The Mariners and Yankees made quite the trade on Friday evening, sending Michael Pineda and Jose Campos to New York while Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi come west to Seattle. SB Nation Seattle already took a look at how the national media viewed the deal, but how did those who root for the M's on a nightly basis feel about the trade? We look to our very own blog, Lookout Landing, for some insight and comments on the trade.
From lead writer Jeff Sullivan:
I can't get over the fact that the Mariners now have Justin Smoak and Jesus Montero. I didn't think that was allowed. Smoak, Montero and Dustin Ackley could potentially - potentially - form a dynamite offensive core. Not long ago that trio would've made baseball people lose their shit. Before the 2010 season - the last time Smoak was rated - Baseball America had Smoak as baseball's #13 prospect, Ackley as baseball's #12 prospect, and Montero as baseball's #4 prospect.
An interesting question is where the Mariners go from here. I don't mean in the big picture; I mean immediately. Assuming the Mariners have money left, on whom do they spend that money? Prince Fielder almost certainly isn't an option anymore. Hiroki Kuroda just got snapped up, right as I started to like him. Do the Mariners try for Edwin Jackson? Do they somehow convince Roy Oswalt to play in the Pacific Northwest for a year? Do they trim payroll and piss everybody off? Do they trim payroll but then put those savings towards next year's payroll, pissing everybody off and then making everybody feel ashamed for getting pissed off?
We'll see. More to do. For now, this trade. It happened. It's a big one. I think the Yankees "won". Certainly, based on the Mat Latos example, they did. But the Mariners added two very interesting young players, one of whom is capable of doing some very interesting and very different things.
One of the comments from reader "Vogelscheuche" stood out:
Ok I'm a little more excited about this trade than I originally was.
Mostly because Ackley/Montero/Smoak/Carp could be pretty solid for many years.
And one more from reader "Chrisfyall":
Felix is ours and you can't have him
Seems troubling that six teams call Buster Olney saying, "Pineda was available?" because maybe we could have done better than this for Pineda.
But, geez.
Felix is still here, and we now have a young nucleus that could be good before Felix must go. That is the prism through which I view this trade. And that makes me happy.
It seems like most Mariners fans were just as surprised as most when this deal went down, and the main belief is that the Yankees won this deal as of today. As for the future, say, three years down the road, many feel it will balance out or the Mariners could pull ahead with the young nucleus Montero will be a part of.
For more reaction, be sure to head over to Lookout Landing.