How'd We Get Here?

Today, August 8, 2010, is Jessica and my sixth wedding anniversary. I look outside and it's raining. That's way different than it was six years ago, when we had a beautiful day for our amazing wedding at Semiahmoo Resort in Birch Bay, by the Canadian border. A lot has changed since that day.

Since we got married, we've lived in four places. I've had four jobs, Jess has had five. We've owned a house, sold a house. We've lost two animals. We've had a lot of highs and a lot of lows. And we had Satchel, which is the most ridiculously amazing thing that has happened to us. In fact, I barely remember a day (nor do I care to) without him in our lives. That's been a wonderful change.

What hasn't changed in those six years is how much I love Jess. Yes, she snores. She farts. She drools. If she could, she'd sleep all day, every day. Patience is not her biggest strength. It's all part of what makes me love her.

She's also the most wonderful woman I've ever known. She's so beautiful, my heart races whenever I'm around her. She's so smart, I know I can go to her with any question I have, about anything (she'll at least sound like she knows what she's talking about). She's so funny, she might even be funnier than me! And she's an incredible mom.

She's changed me, and I'm so thankful. She's made me recognize and share my feelings. She's challenged me to think about what I think about. She stirs me to ask questions, to grow, to learn, rather than just glide by on who I've always been.

And if it wasn't for her, I would have never tried Indian food. So there's that, too.

Here's 10 things you may or may not know about Jessica:

1. She's a great cook. I love her enchiladas. She makes great breakfast burritos. About 10 years ago she made great potato poppers and promised me she'd make more. Still waiting.

2. She's an incredibly fast reader. I've never seen anyone get through books so quickly, though she admits she skims a lot. Her favorite books are historical novels.

3. She loves and hates scary movies. She loves the idea of going to them, and then spends the rest of the movie complaining about being there. But her favorite movie, I believe, is The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.

4. Her favorite song is Under Pressure. The Queen and David Bowie classic. But mostly she's into singer/songwriter things, like Nick Drake, Eva Cassidy, Patty Griffin, etc.

5. She's very competitive. I can't play video games with her. We played a wrestling video game in our early days of dating. I was just randomly pushing buttons but she insisted I was hiding moves from her. Eventually she just threw the controller at me. It's the last time we played video games against each other.

6. She has four tattoos. One just below the back of her neck. One on her foot. One on her ankle. And one on her thigh.

7. She gave birth to Satchel entirely naturally. No drugs, no nothing. It was pretty amazing. I know I don't have that kind of strength.

8. She's an incredibly impatient driver. She tailgates (though she says she doesn't). Any sign of any traffic causes her to huff, moan, complain. City living is not for her.

9. She says one word repeatedly during movies. "Jesus." But she says it in a hushed, "I can't believe it!" tone. I can count on her saying it about 10 times every movie.

10. She's very adventurous. We've white water rafted (she's a great boater). We've got hot-air-ballooning. Camping a lot (she's much better at setting up tents than me). She's water skiied, jet skiied. We've hiked. She's (usually) not afraid to try anything.

I've got a lot more I'll get to some time.

Jessica and I are an odd couple, though we're similar in a lot of ways too. She's the hippy, vegetarian chick, I'm the sullen sportswriter. No one would have really expected us to get together. I know she didn't. How do I know? She told me, from the beginning!

We met when we both worked at the Bellingham Herald, she as the newsroom receptionist, me as a sports writer. We said very little to each other for a long time, mostly because I said very little to anybody. But I always heard her laugh. She has a laugh that you can hear anywhere and it filled the newsroom and always lightened up the place. I recognized she was attractive but it took me awhile to make my smooth move.

So how did I do it? Stalking baby, stalking!

I would recognize when she was leaving - usually around 5 - and would strategically head out just ahead of her. One day maybe I'd be "looking" for something in my trunk. Another I'd be just steps ahead of her, knowing that she'd talk to me (her being friendly and all that). Maybe I'd be "heading" in from my car and run into her. You know, I'd change it up. She makes fun of me for it, but hey, it worked!

We started talking, then started hanging out a little, one day at her house the next at my tiny little one-bedroom apartment. We talked (she did most of the talking), ate, watched movies (look up Jimmy Fallon's song Idiot Boyfriend for a fairly accurate look at our early days). We went to a couple movies, including Amelie, which I would never, ever see, but went to because she wanted to. We went to Royal Tennenbaums, she fell asleep, I slyly put my hand on her leg, she stirred, I quickly removed hand.

We went out to eat at an Italian place in Bellingham. This is where, at one point, she said, "Oh my god! I could never date someone like you!" She said it jokingly, we laughed, but inside I died a slow, painful death. Though I knew she was wrong. And while she said that, we continued to be together, pretty much every day. She was housesitting at a farm she volunteered at near Christmas, and the morning I was driving down to Seattle for the holiday, I swung by very early while she was still asleep and left a large back of snacks on the doorstep. I'm very romantic. Then on the drive down I realized, hey, there's a lot of animals at that farm wandering around. Luckily, the treats made it to her.

I also made her an incredibly romantic dinner. At the time, I wasn't vegetarian, so I was a little at a loss, because I also wasn't a good cook. So what did I come up with? Boxed mashed potatoes, boxed stuffing, and frozen corn, baby! She took one look at it, laughed, and said, "Do you have enough carbs here?" But hey, it's the thought that counts, right?

One day we decided to take a day road-trip. I was so excited. I waited by my cell phone. And waited. And waited. She said she'd call. About 3 p.m., she finally called. I'd written the day off. Clearly, I didn't know her that well. Remember how I said she'd sleep all day if she could? 3 p.m.? That's nothing. So, we were on.

We got food, packed Dundee (our dog. ...well, her dog at the time) and headed out up a mountain that was still covered with snow. We got out and ran around in the snow and Jess fell. I laughed and kept right on heading to the car. She doesn't let me forget that.

We reached the top of the mountain and that was the first time we kissed. It was the most electric moment of my life, to know that she (at least kind of) felt about me the way I felt about her. My heart was going a hundred miles an hour, I was so excited. In fact, I nearly drove off the road on the way home. She asked me what I wanted between us. I said I'd like to date and see where it goes. She said, "OK, but nothing serious, and nothing exclusive." I agreed, though I knew I was serious, and she was the only person for me.

I did what I could to impress her. I shoveled horse crap at the farm she volunteered at. I mowed her ridiculously overgrown yard. I even became vegetarian! And even though she continually said nothing serious, we were together, exclusively, from that point.

