Philadelphia landed Segura, relief pitcher Juan Nicasio and relief pitcher James Pazos in exchange for shortstop J.P. Crawford and first baseman Carlos Santana.

A two-time All-Star, Segura hit .308 over the past three seasons in addition to 41 home runs and 172 RBI. He led all qualified major league shortstops with a .304 batting average in 2018 and finished ninth in WAR.

The 28-year-old signed a five-year, $70 million extension in June 2017 and was expected to be part of the team's long-term future that would also include second baseman Robinson Cano and third baseman Kyle Seager among others.

However, the Mariners finished a disappointing six games under .500 in 2017 and missed the playoffs by eight games in 2018. 

The Mariners started last season with much promise as they earned a 55-31 record and first-place standing in July. The second half was a different story, with a 34-42 finish leaving the M's home for the postseason a 17th consecutive time.

The nadir of the Mariners' second half may have been when Segura and outfielder Dee Gordon reportedly got into a pregame clubhouse fight that "stemmed from Gordon's misplay on a ball in center field during Monday's win over the (Baltimore Orioles)," per Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times.

Seattle general manager Jerry Dipoto also offered some strong words regarding the team's second-half chemistry in a postseason talk with reporters: "At the end of the day they are the same people who were the driving force behind a great first-half culture that in the second half took a southward dive that looked very similar to what our wins and losses looked like."

This all may have played a part in what Dipoto is calling a "reimagining" of his roster this offseason as he dealt staff ace James Paxton and catcher Mike Zunino.

Divish also noted the Mariners would "listen on anybody" as the team looked to get "younger."

Segura is only entering his age-29 season, so he's not exactly on the doorstep to retirement. However, the Mariners' direction is clear after a few disappointing seasons with their most recent core, so he is not as good of a fit now as the team imagined when he signed an extension.

Overall, Segura's bat is a fantastic asset for any club. His .302 batting average with the M's over the past two years is made more impressive when considering he played roughly half of his games in Safeco Field, which is one of MLB's most notorious pitcher's parks.

He's one of MLB's better hitting shortstops and has proved to be durable with 142 or more games played in five of the past six years.

He joins a Phillies team looking to take the next step after posting an 80-82 record in 2018—a 14-game improvement from the following year. 

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