Trading Dudline

So the trading deadline has come and gone and the Mariners underwhelmed again. If we go by The Dice Game's scorecard, the M's batted .333 -- good batting average, crummy trading average. Maybe it was pride overcoming former travel manager Lee Pelekoudas, but from here it looks like inexperience.

First, the good. The Mariners did deal octogenarian reliever Arthur Rhodes to the Marlins for Gaby Hernandez, a 22-year-old pitcher described as a mid-level prospect. That the Mariners landed a former third-round draft pick for a guy with no future is admirable. Rhodes will be the answer to a trivia question for having gotten ejected from his final game as a Mariner. Way to go out fighting.

Now, the bad. The M's failed to trade Raul Ibanez, even though talks with several clubs apparently heated up before the deadline, specifically with the Blue Jays, as reported by Geoff Baker at the Times. According to Toronto GM JP Ricciardi, the M's shot down the deal, even though Jayson Stark had Ibanez going to Toronto for two major leaguers. Said Ricciardi: ""We were ready to go forward. I think at the end of the day they just didn't feel as comfortable going forward to finish off the trade."

If the Mariners were offered anything close to two major leaguers, how could they turn that down? As an aging but still-productive slugger at a reasonable price, Ibanez virtually defines the kind of player who gets dealt at the deadline. It's unacceptable that nothing got done here. Bring out The Gimp -- even if he is sleeping -- because he probably plays better leftfield than Ibanez.

The M's also didn't unload Jarrod Washburn. His recent good outings had elevated him to desirable deadline prospect, and the Yankees wouldn't bat an eyelash at his salary. His trade value won't get any higher, but his paycheck does next year.

Other pieces of flotsam like Carlos Silva, Miguel Cairo and Jose Vidro didn't budge either. You're getting virtually nothing from these guys right now, so it doesn't much matter if you get virtually nothing in return for them. At least you get their bloated salaries off the books. See: Sexson, Richie.

Of course a lot of things had to happen for the Mariners' hopes to fall into place. The Dodgers' late swoop-in to claim Manny Ramirez altered several teams' plans. But that's the thing: this is a fluid situation and the aggressive teams win out.

Sure the Mariners have made some epic blunders at the deadline before. The 1997 debacle that landed Heathcliff Slocumb for Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek comes to mind. But some of the M's worst moves came when they were buyers, not sellers. Famously, the 1987 Braves (sellers) made a deadline deal with the Tigers (buyers), giving up Doyle Alexander for future Hall-of-Famer John Smoltz. We're not expecting heists like that, but you have to do something.

In a sense, the Mariners did make one notable trade. They swapped Bill Bavasi's ineptitude for Lee Pelekoudas' inexperience. The results look pretty much the same.