Eventually, without us even discussing it, she moved into my one-bedroom apartment. Just, like, overnight, all of a sudden, there was all her stuff. So it was two people and four animals in this tiny apartment.

Eventually, yes, we moved to a house and got engaged. Our engagement was another smooth move by me.

We went to Las Vegas and I snuck the ring (which she knew we ordered but she didn't know I had) with us. When we got to our hotel (The Flamingo), Jess, predictably, fell asleep within about 10 seconds. I knew how deeply she slepts, so I called room service while sitting right next to her and asked if they could have the ring delivered. ...they said no (in retrospect, I should have just ordered something and then put it under there while she was asleep, but I was thrown off, alright?). Then I called the improv show they had going there, but they weren't cooperative either. So I fell back on Plan C, which was just doing it.

Later that night, we walked around the (actually) prety nice little garden area the hotel had. We were by the pools and I told her I had to go to the bathroom (but really, I wanted to get some flowers). So I wandered off, and of course, couldn't find flowers anywhere. Nothing was going my way. So I wandered back, and, of course, got lost (hey, it was a huge hotel!). I just wandered aimlessly for what seemed like about 48 hours and was finally about to just sit down, cry and yell "Jessie! Help!" when I accidentally found her. She said, "You got lost, didn't you?

I dropped to a knee, she thought I was hurt. Then I asked her, she looked a little stunned and then said yes. The oddyssey was over, and just beginning.

Our wedding was phenomenal, beautiful weather, a great turnout including almost all of my East Coast family. Jess looked amazing. So much fun. Then we had our best trip ever, our honeymoon in Puerto Vallarta. I swear if our animals weren't at home, we wouldn't have moved back.

So, that's the story of Jess and me, at least, on a somewhat abbreviated scale. I'm so lucky that she picked me, fell for my stalking ploy, stuck with me. She is truly the love of my life, the most beautiful, smartest and funniest woman and I don't know why she picked me, but I'm so glad she did, and I don't need an anniversary to remind me of that.

Seafair With Satchel

So Friday was the first day of the main Seafair event in Seattle and I decided to take Satchel to take in one of the city's most popular events.

For those who aren't from Seattle or who are oblivious to summer festivals, Seafair lasts pretty much the entire summer and is full of events throughout the city, from really fun weekend-long community parties to really lame local parades that mostly feature local politicians riding around in cars waving and getting heckled.

Traditionally, I haven't done much during Seafair that I didn't have to do. Now and then I went to the Greenwood Seafair Parade and this year I took Satchel to the Tour de Terrace, one of those community parties that is right in our backyard. As I said earlier, the parade was lame (and went on and on and on) but the carnival was fun and Satchel rode the Ferris Wheel, which was a surprise.

Seafair's big event is a weekend-long party in South Seattle that features the hydroplane boat races on Lake Washington and the air show featuring the Blue Angels. There's also the requisite fried food booths, give-aways and music. It's generally fun if a bit overdone.

I got my fill of the hydros/air show when I was a reporter for the Everett Herald and had to cover the three-day event. I hated covering the hydros. It wasn't that I'm against boat racing, though I find it fairly dumb. And I will say that the drivers are entertaining because they all seem to hate each other, which was always funny. It's just that the days are incredibly long with a ton of time where nothing is happening, the races are kind of hard to follow and understand and at the end of the day, you write and file your story and three hours later you find out that a boat committed some obscure rule violation and everything you wrote is wrong.

The air show is pretty good with some pretty daring moves, but you better really, really love the Top Gun soundtrack because you are going to hear it over and over, and once you've seen the air show once, you've seen it. Unfortunately, I was there all weekend and saw it about six or eight times. The people watching is pretty good too. I used to get there at around 7:30 in the morning and people would already be eating enormous heaps of curly fries and corn dogs. I wanted to tell them that just because corn dogs are available at 7:30 a.m. doesn't mean you actually have to eat them at that time. But whatever.

After a few years away from the festivities, I decided to check it out as a common citizen with no press pass, and took Satchel along for the ride. Friday there is no entrance fee so I figured that was the time to go. I told him all about it beforehand, that there would be airplanes and hydroplane boats that were cool, music, food and he could get an ice cream and maybe french fries. He seemed OK but definitely apprehensive because he hates loud noises and knows that planes are loud. But the night before we went, he happily said he'd be dreaming about the blue jets and the hydroplane boats.

The next day, all I heard was how much he didn't want to go. Oh brother.

Well, we went. He didn't like the fact that we went, but we went. We parked about 10 blocks away and genius that I am, I brought along a stroller. He almost never is in a stroller anymore but I knew I was going to be doing a lot of walking, and I knew that I wasn't carrying him the whole time.

Once we actually got there, he was in a good mood. We were walking faster than people were driving (there is a ton of traffic in that area on Seafair weekend) so he liked trying to catch up with police cars and tow trucks stuck in traffic.

We went through the gates and headed into the main area, where all the food booths and activities are. We were greeted with about a dozen booths devoted to the military, none of which we stopped by but it was entertaining watching civilians have pullup contests against Marines. I think Satchel was pretty enthralled by all the sights and sounds and it was nice that there were no planes or boats going at that point so he wasn't overwhelmed.

Our first stop was some kind of organic foods booth where they were giving away these granola bars that Satchel really likes. Then there was another booth that were giving away power bar type things so Satchel picked one that was peanut butter and jelly flavored and one that was cherry flavored. He took one bit of the PB&J one and handed it over to me. I didn't think it was that bad.

We walked ahead and saw that there were three hydros on display that people could take pictures with. Satchel actually wanted to do that, which was a surprise. He climbed up on the first one and then we got in line for the other two and he actually got to sit in the cockpit, which he really liked. It was pretty cool and a good start for us.

Then the day came to a screaming pause. Why?

LEGO.

There was an enormous LEGO exhibit that was really cool but sucked every kid within 10 miles of it into its trap like the tractor beam on the Death Star in Star Wars. It was like they were powerless to resist. It was so colorful and loud that you could not miss it. Satchel took a picture of an awesome LEGO Lion and was completely mesmerized by the exhibits they had behind glass. They were really cool.

I signed Satchel up for a free subscription to LEGO Magazine and he got a LEGO necklace and we played with LEGOs for awhile. I thought for sure we were going to be there all day. He got very upset that there were no LEGO "guys" to add to his creations but we worked through that. Even though there were about a trillion LEGO blocks out to play with, he desperately wanted to play with the ones behind the glass.

