What does MLB trade market look like? Mariners’ Dipoto shares insight

Jul 27, 2023, 1:30 PM | Updated: 2:22 pm

Tom Murphy of the Seattle Mariners beats the tag at second base on July 24, 2023. (Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)

(Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)

Assistant Editor of SeattleSports.com

The 2023 MLB season is the second where both the American League and National League have a third wild card spot, and it’s definitely having an impact on the Aug. 1 trade deadline, Seattle Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said.

What Dipoto says Seattle Mariners are looking to do at trade deadline

“That third wild card keeps so many teams engaged. And we’re one of them, frankly,” said Dipoto, whose M’s team has a 52-50 record, on Thursday during his weekly show on Seattle Sports. “It gives you something to shoot at. There are absolute buyers, and then there are teams that are … trying to thread a needle.

“You’re trying to find a way to situate yourself to best contend in 2023 while not robbing from future years because you understand the odds are a little bit long. That captures about 20 teams in our league, and then there’s going to be another couple on the fringes or rebuilding teams that are primarily young. That leaves very few teams that have the types of players available in the market to really make a dent.”

Dipoto called the market “pretty broad” this year.

“There are not a large number of defined sellers in this market. There are a lot of teams that are trying to thread a needle or flat-out buying,” he said. “And there are very few teams that are selling or that are populating the market with the types of players that contending teams look for this time of year.”

Like in previous years, Dipoto expects the market to really pick up in the next few days.

“I think it’s going to be incredibly active, and usually it is active in the final 72 hours,” Dipoto said. “I would say that it’s not too dissimilar from what we see in the first 72 hours of free agency. Roughly the public clamor is, ‘Why is it so quiet? Why aren’t they doing anything?’ And then here comes the firehose and there’s an update on MLB Network or ESPN every six minutes. It’s going to be active. It won’t be defined until Sunday or Monday for so many teams because of (the current standings being so close).”

Listen to the full Jerry Dipoto Show at this link or in the podcast player near the top of this post. The Jerry Dipoto Show airs live at 8:30 a.m. each Thursday during Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk.