Can the Yankees avoid the missteps of the Red Sox and Mariners?

M’s Fans, Look Away

All the way back in 2009, when visions of championships first danced in the Mariners heads, their third baseman was Adrian Beltre. But he was at that time a banjo hitter at best, albeit always a premier defensive player.

The Mariners wanted to trade him for prospects, but bad luck again played a role. Beltre was injured at the trade deadline and so had no value. Instead, the Mariners let him walk at the end of the season, and he immediately went on a string of All-Star, Gold Glove and Silver Slugger seasons.

For other teams, of course.

CF Michael Saunders suffered through a slew of injuries and averaged but .231/.301/.384 over his six seasons with the Mariners. So, in true win now mode, they traded him for LHP J. A. Happ after 2014.

Happ put up a 4.64 ERA in 2015, which was not unusual at that point in his career. So, the Mariners traded him mid-season to the Pirates; he pitched to a 1.85 for the rest of the year. In his two seasons with the Blue Jays since he has put up a 3.18 and 3.53 respectively.

Meanwhile, the M’s got young and under control pitcher RHP Adrian Sampson in the trade. He made one appearance, in 2016, and walked off the mound with a 7.71 ERA.

Mister Fister

And of course, there is RHP Doug Fister. He was one of Seattle’s best pitchers in 2011, starting 21 games and posting a 3.33 ERA. With an eye on 2014, they decided to trade him for a slew of prospects.

"On July 30, 2011, it was announced that the Seattle Mariners were going to trade young starting pitcher Doug Fister and scrappy reliever David Pauley to the Detroit Tigers for a pile of prospects.  Those prospects ended up being outfielder Casper Wells, pitcher Charlie Furbush, third baseman Francisco Martinez and a player to be named who ended up being closer Chance Ruffin. The prospect package of Wells, Furbush, Martinez and Ruffin turned out to be entirely a bust, and Fister has continued to excel with the Tigers."

That says it all.

And now the Mariners have a new problem: While they have struggled to maintain their status quo, other teams have gotten better.

That includes some in their division: The Astros won the WS and look to be a force for the next five years, while Ohtani walked out of the Mariners’ dreams and into the Angels’ clubhouse.

Seattle’s window is just about to close.

It’s not possible for the Yankees to avoid all of these issues as some were handed down from on high. But the Red Sox have done a better job of rebuilding, and it is they the Yankees must do better than emulate.