Shockingly, we left LEGO after about 20 minutes without any struggle and made our way over to a tent that was sponsored by Boeing and featured exhibits by local nerds who put together robots. They were actually pretty cool but Satchel was upset he couldn't actually play with them. Then I noticed they were giving away mini-airplanes so we got one and that gave him something to do for most of the rest of the day. He was really pumped being able to fly it around and I was pumped that he had something to distract him.

We walked around some more, checking out sights, none of which was super exciting. We did see a firetruck but Satchel didn't want to get close to it. He's weird that way. His entire life revolves around firefighting but when given the chance to interact with a firetruck or firefighter he wants nothing to do with it.

At that point we were hungry (and by we, I mean me) so we walked over to the food row to decide what we'd have. I knew being vegetarian that my options would be fairly limited and they were. So I got a cheese pizza and curly fries (the pile of which was absurdly big and felt like it weighed about 10 pounds) and we sat in the grass to watch the air show, which had just started. Satchel ate some of the pizza and fries and had his peanut butter and jelly sandwhich and apple juice that I brought. And he put on his earphones, the ones he uses to watch movies on the portable DVD player, that he used as ear muffs against the air plane noise. It seemed to work, as he didn't seem to be really bothered by the noise, and it was definitely a lot louder than I remembered it being. When he finished eating, he broke into what has become his common routine: breaking into a solo concert of Beatles songs. He was rocking out and, seemingly offended that more people weren't paying attention to him, sang louder and louder until people took notice.

After working through his songbook, we walked over to a Seattle Fire Department booth. It was pretty cool because there were air tanks, axes, masks, etc. Satchel was a little shy with the firefighter but I told the guy that firefighting was his life and the he knew everything there was to know about firefighting. That was enough to convince the firefighter to give Satchel a very special sticker and pencil to go along with the sticker badge that he got. I told Satchel only the bravest, coolest firefighters got the special stickers and he felt really jazzed up by that.

Then he wanted his ice cream. So we went to the Ben & Jerry's stand and he got a chocolate ice cream that he proceded to get all over his face, hands, legs, pants, shirt, along with my hands. It was dazzling to see all the spots that he managed to get ice cream. He was only able to eat some of it so I was forced to help him finish it.

We walked over to a spot where he could see the hydros, which were in their pits. He couldn't have cared less. He's an interesting guy. He doesn't care about the main things, but is fascinated by secondary things. Like, he didn't care about the hydros or the huge cranes there to lift them into the water. But he couldn't stop talking about the little patrol boat that was just puttering around. He didn't care about the fire trucks, the air planes, the soccer kicking contests. But he couldn't stop talking about the garbage on the ground and that garbage trucks would get to come and pick it up.

So, we never saw the hydros actually moving, and he didn't seem to care.

We kept walking around, mostly to move the curly fries through my system. There was one really cool air show guy who I'd seen before who does some pretty spectacular things, but he does it to his own soundtrack that he wrote and recorded himself and the songs were so stupid that it was distracting. But it was awesome seeing people rocking out to the songs so maybe I'm wrong.

At that point it was time to start the long walk back to the car. I decided to make a large pass around the LEGO exhibit and we walked through the crowd. We made one last stop, my favorite of the day. It was a free photo booth and though he didn't want to wait and was getting tired, he very patiently waited for me in line and he and I took a few pictures together, that we got on a magnet. I don't have all that many pictures of myself with him (I'm usually the one taking the pictures) so this was a great chance to get one and I was super excited by it. They came out great.

We treked to the car right as it was getting hot out and got to the car just as I was about to pass out. Which is just what Satchel did on the way home. That was two days in a row with a nap, which was shocking but good for him.

So, it was an awesome day. He had so much fun, was so brave with the loud noises and it's always so much fun to see him find new things and enjoy himself. We've had some rough days in the past few months as he tests bounderies but it's days like these that I can fall back on when he's losing his mind and throwing the world's best tantrum, and remember what a wonderful, fun, awesome son he is.

