This surely was a first. A front office reaching an agreement on a trade while being honored by a state legislative body.<\/p>\n
It happened Monday, while Seattle Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto and general manager Justin Hollander were in the gallery of the Washington State Capitol in Olympia, Wash.<\/p>\n
The senate was adopting a resolution<\/a> celebrating catcher Cal Raleigh and the Mariners\u2019 2025 season when Hollander suddenly got a text message that jolted him to attention.<\/p>\n Manager Dan Wilson and longtime broadcaster Rick Rizzs were on the floor, closest to the action as the resolution was read. Hollander and Dipoto, watching from the balcony, were on a group text with two presidents of baseball operations, the St. Louis Cardinals\u2019 Chaim Bloom and Tampa Bay Rays\u2019 Erik Neander.<\/p>\n The message from Bloom was one the Mariners had waited for all offseason. They had a deal for superutility man Brendan Donovan. They could start the medical review process necessary to finalize the three-team trade.<\/p>\n Dipoto was signing autographs and posing for photographs. Hollander scrambled to leave the gallery, only to find the door was locked. Someone buzzed him into the senate offices. Hollander apologized, explaining he had to make a call. From a break room down the hall, he phoned the Mariners\u2019 medical team in Seattle and told them to start poring over Donovan\u2019s file.<\/p>\n The trade, which sent Donovan to Seattle, third baseman Ben Williamson to Tampa Bay, and three prospects and two draft picks to St. Louis, was on the verge of completion. The Mariners were giving up a highly-regarded prospect, switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje, plus Williamson, outfielder Tai Peete and a Competitive Balance Round B pick, likely to be No. 69 overall.<\/p>\n Donovan, though, is a significant prize, a left-handed hitter who will bat leadoff and play third base and other positions for the Mariners for at least the next two seasons. The Mariners began pursuing him in November. The Athletic\u2019s Katie Woo reported in mid-December<\/a> that the Mariners and San Francisco Giants were the front-runners to acquire him.<\/p>\n However, the deal ultimately required the involvement of the Rays, who converted Williamson into extra value for the Cardinals by sending them outfielder Colton Ledbetter and a Comp B draft pick, expected to be No. 73 overall.<\/p>\n The Rays entered the discussions earlier in the offseason, according to people briefed on the conversations. In start-and-stop negotiations, the teams struggled to find a fit. But talks accelerated after the Rays re-engaged in the middle of last week.<\/p>\n