One cannot help but recognize the parallels between this move and the twin trades that landed Seattle Eduardo Perez and Ben Broussard. Seattle traded a middle infielder and a fourth-outfielder type for that first base platoon. They did so with the Cleveland Indians. Seattle has now traded another middle infielder and a fourth-outfielder type to the Cleveland Indians for Russell Branyan.
Those are superficial connections that do not meaningfully evaluate or even illuminate this move. However, whenever trading young talent for older talent with no clear future with the team, an organization is playing with fire. And though the talent traded for Perez and Broussard was thought to be better than the talent Seattle traded for Branyan, it was not clear just how good it was. That middle infielder and fourth-outfielder turned out to be Asdrubal Cabrera and Shin-Soo Choo. In 2009, Cabrera and Choo combined for eight wins above replacement.