July 1, 2025 at 9:52
By
https://www.seattletimes.com/author/adam-jude/Seattle Times staff reporter
The calendar has flipped to July, and major-league sources have indicated that the Mariners are planning to be one of the most active teams in the trade maket this month.
The market has been at a virtual standstill since the Boston Red Sox stunned the industry by sending slugger Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants two weeks ago. Instead of spurring a flurry of action, that trade has been widely viewed as an unusual one-off.
Trade activity is expected to remain stagnant for at least another two weeks as teams hunker down for final preparations ahead of the MLB draft, beginning July 13, and industry sources have suggested there might not be clarity around the league — Who’s buying? Who’s selling? — until the final days leading up to MLB’s July 31 trade deadline.
The Mariners have made it known to other teams that they “will be ready” to engage when the market does heat up.
The Mariners are prioritizing upgrades at the corner infield positions. They’ve also made it known they would like to upgrade the bullpen with one additional arm, industry sources say.
In an ideal scenario, the Mariners would like to add multiple players, similar to what they did ahead of the deadline last summer when they acquired left fielder Randy Arozarena, first baseman/designated hitter Justin Turner and veteran reliever Yimi Garcia.
The Mariners formally released veteran first baseman Rowdy Tellez last week, and the club is content to employ a Luke Raley/Donovan Solano platoon to man the position.
For now.
Solano’s recent hot streak has been a revelation, and Raley has shown he can be a viable middle-of-the-order presence.
And yet, Raley is more comfortable in the outfield, and the 37-year-old Solano doesn’t project as an everyday player, even in the short term, which means the Mariners could benefit from a more proven first baseman in the season’s second half.
It’s a similar situation at third base, where the Mariners have been pleased with rookie Ben Williamson, who was thrust to the big leagues just 20 months after being drafted and after just two weeks in Triple-A.
Williamson has been lauded for his work ethic and he’s given the Mariners everything they could have hoped for defensively. And while he’s been competitive hitting at the bottom of the lineup — batting .254 in 220 plate appearances — he does have the third-lowest OPS (. 594) of any regular third baseman in baseball since his debut.
This is where the market gets murky, because a dozen teams still appear to be straddling the line between buying and selling.
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The Mariners hold the third and final wild-card spot in the American League, and six teams behind them are within 5.5 games.
In the National League, four teams currently outside the playoff picture are within four games of the final wild-card position.
Only a handful of struggling clubs are out of playoff contention — the Colorado Rockies, the Chicago White Sox, the (West Sacramento) Athletics, the Miami Marlins and the Washington Nationals. Of those teams, only Colorado third baseman Ryan McMahon stands out as a fit for the Mariners, but the Rockies have in recent years been notoriously stubborn about trading in general.
Teams like the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Baltimore Orioles and the Kansas City Royals — in the middle of a four-game series in Seattle this week — could hold great sway in determining how robust the market becomes later this month.
Arizona’s Josh Naylor and Baltimore’s Ryan O’Hearn are two first basemen who’ve been often linked to Seattle in early trade speculation. Industry sources have suggested the asking price for first basemen is “high” after preliminary trade inquiries.
Kansas City’s Vinnie Pasquantino and Cleveland’s Carlos Santana are two other names worth monitoring at first base.
The Royals recently promoted their top prospect, Jac Caglianone, a first baseman who has moved to right field. If the Royals view Caglianone as their long-term first baseman, could that make Pasquantino an option in the trade market?
At third base, a reunion with Arizona third baseman Eugenio Suarez remains an appealing option in Seattle. Suarez and Naylor are both free agents after this season.
The Boston Red Sox, meanwhile, might be baseball’s most intriguing team leading up to the trade deadline.
The Red Sox have a 5-8 record since trading Devers. Their playoff odds have shrunk to 17.4% via FanGraphs and they’re clearly building around a core of tantalizing prospects.
All that considered, would they be tempted to trade star third baseman Alex Bregman?
There are complicating factors surrounding that question. For one, how would Boston fans react to such a deal so soon after the Devers trade? For another, Bregman has been sidelined for the past six weeks with a quad injury — will he be healthy in the second half of the season? And, yes, his three-year, $120-million contract would likely loom large in any trade discussion, but Bregman does have an opt-out clause he can exercise this winter.A Bregman trade seems like a longshot, but if Boston does make him available sources have said the Mariners would be interested.
Yes.
The Mariners have one of the best farm systems in the sport — with nine prospects ranked in Baseball America’s Top 100, more than any other team — and club president Jerry Dipoto has shown he’s willing to package prospects for proven major-league talent. Over the previous three seasons, the M’s have executed two of the sport’s biggest summer trades, first Luis Castillo in 2022 and then Arozarena in 2024.
The Mariners have a premium trade chip in Harry Ford, one of baseball’s top catching prospects who is tearing up Triple-A pitching and looking more and more major-league ready by the day.
Ford is blocked by the herculean shadow of Cal Raleigh in Seattle, and there’s little incentive for the Mariners to promote Ford to the majors before the July 31 deadline.
Among other top prospects, Dipoto has historically taken the stance that no one is “untouchable,” and industry sources say that hasn’t changed.
Just as notable, Mariners ownership has, according to sources, indicated it’s willing to increase payroll to facilitate a summertime trade, as it has done in recent years.
Adam Jude:
mailto:ajude@seattletimes.com. Adam Jude covers the Mariners and other teams for The Seattle Times.