Mariners Trade History

OK, so I've been gone a month. Sorry. But I'm back, and I'll try to start posting a bit more regularly. So please keep checking back.
I'm picking things back up with a look back at the many trades, some good, mostly bad, that the Mariners have made through the years. It's a good time to do that, as the trade deadline just ended with Seattle trading pitcher Cliff Lee to the Rangers for a bunch of young players who we hope will develop well. I like the trade, I think Justin Smoak is going to be a great addition in a year or two, and hopefully one of the younger pitchers will develop. Lee had no future here, and if I have to chose between prospects or draft picks, give me the prospects.
So, here's a look back at the Mariners' trading history. Maybe it will jar some memories for you, or nightmares:
December 7, 1976: Grant Jackson traded to the Pirates for Craig Reynolds and Jimmy Sexton. The first real trade in Seattle history landed a starting shortstop who wasn't great but was steady, kind of an early-day Spike Owen.
March 30, 1977: Roy Thomas traded to the Astros for Larry Milbourne. This trade is only notable because it brought Milbourne to town, and he somehow kept ending up back with the Mariners, winning a lot of fans along the way despite not being all that good at baseball.
December 5, 1977: Jimmy Sexton traded to the Astros for Leon Roberts. Roberts turned into a solid bat in the middle of the order for the M's.
December 9, 1977: Dave Collins traded to the Reds for Shane Rawley. Collins was a great base stealer but Rawley was a bright young pickup for a team that was always on the lookout for pitching.
December 5, 1978: Tom McMillan, Rick Jones and Enrique Romo traded to the Pirates for Odell Jones, Mario Mendoza and Rafael Vazquez. Seattle actually traded for a guy (Mendoza) whose name is synonomous with being a bad hitter.
December 8, 1978: Craig Reynolds traded to the Astros for Floyd Bannister. The M's turned their starting shortstop into a young, locally-developed pitcher who struck out a lot of people and anchored the early M's pitching staff. Good trade amidst a sea of bad ones.
November 1, 1979: Ruppert Jones and Jim Lewis traded to the Yankees for Jim Beattie, Rick Anderson, Juan Beniquez and Jerry Narron. Jones was maybe the most popular of the early Mariners and it was sad to see him go. None of the guys acquired did much good, but Beattie lost a lot of games for Seattle.
October 29, 1980: Odell Jones traded to the Pirates for a Player to be Named Later (Larry Andersen). This is only noteworthy because Andersen was a fan favorite because he was good at practical jokes.
November 18, 1980: Larry Milbourne and a Player to be Named Later traded to the Astros for Brad Gulden and cash. What makes this trade so good is that the Player to be Named Later was Gulden, which means he was traded for himself.
December 12, 1980: Larry Cox, Rick Honeycutt, Willie Horton, Mario Mendoza and Leon Roberts traded to the Rangers for Steve Finch, Brian Allard, Rick Auerbach, Ken Clay, Jerry Don Gleaton and Richie Zisk. One of the biggest trades ever between two teams as it involved 11 players. Horton and Roberts were both good-hitting outfielders while the M's got Zisk, their best player during the early 80s.
March 7, 1981: Carlos Diaz traded to the Braves for Jeff Burroughs. I don't know who Carlos Diaz was. Burroughs at one point was a power hitter of note. But not when he came to Seattle. He did coach a Little League World Series champion with his son, though.
December 9, 1981: Dan Meyer traded to the A's for Rich Bordi. Bordi was a pointless pickup and Meyer, a solid outfielder for Seattle, never did anything after this trade. A wash.
December 11, 1981: Tom Paciorek traded to the White Sox for Rod Allen, Todd Cruz and Jim Essien. Few players have been as popular with Seattle as Paciorek, who was an all star and a pretty good hitter who has become a popular broadcaster. Cruz at least became a starter with the M's.
March 2, 1982: Player to be Named Later (Bud Black) traded to the Royals for Manny Castillo. Black was a local guy who turned into a pretty good pitcher for the Royals and is now a pretty good manager of the Padres. Castillo had a long career of being mediocre.
April 1, 1982: Shane Rawley traded to the Yankees for Bill Caudill, Gene Nelson and a Player to be Named Later (Bobby Brown). Seattle dealt Rawley for a couple of relievers, including Caudill, a hugely popular player with Seattle who was also a good closer on some terrible teams.
December 9, 1982: Rich Bordi traded to the A's for Steve Henderson. This would eventually throw the team into all kinds of chaos when they had both Steve and Dave Henderson on the team.
December 21, 1982: Ron Musselman traded to the Rangers for Pat Putnam. Putnam became the M's starting first baseman, and this was probably the only team he could have ever started for.
June 15, 1983: Julio Cruz traded to the White Sox for Tony Bernazard. Cruz was one of the most popular of the early Mariners, a fast, slick second baseman who was a fast, slick second baseman for the White Sox too. Bernazard was a good hitter before coming to Seattle, where he was not a good hitter.
November 21, 1983: Bill Caudill and Darrell Akerfelds traded to the A's for Bob Kearney and Dave Beard. A highly unpopular trade because the team dealt closer and ace jokester Caudill. There's never been a baseball player who looked more like a teacher than Kearney, and I think he did teach in the offseason if I recall one of his baseball cards correctly.
December 7, 1983: Tony Bernazard traded to the Indians for Jack Perconte and Gorman Thomas. Bernazard lasted six months with the team then was dealt for a pair of guys with awesome moustaches. Perconte was a fast little second baseman who seemed to hit a lot of foul balls in the area I always was sitting in. Thomas hit 32 homers for the M's one year and that was kind of different.
December 8, 1983: Bryan Clark traded to the Blue Jays for Barry Bonnell. Bonnell was a starter in Seattle but mostly I thought he looked a lot like Lon Chaney in Phantom of the Opera.
December 11, 1985: Ed Vande Berg traded to the Dodgers for Steve Yeager. Vande Berg was a reliever with a nice moustache. Yeager had been a decent catcher but by this trade he was old. I remember him hitting a big home run at one point, though, so that's good. He was also the nephew or cousin of ace pilot Chuck Yeager and I love The Right Stuff so that made him pretty cool to me.
December 12, 1985: Darnell Coles traded to the Tigers for Rich Monteleone. Coles was a young third baseman with power potential. You'd think they could've gotten more for him.
July 1, 1986: Player to be Named Later (Ivan Calderon) traded to the White Sox for Scott Bradley. Calderon turned into a power hitting outfielder that Seattle really could have used (he was later murdered!). I liked Bradley, a decent hitter who I modeled my batting stance after. But he wasn't worth Calderon, in retrospect. He's gone on to be a successful coach at Princeton, and his brother is the U.S. National Soccer Team coach.
August 19, 1986: Dave Henderson and Spike Owen traded to the Red Sox for Mike Trujillo, Mike Brown, Rey Quinones and John Christensen. A completely one-sided trade, and not in a good way. Henderson became an all-star and postseason star and Owen was a regular on successful Sox teams. Trujillo, Christensen and Brown were non-factors and Quinones was best known for being nuts and once not being able to pinch-hit because he was playing video games. He's also the only player I've ever gotten an autograph from. He muttered something I couldn't understand and then laughed gleefully.
