Morosi on Mariners: Is Arenado a name to watch at deadline?

The Seattle Mariners have just four games remaining before the 2023 MLB Trade Deadline. What are they going to do?

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

As you might imagine, MLB Network insider Jon Morosi spoke at length about the Mariners and the deadline during his weekly visit with Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob on Thursday.

“I think that what the trade deadline often tells us is it’s a little bit of an X-ray into the soul of an organization and how they feel about themselves,” Morosi said. “And the Mariners, rightly or wrongly, I think are looking at this as a multi-year segment. The window opened in 2021, they were able to get there in 2022 to the playoffs and the window should be open for a while when you think about how good and how young and how controllable the pitching is.”

“I think the Mariners are playing the long game,” Morosi later added. “I know that’s maybe not the most satisfying answer to give to the fans, but I really believe at the moment that’s the orientation they’re taking.”

Morosi thinks the Mariners aren’t a true buyer or seller, and that they should consider trading reliever Paul Sewald or right fielder Teoscar Hernández if it returns an everyday position player, particularly at second base. He also said the team should consider moving one of their young starting pitchers if it gets an impact bat or two to Seattle.

Morosi has told Wyman and Bob a few times that he thinks the Mariners and St. Louis Cardinals match up well in a trade. He brought that up again on Thursday, but this time with a new wrinkle.

That is that the L.A. Times reported Cardinals star third baseman Nolan Arenado, a 10-time Gold Glover and eight-time All-Star, may be available and that the Los Angeles Dodgers have inquired about the 32-year-old slugger who is signed through 2027. It should also be noted that Arenado has a no-trade clause he would have to waive if the Cardinals agreed to a trade that involved him.

“Nolan is a West Coast guy. And obviously (Mariners starting third baseman Eugenio Suárez) is not necessarily under contract for the super long-term. Could you move some guys around? Could you find a way to bring in Nolan if that’s a possibility and then reconfigure your infield accordingly?” Morosi said. “That would get my attention.”

Arenado owns a career .288/.345/.534 (.879 OPS) slashline with 321 home runs and 1,045 RBIs since entering the league in 2013 and would certainly be a boost to the Mariners or any team that potentially acquires him.

“Nolan changes your clubhouse. He is a winner. And he plays every day, he wins Gold Gloves. He’s special,” Morosi said. “I think he’d be a really great player to have alongside with (young Mariners star Julio Rodríguez) and really kind of take the Mariners to this next generation, these next few years of competitiveness.”

So what would it take to get Arenado to Seattle?

“The package would have to be headlined by at least a young starting pitcher. And if they really like (Bryan) Woo’s fastball, if they really like what Bryce Miller does in terms of his repertoire, one of those two guys because they’ve already been in the big leagues, I think, they would be a good headline piece,” Morosi said. ” … Woo is good enough to be a headline piece. And then you probably have to surround him with a bit more pitching to make sure that it’s exactly what the Cardinals want.”

Morosi thinks the Dodgers are “the natural fit” for Arenado because “they’ve wanted him for a long time” and “he’s wanted to play there for a long time.” But he says the Mariners could be a team to watch.

“I do think with the West Coast advantage if the Dodgers can’t make it work, I do wonder if that could be a fit there for the Mariners here at some point in the next week,” he said.

Listen to Morosi’s full conversation with Wyman and Bob at this link or in the player earlier in this story.

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

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