The Arizona Diamondbacks have acquired 24-year old righty starting pitcher Taijuan Walker and 23-year old switch-hitting SS Ketel Marte from the Seattle Mariners for 26-year old 2B Jean Segura, 25-year old righty swinging outfielder Mitch Haniger and 24-year old lefty reliever Zac Curtis.
Walker has been untouchable in deals the last few years as he has a gigantic upside. He pitched in 25 games (all starts) for the Mariners last year and he was 8-11 with a 4.22 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. Walker has now pitched in 65 games (62 starts) in his first four years in the show and he is 22-22 with a 4.18 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. He has given up 334 hits (54 homers) and 99 walks while whiffing 322 batters in his first 357 innings so far in his Major League career! He has outstanding stuff, and as long as he stays healthy, he will likely slot in the #2 or #3 spot in the D-Backs’ starting rotation in 2017 and beyond. Marte played in 119 games for the Mariners last year and he was 113 of 437 (.259 avg, .610 OPS) with 55 runs scored, 1 homer, 33 RBI and 11 stolen bases. Marte has now played in 176 games in his first two years in the show and he is 175 of 656 (.267 avg, .658 OPS) with 80 runs scored, 3 homers, 50 RBI and 19 stolen bases. It’s unclear right now as to where Marte will play in 2017 for the D-Backs. He could play his natural position at shortstop or he could replace Jean Segura at 2B. The rest of what the D-Backs do this winter will determine where Marte plays next year.
Segura was flat out awesome in his only year with the D-Backs in 2016! He played in 153 games for the Diamondbacks last year and he was 203 of 637 (.319 avg, .867 OPS) with 102 runs scored, 20 homers, 64 RBI and 33 stolen bases. He led the National League in hits (203) and he finished #13 in the voting for the 2016 N.L. MVP Award! Despite only playing one season with the D-Backs, Segura is #13 in franchise history in steals with 33 of them! He is also #47 in homers (20), tied for #32 in triples (7), #40 in doubles (41), #45 in hits (203) and he is #45 in runs scored (102) in D-Backs’ history! Haniger got his first taste of the show for the D-Backs in 2016. He played in 34 games for the Diamondbacks last year and he was 25 of 109 (.229 avg, .713 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 5 homers and 17 RBI. Curtis also got his first taste of the show for the D-Backs in 2016. He worked in 21 games (0 starts) for the D-Backs last year and he was 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA and a 1.95 WHIP.
This is a case of the Diamondbacks selling extremely high on Jean Segura. The Mariners will rue the day they traded Taijuan Walker down the road!