harmony wrote: ↑Thu Jun 11, 2026 3:57 pm
Would anyone trade Luke Raley or Dominic Canzone (and a prospect) to Arizona for righthand-hitting outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and lefty reliever A.J. Puk?
Interesting ideas, but as others have pointed out, I am not sure it is an offensive upgrade.
I don’t know exactly what the M’s will (or should) do at the trade deadline. The internet is buzzing with speculation (and hopeful optimism) that the M’s take a run at Skubal. Of course that would be fun, but totally unrealistic. It’s not the bold move Mariners are known for. And we’d give up a lot for a rental guy that only pitches one out of every 5 games. Besides, our starting rotation is solid and there is promising talent waiting in the wings. We don’t need another starter.
We need bullpen help - Brash is out likely weeks to months. Muñoz has blown games and is less effective than he used to be. We need late inning help.
We also need offense. We are solidly in the middle of the pack in virtually every offensive stat. Our pitching alone can’t win games. We need a solid DH and upgraded corner outfielder.
Based on this, here is who I would target (this isn’t a fully baked set of trade proposals so much as it’s just the guys I would target before the trade deadline based on our needs)
Byron Buxton: he’s already been mentioned in this thread, and I would take a hard run at him. He’d be expensive, but he has two years left on his contract and he’s playing as well now as he did in his 20s. He’s batting about .260 with 18 homers this year, and he is a stud defensively (assuming he would be willing to move to a corner outfielder position). Jed be a huge offensive spark.
Aroldis Chapman. We need a better closer. I would say we go after Josh Hader, but the Astros are unlikely to trade him to the M’s no matter how far behind they are. His name is also been tossed around on this board as a trade target, so I have nothing fresh to offer here. Just go get him. The Red Sox are open for business.
RHP Rico Garcia. This guy would be electric as our setup guy. He’s an absolute beast right now, so he’d be expensive to get. But he’s earning $900k and comes with several years of team control. But every team in need of bullpen help will be all over this guy, so expect a bidding war. Check out these stats:
2026 Stats: 29 G, 27.0 IP, 8 H (2 HR), 31 K, 9 BB, 1.00 ERA
The Mariners have the assets in terms of prospects, and the budget to accommodate all of these trades. And they could put them solidly in World Series contention. The question is whether they are a serious team, willing to make bold moves - or not.
