The Seattle Mariners traded away reliever Justin Topa on Monday night to the Minnesota Twins as part of a five-player deal that netted the M's second baseman Jorge Polanco.
The move to trade Topa, Anthony DeSclafani and two prospects may end up being a good move for both sides but in the moment, the trade still hurt M's reliever Tayler Saucedo, who put up a "broken heart" emoji on social media.
While it's always funny to see grown men use emojis, it's hard to remember sometimes that these are real people with real emotions. After spending an entire season together in 2023, the relationship between Topa and Saucedo was clearly strong, and it's hard to see a friend move on to another location.
Topa was a massive success story for the Mariners in 2023, going 5-4 with a 2.61 ERA. The team will evidently try to recreate a different version of him in 2024, as they've had success turning around little-known relievers in the last several years.
Saucedo is also a success story and will likely be leaned on again in 2024 by Seatle. A tough-to-hit lefty, he went 3-2 last year with a 3.59 ERA.
In getting Polanco, Seattle is finally getting an answer to its second base problems. The team didn't get a lot from Adam Frazier there in 2022 and got even less from the Kolten Wong/Jose Caballero combination there in 2023.
Seattle went 88-74 a season ago and failed to make the playoffs. They have made the playoffs just one time since 2002.
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