A Culture Accountability

- Peter Gammons

The trade wasn’t a lead story. It happened late on the night of Nov. 23, between two teams in the Pacific Time Zone.

Headed to the Mariners were shortstop Jean Segura, a five-year veteran who had just batted .313, and outfielder Mitch Haniger, who was a month shy of his 26th birthday and had just 74 games above Double-A.

Headed to the Diamondbacks were thunder Taijuan Walker, who was just 24 but carried a below-average 4.18 ERA through 357 innings, and shortstop Ketel Marte, who was coming off a disastrous 2016 season but was still just 23.

“It was a traditional baseball trade,” Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto said. “Four players who were under (club) control. No money moving. It was all about baseball talent, and how that talent was evaluated, and a building tool for two teams looking at the long term.”

The 2017 Mariners remained in the American League wild card race into mid-September, even though their pitching staff had been so strafed by injury that they had used a record 40 different pitchers, including 17 starters.

But for the Diamondbacks, it was one of the many subtle additions that GM Mike Hazen and his front office made to take a team that had won 69 games in 2016 to one of the best records in the National League.