[jaa36]

AG: Welcome back to The Wheelhouse. I'm Aaron Goldsmith, and back with me as always is Jerry Dipoto.

JD: Hiya, Aaron.

AG: Well, Jerry, it's been a while, hasn't it?

JD: About a month, like usual, Aaron.

AG: Right. Well, a pretty good month the Mariners put together, going 16-8. They now lead the AL West by a game over Houston, and have the third-best record in all of baseball at 61-42. That's a pretty good spot to be in.

JD: It sure is, Aaron. It's been a fun year so far, a lot of really good performances.

AG: And a nine-game winning streak that extended over the All-Star break, and marked by three blowout wins.

JD: We've really been clicking on all cylinders. I think, as before, a lot of it comes back to the bullpen. It's really hard to beat us when we go into the late innings with a lead.

AG: Three all-stars from that bullpen this season, in Edwin Diaz, Juan Nicasio and Jake Diekman- that's a real accomplishment. And Nicasio continues to have just a remarkable season, going 6-2 with a 0.92 ERA, and 3.3 WAR, tied with James Paxton for best in the American League.

JD: It's hard to believe, for a reliever, but he's making a real case for the Cy Young. I'm not quite sure how he's doing it, but he's just been unhittable all season long. And the rest of the bullpen has kept up the pace with him.

AG: Now, last month I spent some time making fun of you for acquiring Justin Smoak. I guess you could say the Smoak's on me, because here we are a month later with Justin Smoak the reigning American League Player of the Month. Justin hit .341 with 12 home runs and 33 RBI. He had an unbelievable stretch at the beginning of the month when he homered in six consecutive games, and had three consecutive two-homer games, so a total of nine home runs in those games. This guy is a beast!!

JD: Well, we knew we were getting a pretty good hitter in Justin, a guy who's really changed his approach from his first tenure in Seattle. He's got a little bit of an injury that he suffered the other day, and we hope it doesn't keep him on the shelf too long, but he's been a great addition to the offense.

AG: Speaking of additions. We just hit the trade deadline, and in true Jerry Dipoto fashion, we saw quite a a few deals transpire. It looks like you and the Mariners are all in for this season- acquiring three pretty big names in Paul Goldschmidt, Jose Quintana, and Jorge Estrada.

JD: Well, yes and no, Aaron. We definitely are playing to win this year. But at the same time, Quintana's under contract for next year as well, and I don't think we hurt our minor league system too badly in any of the deals.

AG: Let's take the Quintana deal first. Were you surprised to see him on the block?

JD: I really was. The Cubs aren't too far out off first place in a pretty tight NL Central. We had to give up Erasmo Ramirez, who's really pitched well for us this year, and Mike Ford, who's been pretty good for us at first base, but coupled with the deal for Goldschmidt, we could afford to lose both of them. And Quintana's been great over the years, a real workhorse who actually led the NL in innings pitched last year and had a 2.84 ERA in 2018, 3.30 this year before coming to us. Plus, the Cubs picked up a third of his remaining salary this year.

AG: That sounds like a real heist! And the Goldschmidt deal seemed a little too good to be true also.

JD: Sure was. He hasn't been as good this year, but we're talking about a five-time all-star in the last year of his contract, and we got him for Joe Rizzo, one of our top prospects but a guy who didn't figure into our immediate plans, and a couple other guys we didn't have a lot of current use for in Ryon Healy and Tony Zych. And again, with Arizona picking up 40% of the contract.

AG: So a couple of pretty bold moves, without a huge cost to either the payroll or the farm system. And that led to the last move, which I imagine was the hardest one, the deal with Houston that sent Nelson Cruz to the Astros in exchange for reliever Jorge Estrada.

JD: Yeah, that was tough. Nelson's been a huge part of our team for almost five years now. The reality was that with both Goldschmidt and Smoak on the team, it was hard to get him at bats this year, and it's definitely been a down year for him, hitting just .235 with 5 home runs. Now Estrada is big addition to our bullpen- he's 33, this is his first year in the majors after coming over from Cuba last year. But he's got a 97-mph fastball and a wipeout slider, and his stuff plays well against both righties and lefties. So with him, Diaz, Nicasio, Diekman and James Pazos, you are looking at one unstoppable bullpen in the postseason.

AG: Yeah, I can see why you would pull the trigger on that deal. So really a remade lineup as you head into August. How has that affected clubhouse chemistry?

JD: It's hard to lose Nelson, no question. But winning breeds good chemistry, and we've still got guys like Dee Gordon and Jean Segura to keep things light in the clubhouse.

AG: Speaking of Dee, he's slowing down a bit, with only 20 steals in the month of July. Now up to 107 on the year, and with two months to go, he's pretty much a lock to break Rickey Henderson's record of 130, isn't he?

JD: Well, don't jinx him, but provided he stays injury-free, yes, pretty much.

AG: Well, Jerry, so much to talk about. Let's go to the mailbag for a bit. This is a question from Jennifer in Mukilteo. Her question is, how does a team like the Mariners adjust to all of the changes in the group in season?

JD: I guess we touched on this a little bit already. It's always a balance, and we really try to vet the players that we bring in to know that they'll work in the clubhouse. Justin, of course, had been here before. Paul Goldschmidt is known as one of the nicest, most self-effacing guys in the game. Jose Quintana is just a super hard worker. And Estrada we don't have quite as much info about, but by all accounts seems like a good guy to be around. And I think too, the players notice when you're trying to win. Felix is always like a kid in a candy store around the trade deadline, he gets so excited about who we're bringing in.

AG: Well, two more months of the regular season, and then, fingers crossed, back to the playoffs for the second year in a row.

JD: Well, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. There's a lot of baseball yet to be played here.

AG: OK, Jerry. Thanks for being with us, and we'll see you next month.

JD: Thanks Aaron.