Revisiting the Phillies-Mariners Trade Involving Jean Segura and Carlos Santana

In Dec. of 2018, the Philadelphia Phillies and Seattle Mariners made a splash during the MLB offseason by pulling off a trade involving first baseman Carlos Santana and shortstop Jean Segura.

The Mariners received Santana along with infielder J.P. Crawford while the Phillies acquired Segura, as well as pitchers Juan Nicasio and James Pazos.

Santana ultimately had an incredibly short stay in Seattle and was traded to the Cleveland Indians, the team where he had spent the bulk of his career, just a few days later in exchange for slugger Edwin Encarnacion.

Looking back on it, the original trade between the Phillies and the Mariners was just one piece in a larger, complex plot by Seattle in hopes of being able to secure Encarnacion from the Indians in a massive three-team trade that also included the Tampa Bay Rays and Jake Bauers.

Within the Phillies-Mariners trade itself, it seems like Philadelphia got the better end of the deal with Segura playing the entire 2019 season with the Phillies where he put up a solid batting average of .280, and hit for 12 home runs and 60 RBIs. On the other hand, the Mariners got decent production from Encarnacion who hit .241 (with 21 homers of course) before being traded to the New York Yankees during the 2019 season, which was coupled with poor hitting from Crawford who ended his 2019 campaign with a lackluster .226 batting average.