NEW YORK, NY – Newly inaugurated Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen and Seattle Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto have agreed to send Robinson Canó and Edwin Díaz with $20 million to New York and a pair of top prospects to Seattle in the first blockbuster trade of the offseason.
Robinson Canó, 36, will be returning to the concrete jungle after departing from New York in 2013. Canó played for the New York Yankees for eight seasons and signed a 10-year $240 million contract with the Mariners in the 2013 offseason.
The eight-time All-Star served an 80-game suspension last season after testing positive for furosemide, a substance prohibited by MLB that can help mask a banned substance in a urine test.
Despite missing majority of the 2018 season, Canó hit 10 home runs and 50 RBI in 80 games last year. In his 14 years in the majors, the kid from San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, has a career .304 average, 311 home runs and 1233 RBI.
Puerto Rico native Edwin Díaz will be following Canó to Flushing, Queens in 2019. The breakthrough right-handed pitcher became the Mariners All-Time saves leader with 57 saves, serving a 1.96 ERA and 124 strikeouts in 73.1 innings pitched in his last season in Seattle.
The 22-year-old from Nagüabo, Puerto Rico was granted a trip to Washington D.C. in July for his first All-Star game. Throughout the season, Díaz received four American League Reliever of the Month awards (March, June, July and August) and later went onto win the American League Mariano Rivera Reliever of the Year award at the end of 2018.
The Marines will receive top prospects Jarred Kelenic, Justin Dunn, relievers Anthony Swarzak, Gerson Bautista and outfielder Jay Bruce in the blockbuster trade.
