Passan: M’s pivoted on way to ‘best’ trade deadline of buying teams

The Seattle Mariners have had a momentous last 10 days.

It started with their trade for 2024 All-Star first baseman Josh Naylor on July 24. It continued with the addition of lefty reliever Caleb Ferguson. And those two moves set the table for the big one – a trade that reunited them with two-time All-Star third baseman Eugenio Suárez.

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Once they had all three additions on the roster, the M’s responded with a big series win at home, taking three out of four from the Texas Rangers to grow their lead for an American League wild card and cut into the Houston Astros’ advantage in the AL West.

Four days removed from last Thursday’s MLB trade deadline, ESPN’s Jeff Passan was ready to make a declaration.

“I would say of all the teams that bought, the Mariners were the best,” Passan said Monday in his weekly conversation with Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk.

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Part of Passan’s reason is that the Mariners’ deadline could have gone down a different path, but they had another route to go down when there appeared to be a road block.

“The guys who draw the most demand in a summer trading market tend to be relief pitchers. And the Mariners were right there on Jhoan Duran,” Passan said, referring to the flamethrowing closer who netted the Minnesota Twins two prospects ranked in the top 100 in baseball by MLB Pipeline from the Philadelphia Phillies.

“In fact, at one point – I think it was the afternoon of the 30th, a day before the trade deadline – I thought the Mariners were getting Jhoan Duran. Like, I was waiting for some some texts saying Duran to the Mariners. Instead, I was greeted with the Ken Rosenthal tweet that said Duran to the Phillies.”

That was the same day the Mariners traded for both Ferguson and Suárez.

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“I thought the Mariners, like, what are they going to do? How are they going to recover from this?” Passan said about Duran going to Philly. “Because they were hoping to to bulk up the back end of their bullpen with one of the best closers in baseball to be there in addition to Andrés Muñoz and Matt Brash and Gabe Speier and the rest of the crew.

“Suffice to say, they pivoted really well, and I think a lot of credit is due to (Mariners president of baseball operations) Jerry Dipoto and (general manager) Justin Hollander for the way that they handled this trade deadline, because they did so with urgency.”

That urgency came with the Mariners parting with rookie first baseman Tyler Locklear along with a pair of pitching prospects to bring Suárez, who will be a free agent after the season, back to Seattle. While Locklear isn’t a top-100 prospect, he has potential to make an impact in the big leagues, and the Mariners haven’t been known to wade into the deep waters of the rental market in the past.

But with the American League about as wide open as it has been in recent memory, Passan commended the Mariners for executing their plan of action.

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“Tyler Locklear is going to be a good big leaguer for a long time, I think. I don’t know if he’s ever going to be in the MVP hunt, but I think he’s going to be a solid first baseman for the Diamondbacks for years to come,” Passan said. “And to give him up for somebody who’s going to be a free agent at the end of the season, that to me it suggests that the Mariners are doing things that they have not done in the past because they recognize that this window is open. Not only a playoff spot but a pennant is there for the taking.”

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