Seattle’s Sewald return: Looking at who the Mariners got back in their trade with the Diamondbacks
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – Many emotionally charged Seattle Mariners fans were left posting angry tweets and reactions to the Paul Sewald trade, wondering who in the world the three players that the team acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks were. The three position players that Seattle got all have some upside in their own way. They aren’t perfect players per say, but they’re still young and for the Mariners to be able to get three of them for an older reliever? That’s a success, especially considering the pitching depth that the organization has. Now, it’s time to meet three of the newest Mariners.
Seattle Mariners outfielder Dominic Canzone during his team debut against the Boston Red Sox on August 1st, 2023 (Photos by Sage Zipeto)
Canzone can hit
The 25-year-old Canzone has hit well at every level that he’s played so far, leading into when the Arizona Diamondbacks called him up to the big leagues on July 7th of this year from the teams AAA affiliate, the Reno Aces. The Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio born outfielder has been a strong swinger of the bat at every level of the Diamondbacks farm system, with a career minor league slash line of .310/.377/.556 with some solid pop (60 homers over 302 games) as well. Before he was called up to join the Diamondbacks recently, Canzone posted an OPS of over 1.000 at the AAA level. His power numbers don’t jump off the page, but he doubles a ton and has totaled some nice stolen bases numbers in his first few seasons. While many who are somewhat ignorant judge his very LIMITED time in the majors so far this year (only 41 MLB plate appearances before the trade was made, which is far too small to make a real judgement on), Canzone had strong underlying statistics.
For context to how Canzone’s statistics from his current time in the Majors can help the Mariners, I’m going to compare said numbers to those of his new teammates. His 90.3 exit velocity would rank fourth on the team, his 46.7% hard hit percentage would rank fifth, his .283xBA, .353 xwOBA, 40% sweet spot percentage, and .276 BABIP would all rank FIRST amongst his current Seattle Mariners teammates. He’s still going to have things to learn and improve upon in the field and at the plate, but his numbers are promising and if his trend of hitting well throughout his professional career sticks, he will be a huge part of this trade for years to come.
Josh Rojas made his Seattle Mariners debut as the teams starting second baseman in the teams August 1st, 2023 game against the Boston Red Sox (Photo by Sage Zipeto)
Baseball is life! Wait, wrong Rojas
Infielder/outfielder Josh Rojas fits the mold of the type of player that the Mariners have acquired often, at least since Jerry Dipoto has been in the front office. Rojas has played numerous positions, nearly everywhere in the infield as well as the corner outfield spots. That versatility and his somewhat pesky approach at the plate is something that we’ve seen from several Mariners over the past few years, and Seattle wanted him so much that trying to include him in the trade package prolonged this deal from being made an extra five to six days. Rojas’ versatility, coming off a season where he posted a 3 WAR, and having three more years of club control all factored in to why he’s now a Mariner.
Rojas’ numbers at the plate are solid, posting a slashline of .288/.371/.497 through his 309 minor league games while posting .252/.330/.367 at the Major League level. Rojas gives the Mariners another left-handed bat, something that they don’t have much of. He isn’t perfect by any means, but he seems to be the type of guy that the Mariners have targeted before, and those sort of fringe players make this team better. With the way that the Seattle additions from this winter went (poorly), the Mariners needed a better bench if they were going to be able to keep winning with their best players needing rest days. Guys like Rojas help you out in that sort of department.
Ryan Bliss in his Auburn University jersey (Photo by Shanna Lockwood)
Bliss-ful thinking?
Ryan Bliss is a unique player to look at in more than one way. Dipoto stated that they’re excited to see Bliss in AAA for the next few months, clearly saying that he’s going to get some strong time with the Tacoma Rainiers. Bliss is only 23 years old, being drafted back in 2021 by the Diamondbacks in the 2nd round out of Auburn University. While there were many who pointed out that Bliss wasn’t ranked too highly in the Diamondbacks farm system, he takes over the #14 spot in the Seattle prospect list and has shown promise in the two years of Minor League baseball that he’s played, jumping to eighth in the Arizona prospect pool in an updated top 30 ranking. In terms of ability and tools, Bliss has several that could potentially make him an impact player in the future.
A knock-on Bliss is his height, as the Burbank, California native stands at only 5’6” as a middle infielder, which hasn’t stopped a guy like Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros from seeing success. It’ll be an interesting road for him, because he may get judged for that size, but his on field play has some definite upside. Prior to being promoted to the Diamondbacks AAA affiliate Reno Aces, Bliss had an OPS of over 1.000 with the AA affiliate Reno Amarillo. His batting average isn’t particularly super, but he has posted solid numbers back in ‘21 with the ACL Diamondbacks (.429 batting average) and more recently with Amarillo (.348 batting average). His speed is an asset, running the bases well. He did struggle in his first full season with High-A Hillsboro, but his adjustments afterwards were notable as he climbed from AA to AAA and was even involved in this year's Futures game. His power isn’t a big thing despite showing some solid power for his frame, but his speed should help as he projects to be a second baseman.