Unfortunately, this isn’t a PSA that the once great video store is having a comeback, but rather officially announcing the season of Blockbuster trades. Baseball is good for many things if you are a fan, if not, baseball has a lot of flaws. One thing you cannot knock baseball is that it most definitely has the most active trade market in all of sports. There’s just something about my dumb little brain that i enjoy watching players move from team to team. Maybe it’s the colors or something, or seeing someone in different colors, but it is always gets me a half chub.

The team to make the first rumble in the exciting world of baseball was no other than the Seattle Mariners and the New York Mets. With the Mets under new General Manager control under former agent Brodie Van Wagenen, Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto seemed to be a shark smelling blood going for the rookie GM first. As I stated in the earlier blog about the Mets, they are in a weird situation. Do they sell off what they have or build around Noah Sydegaard or Jacob DeGrom. With this move, it seems like the Mets, and General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen, aren’t ready to call it quits just yet. Here are the trade details:

Mets Receive-

• Robinson Cano
• Edwin Diaz
• $20 mil

Mariners Receive-

• Jay Bruce
• Anthony Swarzak
• Jared Kelenic
• Justin Dunn
• Gerson Bautista

It’s strange to actually consider a trade fair, but this is pretty close to it. The Mets are obviously receiving an old, yet productive Robinson Cano who is coming off a season where he slashed .303/.374/.471 with 22 doubles, 10 home runs, 50 RBI’s, in 80 games while also serving his 80 game PED suspension. The biggest factor in Cano is obviously his monstrous contract. Cano, who is 36, is still due $120 mil for the next five years. This trade is obviously going to blow when the Mets are paying a 40 year old Cano, if he stays with them, $24 mil a season. Steep price but the Mets still pay Bobby Bonilla 1.19 every year so what’s the harm of paying another $24 mil? No harm at all. Cano can still hit though, so the Mets could have gotten worse. This move will most likely send Jeff McNeil into a super utility role.

Edwin Diaz established himself as a top closer in Major League baseball last year in his historic season that we saw him save 57 games, which was tied for second for most saves in major league history for a single season with only Francisco Rodriguez ahead of him with 62. Saves weren’t the only positive aspect of Diaz’s season last year. Through 73.1 innings Diaz struck out 124 batters, equaling out to 15.2 SO/9, pretty impressive, all the while posting an ERA of 1.96 and a WHIP of .79. This is a huge addition to a Mets bullpen that needs as much help as it can get. Eric Hanhold needs help putting that damn bullpen on his back like he did last year.

The Mets got lucky that there was a team willing to take on those god awful contracts for Jay Bruce and Anthony Swarzak. They played as bad as their contracts were, but I don’t think anyone expected Swarzak to have a 6 ERA and Bruce’s slugging percentage end up under .400. Well, they’re the Mariners problems at the moment. Most likely they both will be moved at some point. Unless Jerry Dipoto says fuck it to the next couple years which is the best strategy of all in my opinion. No expectations, playing for the number one overall pick in the draft, and wins don’t mean shit at that moment. Anyways, good luck Mariners.

Tis not all bad in Seattle as they got a nice little package in return. The Headliner of the deal was the 6th overall pick in last years draft Jared Kelenic. Kelenic slashed .286/.371/.468 with 10 doubles, six triples, six home runs, and 15 steals through 56 games in rookie level ball. Kelenic flashed all five of his tools last year and if he pans out to his potential, this trade could end up being a win for the Mariners.

The other minor leaguer to have some traction to his name is pitcher Justin Dunn. Dunn is also a former first round pick getting drafted 19th overall in the 2016 MLB draft. Dunn has pretty good stuff as evidence of his 156 strike outs through the 135.1 innings he threw last year. I think Dunn will pan out as a reliever when it’s all said and done, but for now he will continue to start games in the minors. The other minor League pitcher the Mariners are receiving is 23 year old Gerson Bautista from the Dominican Republic. Bautista threw 4.1 innings with the Mets that did not fair to well, 12.46 ERA, but he had some success early in his pro career. He is more of a throw in.

Winner of this trade? Right now, it kills me to say it, but the New York Mets. Since I said that, I’m sure Kelenic will develop into an All-Star and Dunn a great pitcher, but for now, the Mets do not have to go searching for an answer in the 9th inning and they have solidified second base for the next few years. Getting rid of Swarzak and Bruce was huge for the Mets, but they now are responsible for $100 mil the next five years with Cano. Only time will tell on this one, but for now, I choose the Mets.

Bobby Bonilla is the luckiest guy on Earth not doing shit and getting 1.19 million until 2035. What a fucking deal. Eric Hanhold for president 2020. Or whenever the next election is.