MLB trade grades: Ross Atkins swan song is with a hilariously-familiar trade partner

The Toronto Blue Jays general manager, Ross Atkins cannot stop making trades with the Seattle Mariners. He sent Teoscar Hernandez to the Mariners in the 2022 offseason in a deal that did not grade out very well for Toronto. This year, Atkins sent reliever Yimi Garcia to the Mariners in a trade that brought a few prospects back to the Blue Jays.

On Monday afternoon, a day before the July 30 trade deadline, Atkins has struck another deal with Seattle, this time sending their veteran first baseman Justin Turner over to the Mariners.

Turner was in the middle of a solid season, but given his expiring contract, almost everybody expected to see him dealt before tomorrow.

For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, and join the discord to get the inside scoop as we near the July 30 MLB trade deadline.

MLB trade grades: Mariners acquire another Blue Jays player before the 2024 trade deadline

Here's the full deal that sent Turner to the Mariners:

Turner, 39, is slashing .254/.349/.371 with 17 doubles, six home runs and an OPS above league average. He'll be a boost to a Mariners lineup that has struggled mightily in 2024. Given their pitching staff, they will be able to compete with anybody in the league if they can manufacture runs. Turner will help them do that.

Schreck, 24, is slashing .250/.392/.444 with 12 home runs and 21 doubles this season. He was recently promoted to Double-A where he's struggled a bit, but he's far from reached his potential at this point in his career. The outfielder held an OPS near 1.000 across his five years in college.

The Blue Jays were able to dump the remainder of Turner's $6.7 million of his salary onto the Mariners in the deal, which is a very big plus for the front office. They also acquired a prospect that has advanced rather quickly through the minor leagues. Dumping off his salary and acquiring a lottery ticket prospect is a great move from the Blue Jays.

The Mariners were able to land a first baseman just hours after sending Ty France to the Reds. They swap Turner in for France and improve the position quite a bit. The Mariners are very obviously going all in for this year. I'd expect to see them active all the way until the 6:00 P.M eastern trade deadline tomorrow evening.

Overall, this trade pushes both teams in the right direction. It's one of the rare win-win deals that we'll see at the trade deadline.

Mariners trade grade: A-

Blue Jays trade grade: A