The Mariners’ season is sliding toward the finish line, and the ugly part isn’t just the results. It’s how badly the defense has dragged the whole operation down.
Seattle sits with its tragic number at 2, which means elimination from playoff contention could come as soon as Sunday afternoon. And with the way things have unraveled, it’s hard not to think the front office should already be mapping out 2027 with the glove work front and center.
The numbers are brutal. The Mariners are at -53 Outs Above Average, the second-worst figure since the stat was introduced in 2021.
Somehow, only Josh Naylor is in positive territory at +1 OAA this season. For a team that has built its contention plan around run prevention, that’s a glaring problem.
There isn’t much obvious help coming from inside the organization, either. Julio Rodríguez is expected to be better in center field next year, and Colt Emerson still looks like the long-term answer at shortstop. Beyond that, the path is murky.
So if Seattle is going to clean this up, the offseason trade market may be the best place to start. With Luis Castillo already gone and Randy Arozarena and J.P.
Crawford set to come off the books, the Mariners should have money to work with this winter. That could mean taking on someone else’s contract or simply using more flexibility in free agency.
But given Jerry Dipoto’s track record, trades feel like the more natural route.
One name that fits the bill is Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn. FanSided’s Pat Ragazzo has already pointed to Winn as a trade candidate worth more attention, and the appeal is obvious.
He looked like a rising star after a 5-WAR season in 2024, even if his bat has slipped since then. St.
Louis could also have a path to maximize JJ Wetherholt by moving him to shortstop, which makes Winn easier to imagine on the block.
The defense is the selling point. Winn has posted +39 OAA over the last two seasons, making him one of the game’s premier defenders.
Seattle could control him through 2029, which only adds to the appeal. The fit is intriguing enough that a deal built around Emerson Hancock is at least worth discussing, especially with the Mariners likely to deal from their rotation surplus and the Cardinals needing pitching.
The catch is that Winn is a shortstop through and through. That matters because Adam Jude of The Seattle Times wrote on Saturday that Seattle could be in the market for a “veteran shortstop” this winter, but the cleaner long-term answer is still Emerson eventually taking that job and keeping it.
That’s why Joey Ortiz makes sense as a different kind of target. He can handle third base at a high level and also move to shortstop without much drop-off.
Through four MLB seasons, Ortiz has logged +19 OAA at third and +16 at short. He’s 28, he’s more of a supporting piece in Milwaukee, and he’s about to get pricier through arbitration in 2027.
That’s usually when teams start listening, and Seattle should have enough prospect capital to get in the conversation.
Then there’s the outfield, where the Mariners have a real left-field question on their hands once Randy Arozarena is out of the picture. Arozarena has been fun to watch since arriving in 2024, but any ball hit his way in left has been a nerve-wracking event.
Sometimes it works out. Sometimes it really doesn’t.
Julio Rodríguez is locked into center, but the rest of the alignment is wide open. Brendan Donovan could end up in left on an everyday basis.
The club could decide it’s ready for Michael Arroyo and/or Lazaro Montes. Dominic Canzone could be a DH-only type.
Nothing is settled.
If the Mariners want the simplest answer, Steven Kwan is the obvious defensive play in left. He’s won four straight Gold Gloves and looks on track for a fifth this year.
The range is there, and the arm might be even better. He’d also bring a bat-to-ball profile that has helped him build a career-best .376 OBP.
Kwan has been in trade rumors before, and that figure is only likely to pick up again as he heads toward his free-agent walk year in 2027. For a Mariners club that badly needs to tighten up the defense, he checks a lot of boxes.
In Other News...
Mariners Uniform Debate Just Got A Lot Harder To Ignore
The Rays decision to revive their road gray look in 2027 only sharpens a uniform quirk that has already put Seattle in an unusual spot. Under MLBs current 4+1 setup, the Mariners are now the only team without a road gray option, a distinction that stands out even more when the rest of their closet is already full.
Seattle is still working with five different looks, from its home whites and navy alternates to the teal, Steelheads and City Connect uniforms, and that variety came after the Sunday cream set was removed last offseason. So while plenty of clubs shuffle through familiar gray road threads, the Mariners are left with a more modern mix and a question that may not go away anytime soon. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Are Starting To Feel Better About That Brendan Donovan Trade
A trade that looked like a clean win-now move for Seattle has started to look a little different on the other side, as the Cardinals continue to see early returns from the deal that sent Brendan Donovan to the Mariners in a three-team swap. St. Louis came away with Jurrangelo Cijntje, Tai Peete, Colton Ledbetter and two draft picks, a haul that has given the organization more to track than just the big-league name it moved out.
Peete, in particular, has given the Cardinals something tangible to point to after a strong run at Double-A Springfield, capped by a five-hit game in the Texas League Championship Series. Donovan, meanwhile, has been limited to 39 games for Seattle this season because of injuries, which only adds to the sense that this one may not be judged solely by the name value attached to it when it was made. [Read more 🡒]
Mariners May Have Moved On From Luis Castillo At Exactly The Right Time
When Seattle dealt Luis Castillo to the White Sox, the move looked like a clean basketball-style reset for a rotation in need of stability on Chicagos end and roster flexibility on Seattles side. The Mariners also got back multiple players along with salary relief, which made the trade feel like the kind of calculated midseason decision front offices make when they think they can improve the big picture without waiting around for a veteran arm to rediscover form.
The White Sox no longer have Castillo in the role they envisioned, moving him to the bullpen after seven rough outings and a sky-high ERA. Rookie David Sandlin has taken his spot in the rotation, and the change only sharpens the sense that Seattle may have sold at the right moment, before the wear and uncertainty around Castillo became harder to ignore. [Read more 🡒]