Why a quiet trade deadline could make sense for Mariners

The Seattle Mariners are setting up to be one of the more interesting teams to watch at this year’s trade deadline.

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With their season back on track following a recent 11-3 stretch, the Mariners appear to be heading towards another July filled with speculation about who they could acquire.

However, after a recent conversation with ESPN insider Jeff Passan, Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk were left wondering if there will be deals to be made that actually make sense as upgrades for a fairly deep Mariners roster. That led co-host Mike Salk to say he’d be fine with the team doing something he’d usually hate, which is do nothing at the trade deadline.

“Jeff kind of led us down that road yesterday of like, hey, guys, looking at what’s available and kind of where the Mariners are at and what they would want to add, there just may not be a real good fit,” Salk said.

Salk and co-host Brock Huard noted a right-handed-hitting right fielder/designated hitter is the type of player the Mariners could use. Veteran Rob Refsnyder, who signed a one-year deal in the offseason to fill that role, has had a disappointing season so far with a .138 batting average and .445 OPS in 41 games.

But as Salk ran through lists of potential trade candidates from ESPN and MLB, nearly all of the best players thought to be available were starting pitchers or left-handed bats, neither of which Seattle is in need of. There were a few intriguing Astros as well, like Yordan Alvarez, but Salk was doubtful the Mariners and Astros would link up for that sort of deal.

“It’s an interesting conversation, but are you gonna give up everything you would need to give up to get Yordan to the Astros in your division and then be faced with whoever that is coming at you for the next five, six years?” he said. “I don’t see it. So it is really weird to go through all of these names and everybody that might be out there and nothing jumps out to you.”

Not making a splashy move at this year’s deadline may seem like a mistake for a team with World Series aspirations like the Mariners. But Huard pointed to who the Mariners expect to get back from the injured list before then – 2025 American League MVP runner-up Cal Raleigh, prized offseason trade acquisition Brendan Donovan and reliable veteran J.P. Crawford – as being just as impactful as acquiring new players.

In addition to those returns, the M’s could get some help down the stretch from farm system. The biggest impact there could come from 2025 No. 3 overall pick Kade Anderson, who has dominated Double-A hitters this year through his first 10 starts as a pro. The general thought is that if Anderson were to pitch in the majors this year, it would be in a bullpen role down the stretch, which could help Seattle’s need for another leverage arm late in games.

“It’s a legit claim to say, well, we got Cal and Donovan and J.P. returning, plus a couple of young prospects,” Salk said. “That’s just like making a trade. And usually when teams say that, you’re like, ‘No, it’s not as good as making a trade because you could have those guys and make a trade.’ But I don’t see anything on that list that makes a ton of sense and is reasonably likely to happen that actually works as well as just getting those guys back.”

‘Really key pieces’

Yahoo Sports writer and co-host of the Baseball Bar-B-Cast Jake Mintz recently joined Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy and shared a similar sentiment about the Mariners’ expected returns from injuries being just as good as trade deadline additions.

“I (roll my eyes) when front offices are like, you know, our deadline acquisition this year is getting this guy healthy. It’s like, OK. Sure,” Mintz said.

But “in the Mariners’ case, that holds a lot of truth considering who is on the IL: The dude that finished runner-up for (AL) MVP, the biggest acquisition of the winter, the dude who has been playing shortstop for the last half decade. These are all really key pieces.”

Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Listen to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app. 

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