December 10, 1986: Danny Tartabull and Rick Luecken traded to the Royals for Scott Bankhead, Mike Kingery and Steve Shields. Tartabull hit 43 home runs for Triple A Calgary and then 25 bombs as a rookie second baseman. That was all too much for the Mariners, who couldn't fathom having a player who had talent on the roster. Bankhead was an OK starter for Seattle and Kingery had a great arm in the outfield, but Tartabull had six seasons of at least 25 homers and five seasons of at least 100 RBI. And he was on Seinfeld!
December 10, 1986: Matt Young traded to the Dodgers for Mike Watters and Dennis Powell. Young was kind of a weird pitcher. He was horrible a lot, but also pretty good sometimes. At least he was something, unlike the two guys they got, who weren't.
July 11, 1987: Player to be Named Later (Dave Hartnett) traded to the Cubs for Gary Matthews. Matthews didn't do anything at all in his last big league season, but it allowed Rick Rizzs to constantly get to say, "There's Sarge!"
December 9, 1987: Phil Bradley and Tim Fortugno traded to the Phillies for Glenn Wilson, Mike Jackson and Dave Brundage. Bradley is probably the best left fielder this team has had, which is kind of sad, but in fairness he was pretty good. Wilson had recently driven in 100 runs for Philly but was awful in Seattle. But they did get The Thriller, who was one of my favorite pitchers, so it's not that bad.
December 9, 1987: Mike Morgan traded to the Orioles for Ken Dixon. Morgan was a serviceable pitcher, not good, but not horrible. He had to have something or he wouldn't have pitched for 12 Major League teams in his career. 12!
December 22, 1987: Lee Guetterman, Clay Parker and Wade Taylor to the Yankees for Henry Cotto and Steve Trout. Cotto was an OK player who could steal some bases and hit OK. Trout was horrible the few times he pitched. But at least none of the guys they gave up were worth much.
July 21, 1988: Ken Phelps traded to the Yankees for Jay Buhner, Troy Evers and Rich Balabon. One of the great trades in Seattle history and so well known it was referenced on Seinfeld. Phelps was a powerful DH/first baseman but did little after leaving Seattle, though he did break up Brian Holman's perfect game attempt with a two-out home run in the ninth inning once, which sucked. Buhner at the time was a 23-year-old strikeout machine, but developed into one of the most popular players in Seattle history and the backbone of the best Mariners teams ever.
July 22, 1988: Glenn Wilson traded to the Pirates for Darnell Coles. Three years after trading Coles, they brought him back. Two years later, they traded him again.
April 21, 1989: Bill Wilkinson and Rey Quinones traded to the Pirates for Mike Dunne, Mark Merchant and Mike Walker. The real accomplishment here was tracking down Quinones to tell him he was traded. Again, the guy was nuts!
May 25, 1989: Mark Langston and Mike Campbell traded to the Expos for Randy Johnson, Brian Holman and Gene Harris. I'll admit it, I cried, literally, when this trade happened. Langston was my favorite Mariner growing up and I was crushed when he was traded. I guess it turned out OK, though, as Holman was a quality starter for Seattle. Oh, and Johnson became the best pitcher in Seattle history and one of the greatest pitchers of all time. Johnson went on to beat Langston in the famous 1995 one-game AL West playoff win over the Angels.
January 24, 1990: Jim Presley traded to the Braves for Gary Eave and Ken Pennington. Presley was disliked by a lot of Mariners because he struck out so much but I always liked him because he hit a lot of home runs, which not many Mariners did at this point. I was disappointed when they traded him, and even more disappointed when they got two bad pitchers for him. M's fans might be shocked to learn that Presley went on to become a real, live major league hitting coach.
June 6, 1990: Mickey Brantley traded to the Brewers for Frank Bolick. Brantley looked like he might be the answer in left field but then stopped being good. Kind of like Bolick. Brantley once played in a charity basketball game at my high school, though.
May 17, 1991: Player to be Named Later (Jim Blueberg) traded to the Yankees for Mike Blowers. Seattle sent a nobody to New York for the former Huskies star, who went on to be one of the better third basemen the team has had and invented the Rally Fries!
December 11, 1991: Bill Swift, Mike Jackson and Dave Burba traded to the Giants for Kevin Mitchell and Mike Remlinger. This trade ruined Seattle's pitching staff for years. Swift went on to win 20 games, Jackson developed into a great reliever and Burba was a quality starter for years. Mitchell was even more insane than he was fat, and he was really fat. Once a great power hitter, he did nothing in his one season in Seattle but freak people out.
August 22, 1992: Sean Twitty traded to the Yankees for Tim Leary. The M's brought in Leary, who at one point was a good pitcher for the Dodgers but was well past his good days, and made that perfectly clear in Seattle.
November 17, 1992: Kevin Mitchell traded to the Reds for Norm Charlton. The Mitchell nightmare came to an end and Seattle got one of the Nasty Boys, who continued to be an effective reliever for Seattle and was very popular because he was nicknamed The Sherriff, and Seattleites love a good nickname.
June 27, 1993: Henry Cotto and Jeff Darwin traded to the Marlins for Dave Magadan. This was actually pretty awesome in its absurdity. Five months after this, Seattle traded Magadan - Lou Piniella's cousin or nephew or something - back to the Marlins for Darwin and cash. So essentially it was Cotto and Magadan for Darwin and cash.
November 2, 1993: Erik Hanson and Bret Boone traded to the Reds for Bobby Ayala and Dan Wilson. Hanson won 18 games for Seattle once but looked bad for awhile, but good again when he was traded. Boone, as expected, became a really good second baseman and was great for a couple years a decade later when he returned to Seattle. Ayala was the most hated Mariner ever, and that's got to count for something. Conversely, Wilson was the greatest catcher in Seattle history and one of the most beloved players the franchise ever had. Good trade for once!
December 10, 1993: Mike Hampton and Mike Felder traded to the Astros for Eric Anthony. Hampton developed into one of the top pitchers in baseball before becoming a vastly overpaid walking injury. Anthony had a few big power years for the Astros, but none for Seattle, another in a long line of that story for the M's.
December 20, 1993: Omar Vizquel traded to the Indians for Felix Fermin, Reggie Jefferson and cash. Little O was already a great defensive shortstop and learned how to hit for some great Cleveland teams on the way to an possible Hall of Fame career. Fermin never learned to hit and Jefferson never hit either, but at least Seattle got some cash out of this disaster.
May 15, 1995: Roger Salkeld traded to the Reds for Tim Belcher. Salkeld was a top prospect for about 20 years before Seattle finally traded him and he faded away. Belcher was the beginning of Seattle's moves that led to the AL West title. He was a steady, tough pitcher he was always pretty good, though he'll best be remembered for a meltdown he had after a game in which he karate chopped a cameraman.
