The final piece of the Mariners’ arguably biggest off-season move clicked into place today, as the team announced that RHP Connor Phillips is being sent to the Reds to complete the trade that brought OF Jesse Winker and INF Eugenio Suárez to Seattle.
Phillips was drafted by Seattle in the second round (competitive balance pick) of the COVID-shortened 2020 draft and stood out as being the only non-four-year-college player Seattle took with its six choices, having gone the JUCO route out of high school (players who attend junior colleges don’t have to wait a certain amount of years before being drafted).