Lookout Landing: Mariners Trade Things For John Jaso

Super junk: Throwing things.

The trade, in case this is the first you’ve heard of it, is that Josh Lueke is going to the Rays, along with cash or a player to be named later, and that John Jaso is coming back. Minor league contracts aside, this is the first move of significance of the Mariners’ offseason.

...But for me, the pluses seem to outweigh the minuses here, and as minor a trade as this is in the grand scheme of things, it seems like the Zduriencik front office did well in addressing an area of weakness. In Jaso, the Mariners have a guy who can back up Olivo and handle enough time to - at least in theory - prevent Olivo from wearing down. Jaso’s presence could allow the M’s to trade Olivo during the year if they want to, and in the absolute best-case scenario, Jaso could even start for the M’s for a handful of years.

We shouldn’t count on that, and we should take into consideration the Rays’ willingness to move Jaso for what they did, but the Mariners are better behind the plate than they were a few hours ago. There’s a little less pressure and dependence on Adam Moore, now, and the same goes for Olivo. I’d say that’s a good thing. Jaso’s not perfect, but boy were the M’s ever not looking for perfect.