By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
It's easy to forget moves the Philadelphia Phillies made this offseason, given all attention is toward whether superstar free agent Bryce Harper will sign with the club.
Besides minor-league moves and elections to free agency, the Phillies' first key transaction this offseason was acquring SS Jean Segura, RHP Juan Nicasio and LHP James Pazos from the Seattle Mariners for 1B Carlos Santana and SS J.P. Crawford.
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The Phillies viewed highly of Segura; Radio Color Analyst, Kevin Frandsen said the club got better with the trade. "There's a fight, there's a grind at the plate that [Segura] has," Frandsen said. "When he gets to two strikes, he doesn't just put the ball in play, he hits the ball hard." Vice President and GM Matt Klentak called Segura one of baseball's best players, and that acquiring him "moves the needle."
Just as much as the Phillies admire Segura's baseball talent, so do the Mariners with Crawford. Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto explained the club's desire to acquire the 24-year-old on his latest "Wheelhouse" podcast.
According to Dipoto, each Mariners front office member was tasked — toward the end of the 2018 season — with filling out a blank 25-man roster. "Nothing [was] impossible" when filling out the roster, according to Dipoto, with any contract able to be traded or signed "for viable dollars."
One then-Phillies player, in particular, was very popular among the filled out rosters.
"[They would] have to put together trades that you think are genuinely possible, and then carry over players that [they felt] make the most sense for us,” Dipoto said. "“In virtually all of [the filled out rosters], J.P. Crawford was mentioned as a future shortstop for our team."
Once considered an elite prospect in baseball, Crawford thus far has slashed just .214/.333/.358 with 10 doubles, four triples, three home runs and 18 RBI over 72 career games. The Long Beach, California, native was limited to just 49 games last season due to a fractured left hand suffered in late June.
The Mariners viewed "numerous different scenarios" in which they were going to acquire Crawford.
"Sometimes it included Jean Segura, and sometimes it was other players – but he was clearly a target player for most of us," Dipoto said. "To be frank, we talked to the Phillies about more than just Jean Segura. There were other players throughout the offseason that we had discussed with them, and each time we brought up J.P.
"But the only way we were able to access J.P. were in trades for Jean Segura or at the time Edwin Diaz.”
The Phillies were reported to show interest in acquiring both Segura and closer Diaz in late November. Diaz, 24, led all of baseball this past season in games finished (65) and saves (57), blowing only four opportunities out of 61 overall save situations. A three-year veteran, Diaz earned his first All-Star nod in 2018, while finishing eighth in the American League Cy Young Award race, and 18th for American League Most Valuable Player. He earned American League Reliever of the Year honors for 2018 thanks to his 1.96 ERA, 0.79 WHIP and 124/17 K/BB ratio over 73 1/3 innings.
Before the Phillies could acquire both Diaz and Segura, however, the New York Mets swooped in and acquired the closer "to block the Phillies from getting him," according to Mets executive Jeff Wilpon.
Mariners Director of Analytics Jesse Smith recently told 710 ESPN Seattle that "there's many things to like about Crawford," including being a "consensus industry top prospect for years" and a "young player that’s already producing in his limited Major League sample."
“With J.P., there’s a lot there. He’s always had a lot of tools. Anytime you have someone who can play the shortstop position defensively – and evaluators have always thought that he can be above-average defensively at short – that’s a fantastic place to start," Smith said. "And he’s also shown the ability to hit.
"I know some of the reaction to that trade was not extremely positive right off the bat. His stats don’t exactly jump off the page, but underlying it there’s just a really solid base there."
The Mariners recently signed Tim Beckham to a one-year, $1.75 million contract as veteran shortstop depth. The former No. 1 overall pick and Crawford will compete this spring, but barring a disappointing showing, the former Phillies top prospect will likely get more at-bats in 2019 between the two.
