What the Mariners are attempting — tying a financial albatross (Robinson Cano) to the best reliever in his league (Edwin Diaz) with four years to go until his free agency — has precedent.
The Braves of the 2014-15 offseason were the Mariners of 2018-19. Atlanta had decided it could not win with its core group and chose to take a few steps back to try to contend when Sun Trust Park opened in 2017, much like Seattle has determined to break up its core with an eye on 2021 contention.
Atlanta traded Jason Heyward, Justin Upton and Evan Gattis as surely as Seattle already has dealt Mike Zunino and James Paxton.