AL West Trade Deadline: What the Mariners’ rivals did

An otherwise slow MLB trade deadline didn’t disappoint on its final day as moves started happening early and kept coming in a steady flow until 3 p.m. cutoff for trades.

The Seattle Mariners, who had a swung a big four-player trade with the White Sox on Saturday, were one of the many active teams on Monday, landing outfielder Taylor Ward in a deal with Baltimore.

Ex-M’s pitcher, Portland native among big names traded

But what did the rest of Seattle’s division do on deadline day?

Below is a look at how the trade deadline shook out for the rest of the AL West, which included pretty quiet days for the two teams in front of the Mariners in the standings.

Houston Astros

First-place Houston had a relatively quiet trade deadline but struck a deal in the final hours to bolster their outfield while trading away from their pitching staff in a swap of big leaguers.

The Astros acquired center fielder Daulton Varsho, a one-time Gold Glove winner, and cash considerations from Toronto in exchange for right-handed starter Spencer Arrighetti.

Varsho, who’s in his seventh MLB season, is batting .243 with a .307 on-base percentage, .682 OPS and seven homers in 99 games. Arrighetti, who’s in his third season, has 7-5 record and 4.60 ERA over 88 innings in 17 starts this year. However, he went on the 15-day injured list July 25 with nerve irritation in his right foot.

Houston was reportedly close to finalizing a deal with the Minnesota Twins on Saturday that would have sent reliever Bryan Abreu to Minnesota for outfielder Trevor Larnach, but that deal was reportedly vetoed by Astros owner Jim Crane.

Houston (58-55) is currently three games ahead of Seattle (55-58) for the AL West lead.

Texas angers

There were reports leading up to the deadline that the Rangers (55-57) – despite entering Monday 1 1/2 games out of a playoff spot and 2 1/2 games out of first place in the division – could end up selling off several pieces. But they ended up doing some modest buying.

After acquiring reliever Chase Silseth and catcher Logan O’Hoppe for minor league third baseman Angel Arredondo in a rare intradivision deal with the Angels last week, Texas sent struggling utility man Josh Smith (a Silver Slugger winner in 2024) and minor league pitcher Josh Stephan to the Toronto Blue Jays for some bullpen help in the form of left-hander Adam Macko, who was a seventh-round pick by the Mariners in 2019. Macko had a 4.91 ERA in 22 innings for the Toronto this year.

It was also reported by The Athletic that two-time Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom invoked his no-trade clause to block a trade, which may have been what swayed the Rangers from selling.

Athletics

It was a quiet deadline for the struggling Athletics (45-67), who made all but one of their moves during the month of July. The A’s made two major league additions, picking up reliever Scott Blewett from the St. Louis Cardinals for cash considerations on July 26, and reportedly sending outfielder Colby Thomas to the Philadelphia Phillies for reliever Seth Johnson.

They also sent third baseman Brett Harris to Boston for minor league pitcher Ben Hanson on July 1, and starting pitcher Aaron Civale to the Chicago Cubs for minor league pitcher Aiden Moffett on July 18.

Los Angeles Angels

After years of head-scratching decisions to not sell at the trade deadline, the Angels (43-69) finally pulled the trigger on starting to tear it down.

After their deal with Texas, Los Angeles was busy on deadline day with four trades that netted several minor league prospects and a bat that can slot into the lineup immediately.

The Angels’ biggest deal of the day came when they sent All-Star right-hander José Soriano to Toronto for a three-player package headlined by shortstop Arjun Nimalla, ranked as the No. 43 prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline. They also picked up minor league outfielder Eddie Micheletti and pitcher Angel Rivero in the deal.

The Angels also sent outfielder Jo Adell to the Cleveland Guardians for catching prospect Jacob Cozart, a 2024 second-round pick.

In the afternoon, Los Angeles traded hard-throwing reliever Ryan Zeferjahn to the Cubs for catcher/DH Moisés Ballesteros and minor league pitcher Mason McGwire, the son of Mark McGwire. The 22-year-old Ballesteros, who made his MLB debut last season, is a former top 100 prospect.

The Angels reportedly snuck in one more deal just before the 3 p.m. cutoff, sending reliever Kirby Yates to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

More on the Mariners and the MLB trade deadline

• Brock and Salk: Mariners get ‘big upgrade’ in Taylor Ward trade
• Stacy: We’re having the wrong conversation about Dodgers’ Tarik Skubal trade
• A closer look at Seattle Mariners’ haul from Luis Castillo trade

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