Surprising news: The Seattle Mariners trade their most talented player to another weak baseball team.

Surprising news: The Seattle Mariners trade their most talented player to another weak baseball team.

Unexpected news: The Seattle Mariners transfer their best player to a subpar baseball team.

Remember when Bobby Wagner was let walk by the Seahawks and signed with the Rams? To many supporters, it was a setback. I watched the Seahawks games against the Rams just to see him. I thought it was great that he got a standing ovation at Lumen Field during the Rams’ Seattle game. He coming back to the Seahawks made me very happy. Bobby Wagner is a community volunteer, a leader, and a top defender. Though his fans have varied reasons for liking him, I appreciate all of these qualities in him.

Some athletes grow to be fan favorites either because of their abilities or because of facets of their personalities that we may detect in TV and at games. Suarez’s personality enhanced our admiration and respect for him, whether it was through his little soccer play with the baseball or his entertaining HR trip around the bases. Paul Sewald’s celebration after rescuing the game was entertaining. Leading and making a difference in the Seattle community was Marco Gonzales.

Alika Jenner/GettyImages, Los Angeles Angels v. Seattle Mariners
I feel like since August 1st, I’ve lost a few of my favourite players. Paul Sewald proceeded to the Diamondbacks first. Eugenio Suarez then proceeded to Arizona. Jarred Kelenic, Evan White, and Marco Gonzales were dealt by Seattle to the Braves, but Evan White was later transferred to the Angels and Gonzales ended up with the Pirates. Inked with the Giants was free agent Tom Murphy. It surprised me on Friday that the Mariners traded Jose Caballero and Robbie Ray. Teoscar Hernandez signed with the Dodgers, we found out yesterday.

I argued in the fall that this is not a winning tactic and challenged the Mariners’ aim of winning 54 percent of their games. I wondered whether the franchise intended to spend enough money to field a squad that would be good enough to fill T-Mobile Park but not good enough to make the playoffs most years. I figured we would keep most of our players and just add to the roster to cover for free agents leaving. That management would let go of so many important personnel surprised me.

Seattle Mariners at Los Angeles Angels (Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
Naturally, I will get past these defeats and start to get enthusiastic about and intrigued in the new players. It has nothing to do with the new players; I grieve that the old players are going. I felt Canzone and Rojas contributed significantly to the squad.

Simply put, some fans want players in Mariners uniforms who can win both regular season and postseason games. There are undoubtedly those who question if dealing so many veterans will alter the team’s general identity—the same team that broke the drought in 2022 and was one game from the postseason in 2023.

Fans of the Mariners will get the opportunity to witness their old favorites at T-Mobile Park, with the exception of Marco Gonzales and Teoscar Hernandez. 2024 finds the Mariners playing the Pirates and Dodgers. Ironically, we will be constantly playing against five of our former players who are currently in the NL West.