The Seattle Mariners traded right-handed pitcher Taijuan Walker and shortstop Ketel Marte to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for shortstop Jean Segura and two prospects.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Rivalry games inspire the best efforts from everyone. Players, coaches, fans. And, yes, even sportswriters. At least that’s the case today. Read on.

Can the Mariners make it three straight years with a franchise icon entering the Hall of Fame?

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Every day. Well, almost every day. That’s how often we put together this column. Most days are pretty easy. But Thursdays? Those are tough. So what’s your Thursday column? Today it’s a little of everything. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s that time of year. When everyone is angry at everyone else because of their voting choices. No, not those choices. We’re talking about college football award choices. And this season, we are in the middle of it. Read on.

It didn’t take long for the Mariners to acquire the right-handed corner bat they prioritized this off-season. On Saturday, they obtained Danny Valencia from Oakland in a trade for minor-league pitcher Paul Blackburn.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Today is my Christmas. College basketball begins again. And the presents keep on coming until April. Aren’t we lucky? Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Beau Baldwin is a heck of a football coach. The Eastern Washington head man has accomplished things that no other Eagle coach has ever done, including win a national title. But this weekend, he goes into Eastern’s final regular season home game as an underdog. No, not on the field. In the press conferences. He’s about a 1,500-word underdog actually. That’s because Mike Kramer is returning to town. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Kind of wild year, huh? Got thinking about 2016 and it’s off-the-wall quality somewhere around midnight or so last night. Being that this is on the Sports page of The Spokesman-Review, we’ll concentrate on that. We'll leave the other stuff to, well, others. Read on.

The Seattle Mariners have picked up needed depth at catcher after acquiring Carlos Ruiz from the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for left-handed pitcher Vidal Nuno on Monday at the start of the general manager meetings.