Sea Us Wald, no more: Mariners trade reliever Paul Sewald to Diamondbacks for three young, athletic bats
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – With the trade deadline just a day away, Seattle Mariners President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto and General Manager Justin Hollander have shipped off closer/relief pitcher Paul Sewald to the Arizona Diamondbacks for outfielder Dominic Canzone, infielder/outfielder Josh Rojas, and minor league infielder Ryan Bliss. The Mariners ship off Sewald, who had taken over their closer role this season after being a high leverage guy the last two years, sending away a fan favorite that they’d developed after he’d failed to pan out with the New York Mets. In return, Seattle gets what they were looking for in young, athletic bats that can not only help them in the long run, but also in the now.
Seattle Mariners reliever Paul Sewald’s 2023 season through pictures (Photos by Liv Lyons)
Why it happened
With the Mariners in range of the Wild Card, and somewhat of the top spot in their division, many are wondering why the team sent away their closer now. While I understand that, you must understand that there are many aspects pointing to why this decision makes sense. We’ll get to that in my reaction to the trade (so if you want that, skip to that part of the article), but if you want to know why it happened in basic terms: Seattle needs to improve their offense for now and the future, and they have the pitching depth to acquire that said offense. Sewald was the best-case scenario to trade from the pitching staff in terms of who is involved in your future, because he likely wasn’t part of them.
“Not getting traded for three prospects on a team that was contending, that’s for sure. Three years later, I’m not sure I’d even have been in baseball without Seattle. It’s bittersweet as today is, I am very thankful for everything that happened in early 2021 and that have gotten me here.”
Seattle Mariners reliever Paul Sewald during the July 17th, 2023 game against the Minnesota Twins (Photos by Bryan Saldana)
“A good baseball trade, but this hurts”
On the emotional end of things, this trade hurts because of what Paul Sewald brought. An older reliever that came into the Mariners organization as truthfully a nobody after failing to get things clicking with the New York Mets, Sewald talked trash in a fun way, did charitable work here in the Emerald City, and loved being a member of this organization. Seattle gave Sewald a true home at the Major League level, something that he hadn’t had yet. The fans here quickly came to love Paul, whether it was the “It’s time for Paul Sewald” to pitch meme, the yell he’d do after earning a save, or his general personality. Fans here loved Paul, and Paul loved them back. That’s sports, though, and players won’t always stay with a team till their career ends.
“Everybody in here loved Paul. He brought a good energy to the clubhouse. He taught a lot of the younger guys in the pen how to do it, he’s a professional always. It’s unfortunate to see him go, we wish him the best of luck. It’s out of our control. We can look at it two ways: we can kind of pack it in, or we can keep going and trying to make this thing real and kind of prove them wrong.”
It’s understandable to be upset about the deal. Sewald’s love for this city and his teammates captured the hearts of Mariners faithful. His charitable work and quality play out of Seattle’s bullpen only furthered that love for him. His strikeouts for kids charity has received a ton of support since that trade went down, nearly doubling what it was at before the news broke that Paul was headed to Arizona. There were many reasons that Sewald was beloved in the organization and by the fanbase, and that is a big reason why folks will be upset. It’s understandable, but it shouldn’t cloud better/baseball judgment. Saying that Seattle got fleeced or that this was a bad trade is thinking strictly on the emotional side of things, and as an adult and in professional sports you simply can’t do that all the time.
“Lots, lots. Gonna miss this place, it was amazing three years ago, changed my life and changed my career. Personally, professionally, and, I owe a lot to people here. I feel like I gave everything I had for three years. It’s gonna be tough, but the Diamondbacks traded for me, which meant they wanted me more. I’m excited to get to Arizona and do what I can.”
“I hope fans recognize that as much as they recognize the saves, the wins, the strikeouts, and the screams. Hopefully, that’s hopefully what Molly and I left in Seattle, will be Sewald’s strikeouts for kids. Hopefully what we did for Kidvantage, so we’re prouder of that than we are on the field, and I will still donate strikeouts even when I’m playing for Arizona. I will try and get Arizona fans on board even if it’s not their community.”
Seattle Mariners reliever Paul Sewald’s 2023 season in photos (Photos by Mathew Bermudez)
Trade immediate reaction
It makes a lot of sense. Paul Sewald hits arbitration next year and will likely get more money than the Mariners will want to give him. He’s an aging reliever in a franchise that has a lot of depth in terms of pitching, whether that be starting or relief. Sewald took up the closer role this year for Seattle, but they really didn’t have that as a concrete role until he took that mantle up. The Mariners have numerous relievers that they trust in high leverage situations, including Andres Munoz, Matt Brash, and Justin Topa. What I’m trying to get across here is that trading Paul Sewald, something many including he saw coming, makes sense.
Just hours before it took place, it was reported that the Mariners were looking for young bats if they were going to trade veterans Sewald, Teoscar Hernandez, or Ty France. Seattle got that in Canzone, Rojas, and Bliss. Canzone is 25 years old, drafted back in 2019. Rojas a little less so on the younger side, at 29 years old and being drafted in 2017. Bliss is a 23-year-old that was only drafted back in 2021. With Rojas being an exception, the Mariners are doing what Dipoto talked about a few days ago: improving now, and for the 2024 season and beyond. Both Canzone and Rojas have spent time at the big-league level this year for the Diamondbacks, and both should get solid time with the Mariners this year.
If you’re asking me to give this trade a grade right now, I’m giving it a B. If Canzone continues to hit like he has throughout the entirety of his career leading into the big-league level, he alone could be worth this trade for the Mariners. We’ve already talked about why trading Sewald makes sense, so I won’t go over it again, but it cannot be overstated how much Seattle needs their offense to improve if they’re going to make the playoffs on a consistent basis. The Mariners, as mentioned before, have pitching depth throughout their organization. What they need is offense.
“Past week, past month or so? I’ve said it a couple times, when you’re on the bubble, it’s a really tough place to be. The teams in front of us played great, and Seattle was going to have a challenge to get to get past them, and the Mariners didn’t play quite as well. Jerry just had to do what they felt was the best thing for the Mariners organization. Just one of those things, it’s tough, get to save the other day, come back and my phone says that being actively shopped was was tough. It didn’t really catch me by surprise that I was traded just disappointed that it happened. And excited at the same time, it’s just one of those things.”
Seattle Mariners reliever Paul Sewald interacting with his Mariners teammates during the 2023 season (Photos by Liz Wolter)
What’s next?
The MLB trade deadline is tomorrow, August 1st, at 3PM PST. The deadline takes place just three hours and 40 minutes before first pitch of the second game in the series against the Boston Red Sox, who are currently the first team out/looking in to the American League Wild Card. It will be interesting to see if the Mariners are going to do anything else ahead of that deadline, as it’s already been reported that outfielder Teoscar Hernandez and first baseman Ty France are players that they are “listening” to trade offers for. Considering the sort of two-outcome player that Hernandez is at the plate and that he’s a free agent after this season, it would make sense if Teo got moved. France would sting a bit more, considering how Mariners fans have come to enjoy his personality, the sort of bat that he has when he’s on his game, and the defensive strength he’s showed since becoming part of Perry Hill’s infield.