent start, pitching into the 6th inning and only giving up 3 runs. Joe Smith (acquired in the Graveman trade), Erik Swanson, Casey Stadler, and Paul Sewald did their jobs to perfection. Castillo came in, in the bottom of the 10th after the M’s took a 4-3 lead and faced one batter. That batter smashed a walk-off home run.
Game 3 looked similar to Game 2. Gonzales was outstanding, giving up one run over six innings. With the score 3-1 going into the bottom of the 9th and apparently Castillo unavailable (he only pitched to one batter the previous night), Scott Servais went to Erik Swanson to close out the game. Swanson gave up two dingers, and one of them was a walk-off.
Seattle started the Rays series by taking the first two; Castillo even earned a save. The series finale’ stung, but the M’s couldn’t get their bats going against the Rays bullpen and lost 4-3. The Mariners headed to NYC to play the Yankees. At that point, they were 3-5 since the Graveman trade, with two of the five losses attributed to the bullpen.
In the first contest of the four-game series with New York, Anderson pitched effectively through five innings, only giving up two runs. The Mariners took the lead into the 7th inning only for Paul Sewald to yield a 3-run home run to Joey Gallo.
Game two of the series was all about Marco Gonzales. He pitched into the 7th inning and only gave up 3 hits and no runs when he left with a 1-0 lead. Diego Castillo came in in the bottom of the 8th inning and gave up a hit and two walks to load the bases and blew the save. The Mariners took another lead in the 10th inning, and Drew Steckenrider blew the save. Finally, Kenyan Middleton, who has been mostly ineffective this season, gave up the game-winning walk-off with two outs in the 11th.
Game three of the series had the Mariners up 4-1 heading into the bottom of the 6th inning. Flexen was cruising. But an error and more ineffective pitching from Anthony Miskiewicz cost the Mariners the game.
The Mariners salvaged the final game of the series with a 2-0 win. It was a game where no one scored until the 8th. Casey Sadler, Sewald, and Steckenrider were all strong in relief. But the damage to the pen is already done. Since the trade, Seattle’s bullpen is 1-5 with 7 blown saves and a 5.72 ERA. Before that, M’s relievers were 27-14 with a 3.37 ERA. Seattle went from a game out of a wild card spot on July 26th to 5.5 games out of a wild card spot in just two weeks.
What if we didn’t make the trade? Maybe things remain the same, but probably not. The Seattle Mariners are 4-8 with Toro in the line-up, so he’s not the answer yet. Castillo has two saves, but the Mariners are 2-2 in games when he appears. They were 29-2 in games that Graveman pitched in.
Maybe Seattle blows a few of the games anyway, but not five of them. Who knows, one day, M’s fans look back on this trade and say it was genius. But two weeks after the fact, it’s been a terrible trade. Even though Toro has been outstanding, the rest of the offense has reverted to their April and May failings.
Joe Swenson is an author, award-winning playwright, and founder of Broken Arts Entertainment.