The Mariners are still looking for a reason to feel better after another lopsided loss, this time a 7-2 defeat to the Rays. But the MLB Draft arrives today at 10am PST, and that gives Seattle a fresh topic to chew on while the calendar keeps moving.
There’s no shortage of draft chatter around the club. Max Ellingsen’s coverage is there for anyone trying to get up to speed before the Mariners are on the clock, and the question hanging over the day is simple: which name has Seattle circled?
One thing the team is making clear is that it isn’t locking itself into anything. Mariners scouting director Scott Hunter said the club is keeping its options open heading into this year’s draft.
There was also a reminder from earlier in the week that Manny Acta claimed the WBC led to Cal Raleigh’s injury.
The latest Meet at the Mitt podcast dug into the draft board as well, breaking down the top options for the Mariners and who the crew wants the team to take with its first selection.
Elsewhere around baseball, the Cardinals locked up rookie shortstop JJ Wetherholt on an eight-year, $112.5 million extension. The trade market has also started to stir, with the Twins landing right-hander Tommy Nance from the Blue Jays and the Pirates adding infielder Jacob Gonzalez and lefty Brandon Eisert from the White Sox in a deal that sent left-hander Jaden Woods and the No. 34 pick in this year’s draft to Chicago.
The All-Star Game replacement list grew too, with Cardinals catcher Iván Herrera, Rays right-hander Nick Martinez, Red Sox outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela, and White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami all getting the call. Murakami and Kyle Schwarber also became the final additions to the Home Run Derby field, filling out the eight-player lineup for Monday night.
Not everything went smoothly for the clubs trying to play yesterday. The Red Sox and Mets nearly didn’t get their game in after Boston’s team plane got stuck in Chicago before the matchup.
On the injury front, Shohei Ohtani was scratched from yesterday’s start and will miss the All-Star Game because of a left knee injury. Rangers right-hander Jacob deGrom will miss his next start and could end up on the IL with a glute strain. And right-hander Chris Paddack, who had been struggling to land with a team this year, has signed with the KBO’s Samsung Lions.
In Other News...
Mariners Waste Another Winnable Game And Fans Know The Problem
The Mariners had one of those nights that felt winnable until it slowly slipped away, falling 6-1 to the Rays after scoring first in the second inning. Logan Gilbert still gave Seattle a notable moment by reaching 1,000 career strikeouts, but the bigger story was the familiar lack of support around him as the offense never turned that early lead into anything lasting.
Seattle kept putting itself in position to do more, then came up empty when the game asked for a timely hit. The Mariners repeatedly left chances on the table with runners in scoring position, and once Tampa Bay started stacking runs later in the game, the margin for error disappeared fast, leaving another loss that fit too neatly with the same frustration fans have been seeing for weeks. [Read more 🡒]
Mariners Day 1 Draft Haul Will Spark A Familiar Debate
The Mariners came out of Day 1 of the 2026 MLB Draft with a familiar kind of haul: four collegiate players, one in each of the first four rounds, and the kind of profile that usually gets Seattle talking about polish versus upside. With the high school market thin and bonus-pool maneuvering never easy, the club leaned into players who could move quickly and fit the organizations preference for cleaner evaluations, a strategy that showed up in the selections of LSU outfielder Jake Brown, Cincinnati right-hander Nate Taylor and UNC Wilmington third baseman Trevor Lucas.
It is the sort of draft class that tends to spark the same old debate around this team, because the Mariners did add players the scouting staff spoke positively about, but they also passed on the kind of long-range lottery tickets that can reshape a system. Brown brings one kind of intrigue, Taylor another, and Lucas gives Seattle another infield name to track, but the real question is whether this crop reflects a safe approach or the start of something more ambitious once the draft board gets deeper. [Read more 🡒]
Mariners Just Made A Deadline Choice Fans Have Feared
The Mariners have spent much of the season looking like a club built around pitching depth, but that strength is starting to shape the trade conversation in a way plenty of fans have dreaded. Sitting 47-49 and 1.5 games behind Texas in the American League West, Seattle is being viewed as a team that could use the deadline to patch obvious holes rather than stand pat, with the front office weighing a move that would bring in a back-end reliever and a right-handed bat.
What makes the idea so jarring is the surplus that has pushed the Mariners into this corner. With a six-man rotation and a wave of pitching prospects on the way, Seattle has more starters than rotation spots, and that logjam is creating real pressure to cash in from a position of strength. The question now is not whether the Mariners have arms to deal, but which one they are willing to move if they decide to chase help for the stretch run. [Read more 🡒]