May 21, 1995: Shawn Estes and Wilson Delgado traded to the Giants for Salomon Torres. Estes made an all star team two years after this trade. Torres retired for no reason.
July 7, 1995: Dave Fleming traded to the Royals for Bob Milacki. Fleming won 29 games in his first two seasons with the M's, and then did nothing after that, so even though Milacki was worthless, the trade worked out.
July 31, 1995: Marc Newfield and Ron Villone traded to the Padres for Andy Benes and a Player to be Named Later (Greg Keagle). Wait a minute. They did what? They actually traded for a star? This was the first time the Mariners actually acted like contenders, and it worked! Benes was one of the top pitchers in the National League and went 7-2 in Seattle, helping the team to the AL Championship Series. That's what a rent-a-player should do! Newfield never developed into anything and Villone just keeps finding work because he's a lefty, but has never been more than just a roster guy.
August 18, 1995: Player to be Named Later (Jim Converse) traded to the Royals for Vince Coleman. Coleman was one of the greatest base stealers ever and he gave Seattle a great threat at the top of the order on the run to the AL West title. Excellent, cheap pick up. He hit a home run on his birthday which just about made Rick Rizzs crap his pants.
December 7, 1995: Tino Martinez, Jeff Nelson and Jim Mecir traded to the Yankees for Sterling Hitchcock and Russ Davis. Tino was going to be too expensive to afford so the M's dealt him at his peak and he continued to be a great power hitter in the Bronx. Nelson kept coming back to Seattle but kept winning World Series in New York, and Mecir developed into a decent reliever. The M's had a chance to get Andy Pettitte in the deal but went with Hitchcock instead. Oops. He stunk. Davis actually hit over 20 home runs three times for Seattle but was a bad third baseman who reminded me a lot of Forest Gump. But he did hit the first home run in Safeco Field history.
December 18, 1995: Miguel Cairo and Bill Risley traded to the Blue Jays for Edwin Hurtado and Paul Menhart. I really liked Bill Risley, he threw hard and was a good reliever. But really, no one in this trade had much value. Cairo rejoined Seattle later in his career as a slow pinch-running specialist.
July 30, 1996: Darren Bragg traded to the Red Sox for Jamie Moyer. Probably the best trade the franchise has ever made, and it was pulled off by the same guy - Woody Woodward - who pulled off the worst trade the franchise has ever made. So you never know. Bragg was a nice young player but the M's had Jose Cruz Jr. coming up (or so we thought) and Bragg never did anything in his career, really. Moyer, of course, turned into one of the most amazing stories in baseball, still pitching at age 87. He was one of the top pitchers in Seattle history and did a ton for the community.
July 31, 1996: Desi Relaford traded to the Phillies for Terry Muholland. Mulholland had been a pretty good pitcher, even better than Moyer. So they got a pair of solid lefties to add to the rotation for a couple of prospects who didn't do anything. At the end of the season, they had to decide whether to keep Moyer or Mulholland, and went with Moyer. Good choice.
August 14, 1996: Roger Blanco traded to the Braves for Mark Whiten. "Hard-Hittin'" Whiten didn't do much hard hittin' in Seattle. Still, the guy did hit four home runs in one game once in his career, though not with Seattle. And Blanco didn't do anything ever. And it allowed Rick Rizzs to happily say Hard Hittin' a lot.
October 29, 1996: Chris Widger, Trey Moore and Matt Wagner traded to the Expos for Jeff Fassero and Alex Pacheco. Another move that I loved, as Fassero had been a top NL pitcher and in fairness, had a couple good years for the M's before falling apart. Pacheco is not the same Alex Pacheco who co-founded PETA. Widger returned to the M's later in his career.
September 13, 1996: David Arias traded to the Twins for Dave Hollins. At the time, it seemed a great move, trading a nobody minor leaguer for a solid third baseman. But Hollins' days of solidness were behind him, and Arias changed his last name to Ortiz, left the Twins for the Red Sox, got nicknamed Big Poppy and became one of the best hitters in baseball.
December 6, 1996: Sterling Hitchcock traded to the Padres for Scott Sanders. Hitchcock was a big disappointment in Seattle and had to be moved. There was some hope that Sanders would be better, but he was actually worse than Hitchcock, but whatever.
July 18, 1997: Carlos Villalobos, Dean Crow and Scott Sanders traded to the Tigers for Omar Olivares and Felipe Lira. At first there was optimism to get two pitchers who had actually pitched for another team and had to be better than anyone the M's had (well, except Randy). But then we found out Olivares and Lira were bad.
July 31, 1997: Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek traded to the Red Sox for Heathcliff Slocumb. Here it is everyone, the worst trade in Mariners history, and one of the worst in the history of baseball. Slocumb was coming off two-straight seasons of at least 30 saves, but had an ERA near 6 when the trade happened. He actually was pretty good for the rest of the season with Seattle, but was horrible in 1998. Lowe and Varitek went on to have five All-Star selections between them. Lowe was a top closer and a top starter for the Red Sox, though he'd shown little with Seattle. Varitek was a top prospect for the M's and went on to be one of the top catchers in baseball, and the Red Sox captain. What makes this really bad is that the Red Sox apparently asked for one or the other, and Woody Woodward said, "Nah, take both of them." Nice.
July 31, 1997: Jose Cruz, Jr. traded to the Blue Jays for Mike Timlin and Paul Spoljaric. The M's really, really wanted to improve their bullpen, dealing their top prospect for a pair of average relievers. Luckily, Cruz never really developed into a star, which is good, because Timlin and Spoljaric didn't do much either.
August 20, 1997: Joe Mays and Jeremy Palki traded to the Twins for Roberto Kelly. Kelly at one point was a fast, good-hitting outfielder. But that ship had sailed by the time he joined Seattle. Neither pitcher was a top prospect but Mays ended up winning 17 games for the Twins one year.
July 31, 1998: Randy Johnson traded to the Astros for Freddy Garcia, Carlos Guillen and a Player to be Named Later (John Halama). Yes, the team traded the best pitcher it ever had and he went on to continue to be ridiculously good. But he didn't want to be in Seattle anymore, and the team got back three good prospects who all developed, which rarely ever happens. Garcia turned into the ace the M's hoped he'd be, Guillen was a good-hitting, always-injured infielder and Halama was a useful lefty arm. A rare win-win.
August 31, 1998: Joey Cora traded to the Indians for David Bell. My nephew Travis cried when he found out Joey Cora got traded. I'm sure he's not the only one. Moms throughout the Puget Sound area were crushed when Joey was dealt. He was a good player best known for crying in the dugout, but I didn't cry when he was traded. Bell turned out to be a good player and Joey's career was pretty much over.
