Yes, I’m still alive.

I have been just taking a little bit of a break as the sports world dies down before ramping up again. However, the MLB trade deadline has recently just passed and the Seattle Mariners finally did something smart. Shocker, I know.

As a disclaimer, this post will be less an analytic response to the moves the Mariners made, but more from a fan who is talking with his friends.

Honestly, I was not hopeful that Seattle would do anything worth to note. They have been over .500 for most of the season and they have been playing relatively good baseball. Well, at least from a pitching and defense standpoint. Furthermore, with the addition of a second wild-card spot, teams such as the Mariners, Royals and Blue Jays have a reason to actually care this far into the season. These fringe teams were just a move or two away from jumping into that second spot if the management were so inclined. But, Seattle, in the past, has not really been a team to go for it or pull the trigger on something. Not that they are in a position to “go for it” like Oakland or Detroit is, but Seattle, like I have said before, goes for the safe trades. Grabbing Kendrys Morales again for AAA pitcher Stephen Pryor is not exactly a risky or big move. Rumors about Seattle being interested in Chris Denorfia from San Diego was a typical Mariner rumor. Denorfia, before coming to Seattle, was batting .242 with just one HR and 16 RBIs. But, he was a right-handed bat and hit well against left-handers. That might have been a decent move if the Mariners were really bad. Not so much now. Now, it was an intriguing move, but hopefully not all there was.

You can understand why I was not excited. The Mariners always have their eyes on big-name players, but end up striking out on most of them. It is hard to shake the feeling that there were times where the M’s might have had some deals, but fear around the organization set in. I get it; Seattle has traded away their fair share of prospects that have turned out to be All-Star caliber players (Adam Jones). However, you cannot let fear cripple your decision-making. If you have a chance to go get a pitcher like David Price or potentially be interested in Matt Kemp, then I am okay giving up some prospects. For the Mariners, the time for development is over. Seattle has been in “development” for a little less than a decade. It is time to take some chances.

Well, Seattle finally did. A couple of weeks ago, I was searching through the player list trying to see if there were potential players the Mariners could look at. You know typical fan stuff. I stumbled on Austin Jackson the then center-fielder of the Detroit Tigers. I really liked what I saw. James Jones and Endy Chavez being our leadoff men had lost any kind of magic or effectiveness over the All-Star break and the Mariners needed something better in the top of the lineup. Jackson was batting .273 with 102 hits this season as a Tiger. He was an excellent center-fielder playing in the deepest center-field in the league, he had already been to the World Series in 2012, been to several ALCS and was only 27 and playing in just his fifth year in the league. This guy seemed perfect for Seattle, but I figured he would be too expensive to get. Detroit obviously valued him to some degree and he had been great for the Tigers in their postseason success. Well, I guess I called it. The Mariners were able to sneak in as the Tigers traded for David Price. Seattle’s part in the three-team deal was surprisingly simple and shocking that the M’s were able to pull it off. Seattle traded the much-rumored Nick Franklin to the Tampa Bay Rays for Austin Jackson. Think about that for a second. The M’s get what I just described above WITHOUT giving up Taijuan Walker, James Paxton or high prospect D.J. Peterson, who has been tearing it up in the minor league system. Now, that was a good move.

Furthermore, this does not feel like a rent-a-player move like Jon Lester is to the A’s. Austin Jackson is young enough that he can be here for most of, if not all of Robinson Cano’s productive years of his contract. He also just fits perfectly. The Mariners have an actual center-fielder who is dominant on defense and is a dependable and solid hitter in the leadoff position. With the emergence of Dustin Ackley not just on offense, but on defense in left field (who would have thought?), the Mariners’ line-up is starting to look semi-respectable. I think fans can finally say with some certainly that the top five or six hitters can do some damage and there is some reliability with those hitters.

Now, that does not explain how the Mariners’ offense over the past week cannot seem to muster runs. With the great pitching the M’s have, the Mariners have not been getting blown out, but they have been getting shut out. In their past 10 games, the Mariners have only scored 24 runs. But, the pitching has prevented teams with good offenses from going off. The Angels series comes to mind after the All-Star break. This is one of the best offenses in the league and the pitching staff held Los Angeles to just 12 runs in a three game series. That is impressive.

Overall, I think the Mariners had a sneaky, but good trade deadline. Seattle got their leadoff hitter and did not give up much to get him. Seattle is now in a state where they are not viewed as a terrible pit that no player wants to go to. Now, with Cano, Felix Hernandez, Kyle Seager and Austin Jackson, the Mariners finally have something to work with and build off of. It is just a question of whether the management feels the same way and how fast they are willing to move to get this train moving again. Even if the Mariners miss out on the wild card spot, the fact that fans can care in August is a huge feat for this organization. However, now, Mariner fans are intrigued and their interest levels are picking up again, but they are not going to wait around forever. I am cautiously optimistic, but this organization needs to keep going in this direction. Keep it up.