Potential M’s target lands on IL week before trade deadline

The list of available right-handed bats on the market for the Seattle Mariners to pursue ahead of next week’s MLB trade deadline just got a little shorter, in an unfortunately big way.

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The Cincinnati Reds’ Spencer Steer was placed on the 10-day injured list Monday, just seven days before the Aug. 3 deadline. The news comes a day after Steer left a Reds win in St. Louis after experiencing right wrist pain after he fouled off a pitch. ESPN MLB insider Buster Olney called Steer “one of the coveted right-handed hitters in this year’s trade market” and wrote that he “will miss significant time.”

Steer, a 28-year-old University of Oregon product, appeared to be an ideal trade fit for the Mariners, who have a lefty-heavy offensive lineup and have struggled to hit left-handed pitching this season. Steer has a .238/.319/.421 slash line for a .739 OPS with 16 home runs and 14 doubles in 384 plate appearances overall this season, but his numbers against lefties are elite – .342/.442/.620 slash for a 1.062 OPS with five homers and seven doubles in 96 plate appearances.

In addition to his reputation for crushing southpaws, Steer has positional flexibility, having played every position except shortstop, catcher and pitcher this season.

With Steer no longer a viable option, a similar player the Mariners could pursue is the San Francisco Giants’ Casey Schmitt, another right-handed hitter who can play multiple positions. Though he does not get on base as often as Steer, the 27-year-old Schmitt is still a decent threat against lefty pitching. Overall in 408 plate appearances in 2026, Schmitt has a .254/.288/.479 slash for a .767 OPS with 17 homers, 11 doubles and a triple. In 106 plate appearances against lefties, Schmitt is slashing .314/.330/.490 for an .820 OPS with four homers and six doubles.

Schmitt is a player Olney singled out as a good fit for the Mariners when he joined Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk last week. The Athletic’s Jim Bowden, a former big league general manager, also detailed a potential trade that would land Schmitt for the M’s with Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy.

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