The accuracy of that Mariners commercial is spot-on because, for several years, Lopez and Betancourt were quite a match, peas in a pod. Lopez manned second and Betancourt manned short. With the departure of most recent shortstop Jean Segura, the M’s find themselves short of a veteran, all-star shortstop.
We don’t even know how much better Segura would have become if he had played out his full contract. But was Jean our best shortstop since the Betancourt days?
One of the drawbacks about Segura’s trade was that he was the first “good” Mariner shortstop in almost a decade.