The Seattle Mariners are currently 42-40 and sit six-and-a-half games back from the Houston Astros for first place in the American League West but hold the third AL Wild Card spot.
Typically, the Mariners are a strong pitching team with a mediocre offense. This year, it’s the complete opposite.
Slugging catcher and Most Valuable Player candidate Cal Raleigh has been extraordinary this season and is on pace to shatter offensive catcher records.
Offensively, the Mariners rank in the upper half of Major League Baseball in most categories. From a pitching standpoint, Seattle is in the bottom half of MLB in most categories.
For Seattle to become real contenders this season, president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto will have to make some moves at the trade deadline.
Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report devised a trade proposal that would send a former All-Star starting pitcher to Seattle.
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Seattle acquires right-hander Mitch Keller, utility man Isiah Kiner-Falefa, outfielder Tommy Pham and cash from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for outfielder Lazaro Montes (Seattle No. 2) and outfielder Jared Sundstrom (Seattle No. 23).
“The M’s already blew a golden opportunity last year when mediocre offense squandered an elite pitching campaign,” wrote Miller. “But now they need to add pitching to make sure they don’t also waste Cal Raleigh’s historic season.”
This move gives the Mariners a solid starter for the next few years and depth options for a postseason run.
“Unloading Keller’s future salary ($16.9M in 2026, $18.4M in 2027, $20.4M in 2028) better enables Pittsburgh to hand Paul Skenes a blank check in what should be ongoing long-term extension negotiations.
“Doing so while getting back a pair of promising outfield prospects would be huge, as Pittsburgh’s outfield situation—both currently in the bigs and down on the farm—isn’t exactly good.”
The Pirates need any assets they can get at this point. Pittsburgh continues their rebuild and Seattle gets their man.
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