November 9, 1998: Paul Spoljaric traded to the Phillies for Mark Leiter. Leiter was best known as Al Leiter's way less talented brother. He did save 23 games the previous season but only pitched in two games for Seattle.
December 14, 1998: Leslie Brea traded to the Mets for Butch Huskey. Huskey looked like a guy who could hit about 100 home runs in a season but he wasn't, it turns out. In fact, he was traded less than a year later.
April 3, 1999: Bobby Ayala traded to the Expos for Jimmy Turman. For some M's fans, this is the greatest day in Mariner history, the day they got rid of the most hated player in franchise history. I never had much against Bobby, always thought he was better than people gave him credit for, at least, for awhile. But most people were shocked anyone gave anything to Seattle for him.
April 28, 1999: Two Players to be Named Later (Andy Van Hekken and Jerry Amador) traded to the Tigers for Brian Hunter. Hunter was a top base stealer and he stole a lot of bases in his one season in Seattle, and then went the way of every other potential left fielder the club ever had.
July 28, 1999: David Segui traded to the Blue Jays for Tom Davey and Steve Sinclair. Segui was a pretty good first baseman who ended up being on steroids and beat up Randy Johnson in the clubhouse. Davey was best known for being huge.
August 27, 1999: Jeff Fassero traded to the Rangers for a Player to be Named Later (Adrian Myers). They cashed out Fassero after two good years and he never did much after this. Which is as much as Myers did.
July 31, 2000: John Mabry and Tom Davey traded to the Padres for Al Martin. Neither Mabry nor Davey were worth anything, but this was still a disaster. Why? Because Martin couldn't hit and was crazy, inventing stories about his past that were easily refuted.
December 10, 2000: Ken Griffey, Jr. traded to the Reds for Mike Cameron, Brett Tomko, Antonio Perez and Jake Meyer. The day Seattle traded its greatest player ever. Griffey would not allow a trade to anyone but the Reds, so Seattle was limited in its options but you'd have thought they'd get more than this. Griffey had a couple good seasons for Cincinnati before his body fell apart. Cameron was a very good replacement, a great center fielder with power and speed and a great smile who made an all star team. Tomko stunk and Perez never developed.
December 11, 2001: Tom Lampkin, Brett Tomko and Ramon Vazquez traded to the Padres for Alex Arias, Ben Davis and Wascar Serrano. This is notable because of the six players in this trade, none of them were worth much of anything. Tomko pitched some in the bigs, Lampkin stuck around forever as a backup catcher and Vazquez was a backup infielder, same with Arias. Davis was the biggest name because he was a terribly failed No. 1 pick.
December 16, 2001: Brian Fuentes, Denny Stark and Jose Paniagua traded to the Rockies for Jeff Cirillo. I loved this trade when it was made and interviewed Cirillo shortly after it and he seemed like a good guy. But boy could he not hit in Seattle, odd since he was still in his prime and was a really good hitter. But for the M's he batted .234 with no power. Fuentes has gone on to be a quality closer.
January 25, 2002: David Bell traded to the Giants for Desi Relaford and cash. Seattle had just acquired Jeff Cirillo so had no real place for Bell, a solid third baseman and decent hitter who was never again as good as he was with Seattle. Relaford was worthless but the cash came in handy to pay for Cirillo's terribleness.
August 19, 2002: Derrick Van Dusen and Jermaine Clark traded to the Rangers for Ismael Valdez. Valdez had some success in the National League with the Dodgers but had no success with Seattle. Kind of like a latter day Tim Leary.
October 28, 2002: Lou Piniella and Antonio Perez traded to the Devil Rays for Randy Winn. OK, so Piniella wasn't really part of the trade but the trade was contingent on Piniella signing with the Rays, so essentially he was. Winn thought he was, because he openly complained about getting traded for a manager, even if it was the best manager in Mariners history. Winn was a good left fielder for a few years though.
August 6, 2003: Jeff Nelson traded to the Yankees for Armando Benitez. I kind of liked this trade because while I was a Nellie fan, I liked Benitez because he was huge and threw about 800 miles an hour or so. Plus, I figured Nellie would be back at some point anyway, and he was. Unfortunately, Benitez only pitched like 15 games and never got a save.
December 15, 2003: Gregg Colbrunn traded to the Diamondbacks for Quinton McCracken. This trade was pointless except that they got a guy named Quinton McCracken. What a great name. And I don't think he was even Irish.
January 6, 2004: Jeff Cirillo and Brian Sweeney traded to the Padres for Vince Faison, Wiki Gonzalez, Dave Hansen and Kevin Jarvis. The M's celebrated the new year by getting rid of Cirillo, one of the bigger busts in franchise history. No, none of the guys they got had much value but sometimes it's not what you get but what you get rid of.
January 8, 2004: Carlos Guillen traded to the Tigers for Ramon Santiago and Juan Gonzalez. The Mariners thought they had a trade for Omar Vizquel but that fell apart and then for some reason they traded Guillen, who was always hurt (he even had Mono) but could hit. He's continued to always be hurt, but really became a hitter in Detroit. Santiago played just 27 games for Seattle and then re-signed with Detroit. What's up with that? Gonzalez was not the MVP outfielder of the same name but a worthless middle infielder who never made the big leagues.
June 27, 2004: Freddy Garcia and Ben Davis traded to the White Sox for Miguel Olivo, Jeremy Reed and Mike Morse. I didn't mind this trade so much at the time even though I liked Freddy and he was a budding ace. He never did become much better than he was in Seattle, though. Unfortunately, none of the three prospects Seattle got - Olivo and Reed were highly rated at the time - did anything in Seattle. Reed kept being hyped as a really good hitter, but he wasn't. Olivo was, but Seattle didn't wait long enough for him and now he's an all star. Morse was the biggest shortstop I've ever seen.
August 31, 2004: Pat Borders traded to the Twins for B.J. Garbe. Borders was with the Mariners like five different times and was so old and worthless it was amazing anyone traded for him. But all the Twins gave up were Garbe, a former local prep star who never made it.
June 30, 2005: Randy Winn traded to the Giants for Jesse Foppert and Yorvit Torrealba. My wife loved Randy Winn, so this trade didn't tear me up too much. But if I take jealousy out of it, it was a bad trade as Winn was probably the best left fielder the team has had in the last decade or two. Torrealba was one in a string of bad Latino catchers Seattle traded for within like two weeks of each other.
November 29, 2005: Mike Blowers traded to the Dodgers for Miguel Cairo and Willis Otanez. Blowers never had the kind of success again he had in Seattle, where he was one of the streakiest hitters and hardest-throwing third basemen I've ever seen. But you'd think they could have gotten something more for him than two guys who never amounted to anything.
July 31, 2005: Miguel Olivo traded to the Padres for Nathanael Mateo and Miguel Ojeda. If only Seattle could have waited a little longer they might have seen that Olivo was actually good and worth having.
