GM Jerry Dipoto discusses newest Mariners acquisitions, Rob Whalen and Max Povse

Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto joined “Brock and Salk” on Tuesday after making his second trade in less than a week. Dipoto sent former first-round pick Alex Jackson and a player to be named later to Atlanta for right-handed starting pitching prospects Rob Whalen and Max Povse.

Here’s what Dipoto had to say about the trade:

On Jackson: “Our feeling on Alex was he’s an upside talent, there’s no question. He’s gonna play this upcoming season and we would have, I guess, earmarked him to go back at the A-level and start again. He is an interesting guy. He’s got power and he’s got athletic skill.”

On Whalen and Povse: “We felt like the combination of Rob Whalen and Max Povse, both of whom I think slot in very nicely for us as current depth for our major-league club, in addition to future potential as every-fifth-day major-league starters. These guys are both going to pitch next year at 23 years old. Rob has already pitched in the big leagues, five starts last year as a 22-year-old. Had a really good season through the top two levels of the minor leagues on his ways to the big leagues. And Max Povse is an interesting talent. He’s 6-8, 250, throws the ball downhill up to 96 miles an hour and has had a lot of success through the mid levels of the minor leagues.”

On Povse’s size: “As I understand it, Max Povse, who I obviously have not yet met but have spoken with on the telephone, when he was signed, he was 6-8 and 185. When he first got to the Braves’ camp, he was 6-8 and 220. Last year, as I understand it, just by the Braves information, he was 6-8, 250. I have seen much video on him and the ballpark figure is he’s a big fella.”

Is Povse ready to pitch in big leagues now? “Very possible. Max has tapped out to this point in Double-A. He had a very dominant run in Double-A last year. Like I said, the stuff is there. He’s a three-pitch guy. He throws a ton of strikes and works down in the zone, gets an above-average ground-ball rate. Tough guy to lift. And I guess that’s a commonality with both of these guys. With both Whalen and Posey, they are both ground-ball guys who throw the ball over the plate and they give us a chance. Povse does it with great angle, from a big frame and Whalen does it with a big sink. For those of you who remember former Brave and longtime big-leaguer Jason Marquis, Rob has a lot of those same kind of sinker-slider traits that Jason has. And we’re really glad to have him. Pitching depth was a need of ours and fortunately we had a guy like Alex Jackson on hand who was able to help us fill some of that need.”

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