Two Mariners trade deadline nuggets from MLB insiders
The Mariners had an impact on the Tarik Skubal trade and interest in the Angels' starting shortstop, per reports.
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - AUGUST 04: President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto of the Seattle Mariners speaks with media before the game against the Detroit Tigers at T-Mobile Park on August 04, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Kevin Ng/Getty Images)
(Photo by Kevin Ng/Getty Images)
The days following the MLB trade deadline can bring some additional insight on what went down in the days and hours leading up to the cutoff for trades.
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Two prominent MLB insiders on Friday shared some interesting nuggets in regards to the Seattle Mariners, which includes how they impacted the trade that sent two-time Cy Young winner and former Seattle U standout Tarik Skubal to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
First was a report from ESPN’s Jeff Passan going inside the trade negotiations for Skubal, the former Detroit Tigers star left-hander. It turns out that George Kirby was a factor as to why Detroit pulled the trigger on dealing Skubal last Saturday – two days before the deadline – for a return package that some deemed as questionable.
Per Passan’s reporting, the Tigers earlier in the day Saturday caught wind that the Mariners were listening on Kirby. And although Kirby hasn’t performed at the same level as Skubal, his additional club control (through 2028 compared to expiring contract for Skubal) had Detroit fearing he could tank the market for Skubal if they waited too long to strike a deal.
Those fears were “well-founded,” according to to Passan, as “teams were reluctant to stake their entire deadline on the possibility of acquiring Skubal.”
In a report for The Athletic, Ken Rosenthal said one official from an unnamed club said Seattle’s discussions involving Kirby “never advanced past the 50-yard line.” Rosenthal noted the M’s could pick up those conversations about Kirby, as well as ones had about right-hander Emerson Hancock, during the offseason.
Rosenthal also had the other interesting trade-deadline nugget involving the Mariners, which was that they were one of the teams to express interest in Los Angeles Angels shortstop Zach Neto, who has three years of club control remaining beyond this season.
However, the teams never exchanged names and the Mariners never received an asking price.
The Angels are one of three teams the Mariners have not made a trade with since president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto was hired as Seattle’s general manager following the 2015 season. Dipoto was the general manager of the Angels for five seasons (2011-15) before being hired by the Mariners.
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Comments
2 Comments
Well perhaps it is time for multiple Mariner changes. These are thoughts as to why they are terribly disappointing this season. Cal should maybe suspend his radio show and focus on his game. The regression can’t simply be blamed on the World Baseball Classic. A good first step was to drop him down as they did. Donovan is a bust at 3rd base and his error cost them the game last night. Put him in the outfield and DH. Cal should DH way more and catch a couple games per week until he comes out of this massive slump. The bullpen needs a MAJOR overhaul with failures coming as often as success. And someone with baseball experience needs to evaluate Dipoto, Holland, and Dan Wilson. Their collective performance is not good enough. The drop off from last year is simply embarrassing and not acceptable. It’s not a bad thing to send Emerson down this early in his career as his hitting could use a tune up at the AAA level. He is hurting the team. And lastly if he is willing, it would be nice to have Edgar at the forefront of the hitting management. The current arrangement is sadly lacking.
Speaking of shortstops, when is someone going to talk to Colt Emerson and tell him to stop swinging at fastballs high out of the strike zone? Time after time after time.