March 20, 2006: Matt Thornton traded to the White Sox for Joe Borchard. Thornton never really made it as a reliever for Seattle after being drafted so high. Of course, he went to Chicago and became one of the best set-up men in baseball and an all star. Borchard was a former Stanford quarterback who hit a lot of home runs for the Cardinal baseball team but hardly any as a pro.
June 30, 2006: Asdrubal Cabrera traded to the Indians for Eduardo Perez. Cabrera was a highly-regarded prospect and has developed into a highly-regarded middle infielder for Cleveland. Perez, the son of Hall of Famer Tony Perez, was worthless and was hosting Baseball Tonight on ESPN less than a year after this trade. That's not the sign of a good trade.
July 6, 2006: Eddie Guardado and cash traded to the Reds for Travis Chick. I loved Everyday Eddie. He was a good closer with terrible stuff but even more than that, he was the real leader of the team. But he was past his usefulness as J.J. Putz had emerged as the closer, so it made sense to trade him.
August 19, 2006: Jamie Moyer traded to the Phillies for Andrew Barb and Andy Baldwin. Who knew that Moyer would still be pitching in 2010? Barb and Baldwin did nothing in the Seattle system.
August 24, 2006: Shin-Soo Choo and Shawn Nottingham traded to the Indians for Ben Broussard. This seemed like a pretty good trade at the time, as Choo was stalled as a prospect and Broussard seemed poise to break out. Instead, Choo has become a star finally and Broussard retired to play guitar professionally.
December 7, 2006: Rafael Soriano traded to the Braves for Horacio Ramirez. Soriano was an overpower young reliever who once had dinner with my dad. But the M's decided they needed a starter, any starter, and traded a guy who has developed into an all-star closer for a horrible pitcher.
December 18, 2006: Chris Snelling and Emiliano Fruto traded to the Nationals for Jose Vidro. Snelling and Fruto were both not very good, though Seattle fans really liked Snelling because he was always willing to run full speed into an outfield fence and get hurt, and he was Australian. But wow was Vidro a horrible designated hitter. I thought this might turn out pretty good but boy was I wrong.
April 1, 2007: Travis Blackley traded to the Giants for Jason Ellison. Blackley was a top pitching prospect for like a decade before the team gave up on him. Ellison was best known for being good friends with Willie Bloomquist, the favorite player of every Mariner fan who knew nothing about baseball.
February 8, 2008: Adam Jones, George Sherrill, Chris Tillman, Tony Butler and Kam Mickolio traded to the Orioles for Erik Bedard. At the time I liked this trade, getting a No. 1 starter to team with Felix and Washburn. It turns out Bedard was one of the most fragile pitchers ever and a malcontent. Jones was the team's top prospect and developed into an all star, Sherrill became a solid closer and Tillman still is considered a good prospect. This was bad in every way.
May 27, 2008: Cha-Seung Baek traded to the Padres for Jared Wells. Baek was another in a long line of top pitching prospects who stunk until the team finally dealt them.
July 31, 2008: Arthur Rhodes traded to the Marlins for Gaby Hernandez. Rhodes was a popular reliever for several M's teams and is best known for his incredible hatred of Omar Vizquel. He made an all-star team this year at age 72!
December 11, 2008: J.J. Putz, Sean Green and Jeremy Reed traded to the Mets and Luis Valbuena traded to the Indians for Ezequiel Carrera, Maikel Cleto, Mike Carp, Endy Chavez, Aaron Heilman, Jason Vargas and Franklin Guttierez. Jack Zdurencik's first trade as M's GM was a big one and a great one. Putz was a closer on a team that didn't need one and hasn't been the same since being traded. Green is a dime a dozen. Chavez was valuable for a few months though Carp looks like he'll never fit with Seattle. But Vargas has been a huge surprise as a starter and Guttierez is probably the best player on the team other than Felix and Ichiro and is the future of this team.
January 28, 2009: Aaron Heilman traded to the Cubs for Ronny Cedeno and Garrett Olson. This trade was mostly noteable because Heilman was one of the few players to go to Mariners Fan Fest and then got traded like five minutes later.
July 10, 2009: Yuniesky Betancourt traded to the Royals for Danny Cortes and Derrick Saito. The fact that Seattle got anything for Yuni is amazing. The guy can't hit, and isn't a good shortstop. Cortes was KC's top pitching prospect and while he may not be that good, he might still develop some value, and even if he doesn't, who cares, they actually got something for Yuni!
July 29, 2009: Jeff Clement, Ronny Cedeno, Aaron Pribanic, Brett Lorin and Nathan Adcock traded to the Pirates for Jack Wilson and Ian Snell. Seattle finally gave up on Clement, a huge bust as a hitting prospect who was taken ahead of guys too painful for me to list. Wilson has continued to be a good defensive shortstop who can't hit and gets hurt a lot, and Snell continues to be a pitcher who throws hard and deals with mental health issues.
July 29, 2009: Wladimir Balentien traded to the Reds for Robert Manuel. The same day the M's gave up on Clement as a hitting prospect, they gave up on their other top hitting prospect, Balentien. Only in this deal, they got nothing back.
August 1, 2009: Jarrod Washburn traded to the Tigers for Luke French and Mauricio Robles. Washburn was having a great season and was a free agent at the end of the year, and there was a good chance he'd re-sign with Seattle. Of course, he didn't re-sign. French still has some potential and Robles is an exciting prospect so this could turn out to be pretty good.
December 16, 2009: Phillippe Aumont, Tyson Gillies and JC Ramirez traded to the Phillies for Cliff Lee. At the time it was amazing, the M's getting one of baseball's best pitchers to go along with Felix Hernandez. While Lee was awesome, the M's were horrible and they turned him into some other prospects from the Rangers. None of the three Seattle prospects traded to Philly are really developing into stars.
December 18, 2009: Carlos Silva traded to the Cubs for Milton Bradley. Don't let Silva's fast start fool you, he's still fat and bad. Bradley is still crazy and unfortunately, looks like he forgot how to hit. This trade is what many expected, one bad player dealt for another and both continue to be bad.
December 23, 2009: Brandon Morrow traded to the Blue Jays for Brandon League and Johermyn Chavez. No pitcher has been screwed up by their organization more than Morrow, who was never going to live down being picked ahead of former UW star Tim Lincecum, as stupid as the argument is. League is actually pretty good, but pretty inconsistent, and Chavez can hit home runs so there's some hope there. There better be, as Morrow is starting to look pretty good.
June 11, 2010: Cliff Lee traded to the Rangers for Justin Smoak, Blake Beaven, Josh Lueke and Matt Lawson. Lee was never going to stay with Seattle so the M's needed to get quality prospects for him. They did in Smoak, one of the top young power prospects in the game. Beaven has some potential but Lueke could turn out to be a disaster.
June 26, 2010: Ezequiel Carrera and Juan Diaz traded to the Indians for Russell Branyan. I didn't understand this trade and still don't. I like Branyan, but what was the point?