With the 2026 All-Star Game on deck for 5 PM, the baseball calendar has already delivered one big moment: a fun Home Run Derby that ended with St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Jordan Walker beating Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber in a dramatic finish.
The All-Star stage is also where Randy Arozarena is taking stock of the moment. He’s in his third All-Star Game, and he talked about what that means to him as he heads into the second half of the season.
For the Mariners, the focus is already drifting toward the trade deadline. According to the latest USA Today predictions, Seattle is willing to move one of its starting pitchers if it can land a back-end reliever and a right-handed bat.
Elsewhere around the league, the starting lineups for tonight’s MLB All-Star Game have been announced.
There was also a major contract note on the amateur side, as Chicago White Sox No. 1 draft pick Roch Cholowsky signed for a record-setting $10.35 million bonus.
In Oakland, the Athletics made a coaching change, announcing that pitching coach Scott Emerson has been relieved of his duties and that bullpen coach Dan Hubbs will serve as interim pitching coach for the rest of the season.
San Francisco Giants infielder Luis Arraez is hoping he can stay at second base if he gets dealt at the deadline.
And on the labor front, multiple MLB All-Stars are reportedly against a salary cap and believe there is still time to reach a deal with the league before the labor contract expires.
In Other News...
Randy Arozarena Keeps Forcing Mariners Fans Into The Same Debate
Randy Arozarena has spent much of this season doing what the Mariners hoped when they brought him in: supplying impact offense and giving the lineup a jolt when it needs one. He has been Seattles lone All-Star representative and one of the clubs most important bats, the kind of player who can change a game with a swing and make the middle of the order look deeper than it otherwise would.
But every time Arozarena puts together another big night, the same old conversation seems to follow. A near-miss on a catchable foul ball against the Rays, then the next pitch turning into a home run, only sharpened the scrutiny around his effort on the margins, and that is before even getting to the questions about whether a nagging hamstring issue should push him toward more designated-hitter work. For a Mariners team that leans on his production, the debate is not going away anytime soon. [Read more 🡒]
Mariners First Half Report Card Delivers One Verdict Fans Feared Most
The first half left the Mariners in a familiar and frustrating place, hovering just below .500 while still clinging to the American Leagues third wild card spot. The rough edges were obvious: the offense spent most of the season near the bottom of the league in the categories that matter most, and the defense did not do enough to offset it. For a club built to contend, the split between a competitive record and underwhelming run support has made every series feel like a balancing act.
What has kept Seattle afloat is the rotation, which has been one of the better groups in the league by almost any measure. The starters have given the Mariners a chance most nights, and several arms have turned in strong individual first halves to keep the staff from being dragged down by the lineups struggles. The question now is whether that pitching can hold up long enough for the offense to find something closer to the level this team needs in the second half. [Read more 🡒]
Mariners Suddenly Have A High-Stakes Prospect Debate On Their Hands
The Futures Game offered a tidy snapshot of why the Mariners suddenly have a real pitching conversation on their hands. Kade Anderson got the American League start, while Ryan Sloan came out of the bullpen and showed the kind of arm talent that keeps evaluators circling back to him. Anderson has been the steadier of the two in the minors, piling up one of the best run-prevention marks in the system, while Sloan keeps flashing the high-end velocity and ceiling that make him easy to dream on.
For Seattle, the question is no longer whether either pitcher belongs on the radar. It is how aggressively the club wants to push two prospects who are already making noise against top competition, and whether the timing is right to expose them to a major league bullpen race when the margins get tight later in the season. Anderson looks close on performance, Sloan looks tempting on pure stuff, and the organization now has to decide how much it wants to gamble on upside versus patience. [Read more 🡒]