Seattle Mariners: Robbie Ray vs. ghosts of M’s past sins
Chris Phillips
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Acquiring Another Former Cy Young
Coming into the 2010 season, with a new GM Jack Zduriencik, the Seattle Mariners made a bit of a surprising move. They traded for, at the time, three-time All-Star and former Cy Young winner, Cliff Lee. The 2009 Seattle Mariners had an unexpected season winning 10 over their Pythagorean win total. This sounds eerily familiar to their 2021 season.
Many experts predicted regression for the Seattle Mariners for the upcoming 2010 season. So, acquiring Lee was a little curious, to say the least. Nevertheless, the idea of a one-two punch of Lee and Hernandez was too tantalizing to pass up. And the hope was this duo would fare better than the Bedard – Hernandez pairing did.
Unfortunately, the Seattle Mariners finished fourth in the AL West. Before the trade deadline, they dealt Lee to division rivals. the Texas Rangers. Texas not only broke an 11-year playoff drought, but they also won the division and went to the World Series.
A positive for the Seattle Mariners, King Felix won the AL Cy Young. The return the Seattle Mariners received from Texas was Justin Smoak, Blake Beavan, Matt Lawson, and Josh Lueke. Smoak was a highly touted first baseman and Texas’ top prospect. At the time he came to Seattle with a career .291 avg.
None of these players panned out the way the Seattle Mariners hoped. Fortunately, the players Seattle gave up for Lee, for Tyson Gillies (minors), Phillippe Aumont, and JC Ramirez didn’t do much either, but the potential for disaster was high.