MLB Trade Grades: Diamondbacks get their closer in Mariners’ Paul Sewald
Mariners get: INF Josh Rojas, 1B/OF Dominic Canzone, INF Ryan Bliss
Diamondbacks get: RP Paul Sewald
Grant Brisbee: First, let’s all acknowledge that one of my predictions was correct. Or, half-correct, at least. I picked the Padres to win the World Series this year; I need this. Everyone look at my (mostly) correct prediction! Who do you think you are? I AM. It was a fairly obvious prediction, though, because Jerry Dipoto understands that a value of a high-leverage reliever pitching well is always out of whack at the trade deadline, especially when the reliever has another season of team control left. This move might cost the Mariners a win or two over the rest of this season, but they got a potential long-term outfield solution in Dominic Canzone, and they got one of the greatest “If this dude pans out, he’ll be so much fun” prospects in baseball with Ryan Bliss, a 5’6” contact-and-vroom machine. If just one of these guys becomes a regular, it’s an easy win for the Mariners, but if Bliss even reaches 80 percent of his potential, he’ll be a cult hero for decades.
As for the Diamondbacks’ side, yeah, it stings when you have to buy relief help at the deadline. Always has, always will. The correct answer is to figure this stuff out in the offseason, but that’s just not always possible. They had plenty of outfield depth, so if it wasn’t Canzone getting traded, it was someone else, but it’s been a while since we had a good ol’-fashioned Heathcliff Slocumb for Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek kind of trade, and the Mariners are owed one of them. Sewald will help the Diamondbacks this year and next, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t taking a serious risk buying a high-leverage reliever at the peak of his value.
Mariners: A
Diamondbacks: B-
Stephen J. Nesbitt: Torey Lovullo said from the outset of spring training that the Diamondbacks would likely go closer by committee this year. And indeed the role has yo-yoed endlessly, from Mark Melancon to Andrew Chafin to Miguel Castro to Scott McGough to Kevin Ginkel, with none nailing down more than eight saves to date. Sewald ends that churn. He is a bonafide closer, a (relatively) soft-tossing 33-year-old who has made a career in Seattle firing four-seamers and frisbee sweepers, punching tickets and extinguishing hard contact. He has 21 saves and a 2.93 ERA this season, and a 2.88 ERA across the past three seasons.
The Diamondbacks, currently a game out of wild-card position, need to do more than this. They have faded fast, from first in the National League West to third, and need reinforcements both in the lineup and in the rotation. But if this is simply Step 1, it’s a significant opening move. Sewald is under club control for next season.
For the Mariners, Sewald is, to some degree, expendable. Seattle has made a habit of developing dynamite relievers from non-prospects and uninspiring bullpen arms. Andrés Muñoz will step into the closer’s role now, with Justin Topa and Matt Brash handling other high-leverage moments. The return, for a team unlikely to be playoff-bound this fall, is promising. Rojas, after going from key cog in Arizona’s plans to floundering fringe-of-the-roster bat, is as good a change-of-scenery candidate as there is. Canzone has destroyed Triple-A pitching this season, batting .354 with a 1.065 OPS, though it remains to be seen how well his hit tool will translate to the majors. Bliss, who repped the Diamondbacks alongside Jordan Lawlar in the Future’s Game in Seattle this summer, is hitting .332 with a .947 OPS and 35 steals between Double A and Triple A this season, though that production came almost entirely at Double A. Canzone and Bliss aren’t blue-chip prospects, exactly, but they are extremely intriguing. And along with Rojas they represent a combination of players who should help the Mariners in both the short and long term. It’s a nice haul for a year-plus of a reliever — even a closer as reliable as Sewald.
