Thanksgiving surprises aren’t just horrible congealed salads with a mayonnaise sauce, or Aunt Clara’s new recipe for green bean casserole. It’s also trades that no one saw coming, like this one.
The Arizona Diamondbacks have traded shortstop Jean Segura, lefty pitcher Zac Curtis, and outfielder Mitch Haniger to the Seattle Mariners for pitcher Taijuan Walker and shortstop Ketel Marte. The two biggest names in this trade are Segura and Walker. Let’s see who got what:
For Arizona, Taijuan Walker is an interesting get. Walker has long been considered one of the better pitching prospects in baseball. He is 24 years old, and was with Seattle for about two seasons. He averages a 4-ish ERA and a mid 90’s fastball. The best thing about Walker for the D’Backs is that he is going to be team controlled for a while. He will more than likely join Zack Greinke and Shelby Miller in the rotation, probably switching off fifth starter role with guys like Archie Bradley.
Jean Segura is someone I am very familiar with from his tenure with the Milwaukee Brewers. He has a spotty past, but played to his strengths in Arizona. Seattle will want the Desert version of Segura rather than the Cheeselandia version. The shortstop’s slash line last season was .319/.368/.499, and was also better on defense than in years past.
Fan Interference 