Mariners acquire Jean Segura in five-player trade with Diamondbacks

General managers Jerry Dipoto of the Seattle Mariners and Mike Hazen of the Arizona Diamondbacks aren’t checking out early for Thanksgiving. Late Wednesday night, the two men came together on a pretty big trade that will see veteran shortstop Jean Segura, along with minor leaguers Mitch Haniger and Zac Curtis, head to Seattle in exchange for starting pitcher Taijuan Walker and infielder Ketel Marte.

Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan was the first to report a major deal was close between the two sides. Within minutes of that report, the Arizona Diamondbacks made the five-player trade official with an announcement on their Twitter feed.

Segura, 26, is the most established player in the trade. He’s coming off the most productive of his five MLB seasons in 2016, where he hit .319/.368/.499 with a career best 20 homers and 64 RBI for Arizona. The Mariners, who are seeking offense this offseason, will slot him in as their every day shortstop alongside All-Star second baseman Robinson Cano. They’ll do so hoping last season was a true breakthrough, not an outlier in a career that was underwhelming in seasons prior.

As for Arizona, this marks the first major move under new GM Mike Hazen.

Walker, a 24-year-old right-hander, was once a top-ten prospect in all of baseball. He’s been a little inconsistent since debuting in the big leagues in 2013, posting a 22-22 record and a 4.18 ERA over 357 career innings. At times though he’s also flashed the brilliance that made him so highly touted to begin with, so perhaps a change of scenery will help him find that consistency and take the next step.

Marte, who only recently turned 23, should have a chance to win a long-term role in Arizona. He’ll require some further development too after struggling on both sides of the field in his first full season in 2016. Marte hit just .259/.287/.323 while playing disappointing defense for Seattle. But given his age and quick ascension to the big leagues there’s reason to believe better days are ahead.

It’s an ideal trade for both organizations. The Mariners want to win now, and clearly view Segura as an offensive upgrade. Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks probably won’t require a complete rebuild, so selling high on a guy like Segura to bring in a pair of younger and cheaper players who might be one or two adjustments away from turning the corner makes perfect sense.

It feels like a potential win-win on paper, but time will tell whether one side comes out ahead.

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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