The Mariners have spent the week getting a harsh reminder of how quickly the trade deadline market can shift. One target disappeared when Curtis Mead came off the board on Saturday, and now injury news around Matt Shaw and Spencer Steer could tighten things even more.
Shaw has been on the injured list since late June with a sprained left wrist, and Meghan Montemurro of The Chicago Tribune reported on Friday that the 24-year-old won't be activated by the Chicago Cubs before the deadline passes at 3:00 p.m. PT next Monday.
Steer’s situation added another wrinkle on Sunday. He left the Cincinnati Reds’ game against the St.
Louis Cardinals after feeling pain in his right wrist on a swing, and Terry Francona said Steer didn’t fight him on coming out. “That makes me nervous,” he said.
That matters in Seattle because both players had been on the Mariners’ radar. Shaw and Speer just made our list of trade targets for a swap involving Emerson Hancock, and Adam Jude of The Seattle Times reported that Steer was of interest to Seattle as well. Steer is older than Shaw, but he brings more experience and a stronger bat against left-handed pitching.
None of that means a deal is impossible. Teams do trade for injured players, and the Boston Red Sox got a big payoff from Kyle Schwarber in the stretch run of the 2021 season. But the market is getting harder for Seattle to navigate.
The Mead trade raised the price on right-handed hitters, and the pool of available options is shrinking. The Mariners’ best path might be to talk with the San Francisco Giants, whether that means Casey Schmitt or Heliot Ramos. Both would come with volatility, and both would add even more swing-and-miss to a lineup that already strikes out plenty.
Beyond that, the choices get thin fast. The catching market is unusually deep, but that doesn’t really help Seattle.
Byron Buxton is reportedly off-limits for all but one potential suitor. George Springer could be worth a look, but there’s baggage there.
The same goes for expensive right-handed bats like Matt Chapman, Willy Adames and Luis Robert Jr.
At some point, the Mariners may decide the cleaner move is to lean harder into pitching. There has been talk of building a “super 'pen,” and that now looks more realistic than trying to patch the offense.
Seattle makes more sense than any other team as a landing spot for Mason Miller, who could be the prize of the deadline. Other bullpen arms in play include Adrian Morejon, Luke Weaver and Riley O'Brien.
That route would leave the offense exposed, but Jerry Dipoto already pointed in that direction during the All-Star break. If the lineup is going to survive, it likely has to come from Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez and Josh Naylor delivering as expected.
For Seattle, the one thing that can’t happen now is standing still. The season may have disappointed, but it’s not beyond repair yet.
In Other News...
Mariners Already Face An Uncomfortable Colt Emerson Reality
The Mariners made a rare long-term bet on Colt Emerson before he had taken a big-league at-bat, and the idea was simple enough: lock in a premium talent early and let the contract age alongside his development. Emerson debuted on May 17 and has been in the lineup regularly since, giving Seattle an immediate look at the player it was so eager to secure, even if the first stretch has not matched the level of expectation that came with the deal.
Offensively, Emerson has had the kind of uneven start that can make an early extension feel uncomfortable in the moment, with the strikeouts piling up and the production lagging behind what the Mariners hoped for. The encouraging part is that this is still a young player learning on the job, and Seattle has already seen one in-house example in Cole Young of how quickly a prospect can turn a rough rookie stretch into something much more convincing the following season. [Read more 🡒]
Mariners May Have Let The Perfect Right-Handed Bat Slip Away
Seattles search for a right-handed bat keeps circling back to the same problem: the Mariners need offense, and they need it from a side of the plate that can help balance a lineup that has too often looked too easy to pitch to. Curtis Mead would have fit that need cleanly, especially for a club still trying to dig out of an extended slump at the plate and looking for someone who could bring more consistent damage against left-handed pitching.
Meads breakout season has only sharpened the sense of what might have been. As he keeps producing in 2026, the Mariners are left to sort through the familiar frustration of watching a potential answer land elsewhere while their own offense continues to search for traction. There are other names out there, but the bigger issue remains the same: Seattle still has to find a right-handed hitter who can change the shape of the lineup, and that kind of fit is getting harder to miss. [Read more 🡒]
Tyler Locklears Rise Puts Mariners Fans Right Back In That Debate
Tyler Locklears name is circling back into the Mariners conversation for a reason. The former Seattle prospect, dealt to Arizona in the 2025 Eugenio Surez trade, has started to look like a different hitter since resurfacing with the Diamondbacks in 2026, and the early returns have been encouraging enough to make the old questions in Seattle feel fresh again. Arizona has given him a real runway at first base, something he never quite had with the Mariners, and he has already shown the kind of plate discipline that made him such an intriguing bat in the first place.
For Seattle fans, the debate is familiar: was Locklear always going to need a change of scenery, or did the organization simply run out of room for him? The Mariners got the October payoff they wanted from Surez, but Locklears progress is a reminder that the other side of that deal still matters, especially when a young hitter starts putting together better at-bats and looking more comfortable in a role that fits him. The next stretch will say a lot about whether this is just a hot start or the beginning of something more lasting. [Read more 🡒]