The legend of Jerry Dipoto is apparently a thing even among other executives.
Addressing the media on Wednesday after his Arizona Diamondbacks traded star pitcher Zack Greinke away to the Houston Astros, general manager Mike Hazen cracked a joke about his Seattle Mariners counterpart.
“I didn’t start out today hoping to channel Jerry Dipoto as my spirit animal, but somehow we sort of ended up there,” Hazen said, per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.
Of course, Dipoto, known warmly to some as “Trader Jerry,” has famously sold off countless quality players in the last year, including James Paxton, Edwin Diaz, Robinson Cano, Jean Segura, and Edwin Encarnacion. Hazen may not be quite on that level though after Wednesday also saw the D-backs acquire righty Mike Leake (fittingly from Dipoto’s Mariners) and fail to trade lefty Robbie Ray.
But the Greinke deal is a fairly good start if Hazen ever has any aspirations to become Trader Mike, and pretty soon Arizona fans may be clowning on him the way that Seattle fans clown on Dipoto.
