The Mariners fell below the .500 mark today, as their 6-5 loss at Guardian dropped Seattle’s record to 42-43. Despite the poor record, the M’s are still behind the Rangers for the AL West lead, and the tight race has the Astros and A’s within two games of first place. The Mariners have the team’s only positive run differential, although there are four more runs scored than allowed.
After making it to Game 7 of the ALCS last year, the Mariners have consistently been deadline buyers this year with nothing short of a complete collapse. That approach hasn’t changed, and with the trade deadline more than a month away, Adam Jude of the Seattle Times writes that the M’s are already scouring the market for a “proven right-handed hitter and relief pitcher.”
Finally, Jude writes that the club is considering trying to put together a “high pen” for relief pitching. Between the lockdown bullpen and Seattle’s good rotation, the team may look to prevent runs as the best ticket to October success, especially since the Mariners’ offense has been so weak. The Mariners entered Sunday’s action ranked seventh in bullpen ERA (3.53), eighth in walk rate (8.9%), and a respectable 12th in strikeout rate (23%), but also with just 265 relief innings pitched. That’s the fewest second innings of relief by any team in the league, as a strong rotation helped keep the pen fresh.
Andres Munoz he allowed an untimely home run and struggled with his control, resulting in a 4.91 ERA over 29 1/3 innings. Munoz’s other peripherals remain solid and his SIERA is impressive at 2.54, so it appears the Mariners won’t consider anyone who could replace Munoz as a closer. Getting more swings and misses seems necessary, as most of Seattle’s pitchers have below-average strikeout rates.
Of course, how much trade money the Mariners are willing to invest in their search may depend on whether or not the M’s feel they already have answers within the organization. The team’s unofficial six-man rotation will be reduced to four by the playoffs, so two of the team’s starting six players (perhaps Emerson Hancock again Luis Castillo) will be reduced to the work of bulls. Seattle also has two top prospects for the game Ryan Sloan again Late Anderson both pitch Double-A ball, and it’s widely thought that both could make their MLB debuts as relievers before 2026 ends.
As previously noted, Seattle’s offense has struggled throughout this season, and they are dead last in baseball with an 80 wRC+ against left-handed pitching. The Mariners are generally heavy on left-handed bats to begin with, and right-handed hitters as well Victor Robles again Rob Refsnyder they haven’t been productive against southpaws.
The new right-handed bat could replace Robles entirely, as Jude writes that the Mariners “would like to find someone to join the right field/mixed hitter platoon [Dominic] The Canzone again Luke Raley.” I would suggest that a right-handed batsman is a necessity, just like this JP Crawford, Cole Young, Colt Emersonand the wounded Brendan Donovan all hit from the left side. Since Emerson is a rookie and Young is in his second MLB season, having a bench right fielder could help ease the pressure on these youngsters during the playoff run.
Jude raises by guessing four batters to the right (Taylor Ward, Royce Lewis, Spencer Steerand even Seiya Suzuki) likely to be equal, even if they are all day players rather than club bats. Then again, the Mariners are clearly in winning mode right now and baseball president Jerry Dipoto has never been shy about making major trades. While a team-wide trade may not be possible, almost anything else could be on the table as the M’s try to both make the playoffs and eventually reach the World Series.
