The Seattle Mariners have a pretty clear problem: the lineup needs help. They also have something to work with on the other side of the ledger, because the pitching staff has enough depth to make a trade for a bat feel realistic.
That’s where the Athletics come in, and more specifically, Carlos Cortes.
MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand pointed to the A’s as a possible trade partner on Friday, noting that the club has a crowd of outfielders and a chance to turn one into pitching depth. In his view, Cortes stands out as the movable piece.
"It may seem odd to suggest that the Athletics could deal away a controllable outfielder, but with Tyler Soderstrom, Lawrence Butler, Denzel Clarke, Henry Bolte and Colby Thomas on the roster, there is an opportunity to trade someone such as the 29-year-old Cortes to bring back some much-needed pitching depth," MLB.com's Mark Feinsand wrote in a new article on Friday. "Cortes has seven home runs, 25 RBIs and a .787 OPS in 78 games this season, ranking in the top 11 percent of the league in strikeout rate."
That production would fit into Seattle’s lineup in a pretty straightforward way. Cortes has been a useful hitter this season, and the numbers suggest he could step into a role without forcing the Mariners to reshuffle everything around him.
There’s also a wrinkle that doesn’t show up in the basic stat line: Cortes is a switch-thrower.
He can throw both left-handed and right-handed. He bats left-handed in the outfield, but he also learned to throw right-handed while growing up, which gives him the ability to be used around the infield in theory.
The Athletics haven’t leaned on that much, and it wouldn’t be the headline reason to acquire him before the deadline. Still, it’s a useful extra tool, especially if a team wants another option for late-game moves.
Seattle and Oakland may not be the cleanest trade partners since they’re division rivals, but there’s enough here to make the idea worth considering.
In Other News...
Padres Already Look Stuck With The Mason Miller Gamble
A.J. Preller has never been shy about pushing his chips in, and the Mason Miller move fit the same aggressive pattern that has defined his time steering the Padres. San Diego got the elite closer it wanted, and Miller has been excellent, but the price of doing business keeps landing back on the same question: how much of the organizations future can one front office spend before the bill comes due?
The Padres are still trying to build a roster that can chase a title this season, yet the farm system has thinned out enough that each big swing feels harder to absorb. With the club already carrying the weight of past all-in moves, the Miller gamble is looking less like a one-off and more like another reminder that Prellers boldest trades can solve one problem while making the next one even tougher. [Read more 🡒]
Three A's Suddenly Carry Huge Pressure Against The Twins
The Athletics have gone 40 days without winning a three-game series, a skid that has quietly dragged on the season and made every small step forward feel more important than it should. Now they head into a matchup with the Twins leaning on a reshaped rotation and a few young bats trying to give the lineup some life, with recent call-up Tommy White offering one of the few clear bright spots and Jeffrey Springs showing enough in his latest outing to suggest the staff can still piece together competitive starts.
Henry Bolte, meanwhile, has been fighting to find his footing during a rough stretch at the plate, which only adds to the pressure on a group that does not have much margin for error. With Aaron Civale traded and J.T. Ginn gone, the A's are asking Jacob Lopez, Jack Perkins and Springs to help stabilize things while the offense searches for consistency, and this series has a chance to say a lot about whether that mix is starting to turn a corner or just keeping the problems on hold a little longer. [Read more 🡒]