Dipoto: Mariners ‘notably better’ after big trade deadline

Jul 31, 2025, 7:13 PM | Updated: 10:06 pm

Seattle Sports

SEATTLE – They would have liked to have made at least one more addition, but the Seattle Mariners are feeling very confident in the haul they collected before the MLB trade deadline.

The Mariners ended up landing two of the highest-impact bats to change teams in slugging third baseman Eugenio Suárez and first baseman Josh Naylor, and they added a needed left-handed arm with a strong track record and postseason experience in Caleb Ferguson.

Here’s every trade the Seattle Mariners made before MLB deadline

“I think we’re notably better,” president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said Thursday. “And generally speaking, we went into the deadline not shy about expressing that we wanted to see if we could upgrade the corner infield for the stretch run. We wanted to add to it, and we’re able to do those things.

“Obviously, we feel like we acquired the two best bats available. It’s the comfort of acquiring people who’ve played this ballpark, and I think in Geno’s case, someone that has been pivotal to our clubhouse culture.”

Suárez entered Thursday fifth in MLB with 36 home runs and tied with teammate Cal Raleigh for first with 87 RBIs. The Mariners traded him to Arizona after the 2023 season in a move Dipoto on Thursday called one of his least favorite trades he’s made since joining the Mariners. He also revealed things may have gone differently had the club known it was going to be able to make the trade it did later that offseason that sent Jarred Kelenic, Marco Gonzales and Evan White to Atlanta.

“If we had known that we had that deal in our back pocket, we might have done something different than the November deal that sent Geno to Arizona,” Dipoto said.

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Naylor is batting .288 this season, which makes him Seattle’s top qualified hitter in average. And while his power numbers are down this year (12 home runs), he is coming off a 31-homer season.

The Mariners have been in pursuit of Naylor for quite some time now and even thought they had a real chance of landing him over the offseason before he was ultimately dealt to Arizona.

“We have had a ton of talks with Cleveland about Josh during the years, including this offseason. And I would say there was a time during the late push that we thought we were going to acquire him,” Dipoto said. “… The ability to grab him at this deadline, we’re really looking forward to seeing the marriage. This is not the first time we’ve dreamed of it.”

Dipoto called the pair a “perfect balance” to add to the lineup and clubhouse. Suárez is a right-handed bat and Naylor a lefty to put in the middle of the lineup. And the pair have contrasting personalities with Suárez being the fun-loving, “Good Vibes Only” guy who brings up the spirits of a clubhouse, and Naylor brining an edge with a more serious and stoic personality.

“Now if you line up our batting lineup, it’s pretty stunning where we were and where we are (now) in terms of the depth of our lineup,” Dipoto said. “And I’m super excited about that.”

Ferguson filled what the Mariners viewed as their biggest need in the bullpen, which was specifically adding an additional left-hander alongside Gabe Speier. Ferguson has limited left-handed batters to a .167 average and .439 OPS this season. He has a 3.74 ERA over 43 1/3 innings. He has also made three trips to the postseason between stints with the Dodgers and Astros.

“Adding Caleb Ferguson, I think outside of (general manager) Justin (Hollander), myself and my guys upstairs, the obvious winner is Gabe Speier,” Dipoto said. “Now he has a little bit of a partner who could help him out.

Dipoto said the team was still actively pursuing more additions before Thursday’s 3 p.m. cutoff for trades, particularly in the relief pitching market, but nothing else came to fruition after making two of the biggest splashes of the past week.

“Today we tried a ton of things that didn’t really work out for us, but super busy day today (around the league),” he said. “I was fascinated with what was happening with relievers around the league. We were in a lot of those conversations for weeks now on the on the back-end bullpen guys, and felt like we were in the end zone in one case and then near the goal line in some others.”

Overall there was a bit of a shift in philosophy for the Mariners at this deadline. All three of their additions are rentals who will be free agents at the end of this year. The past three deadlines have seen the M’s go after players with more club control like Luis Castillo in 2022, Randy Arozarena in 2024 and the trio of Ryan Bliss, Dominic Canzone and Josh Rojas in 2023. But the M’s felt this year’s team has proven enough to go all-in on 2025.

“We’ve spent a good deal of this, mostly the whole season, either in first place or in a playoff position,” Dipoto said. “I think Cal (Raleigh is) having an MVP type of season, we just had five All-Stars. We have a really deep team. I think if you talk to other clubs in the league, they’re pretty bullish on what we’re capable of hitting on all cylinders. And while we had a hot streak early in the season, we really haven’t hit our next hot streak – and it’s coming.

“I believe that adding to this team, adding some energy to the room and just showing the guys that we believe in what they’re doing was important.”

Top prospects stay put

The Mariners were able to swing the three deals they made without dipping into the top end of their talented farm system. None of their eight players listed in MLB Pipeline and Baseball America’s top 100 lists moved in deals.

“Thrilled that we still have really the group of high-impact players in the minor league level,” Dipoto said. “We didn’t really touch the top end of our system, and for the most part that’s intentional. We also didn’t feel like that that our needs merited us getting into that group, if we were able to address our needs outside of it.”

The highest-rated prospect traded by the Mariners was first baseman Tyler Locklear (ranked No. 9 by Pipeline) in the deal for Suárez. Dipoto said Locklear’s name came up for the first time within 48 hours of the deal getting done.