The Mariners didn’t make a splashy deadline run, and ESPN MLB Insider Buster Olney thinks that was the point.
On the latest edition of the “Refuse to Lose Territory” podcast, Olney weighed in on Seattle’s moves, which included adding reliever Seranthony Dominguez from the Chicago White Sox and outfielder Taylor Ward from the Baltimore Orioles while shipping veteran starter Luis Castillo out in the deal that brought Dominguez in. He said he handed the Mariners a “B” grade, with the contract relief from Castillo carrying a lot of weight in that assessment.
Castillo was due nearly $8 million for the rest of this season and more than $20 million next season, and Olney pointed to that as a major part of Seattle’s calculus.
“And look, in terms of addition, just getting Taylor Ward, he could help them. He's not having this sort of dynamic power season that he had with the Angels, where he hit, what, last year, 36 home runs.
He's drawn a lot of walks.
But, you know, the Mariners could have a water torture offense: like, this lineup that they have, guys on base consistently, and then when someone puts the ball in play. If they get the middle of that order going, they can be better.
I thought it was a proportional response. Last year, Jerry Dipoto was very aggressive in adding Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suárez because they were playing well.
Like, there was a team that you could bet on. They're not playing well, so they made a moderate improvement to their team.
And I think that, given how they're playing, I think that's kind of what they earned.
I mean, think about it. The Red Sox, on the flip side, they're playing great.
They're 30-5, and so their front office said, "You know what? We're going to back up the players.
We're going to be aggressive. We're going to add before the trade deadline."
And that's what those players earned. And I think the Mariners players earned this sort of moderate, tepid response to how they've been doing.”
Seattle enters Thursday at 56-59 after a 4-2 win over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday night, and the club is still firmly in the race. The Mariners are 2.5 games behind the Houston Astros in the American League West and sit just 1.0 game back in the hunt for the third and final wild card spot.
The next step comes Thursday afternoon, when Seattle faces the Tigers again at 1:10 p.m. PT. Framber Valdez will start for Detroit, with right-hander Bryce Miller taking the ball for the Mariners.
Once that series wraps, Seattle heads home for a three-game set against the Tampa Bay Rays. That weekend will also serve as the club’s 50th anniversary celebration, capped by Alex Rodriguez’s return to Seattle.
In Other News...
Mariners May Have Found Their Best Long Term Shortstop Answer
The Mariners spent part of the trade deadline doing the usual contending-club math: which upgrades were realistic, which ones were too expensive, and how far they were willing to push their roster to sharpen the run toward the postseason. Alongside their search for relief help, they also examined a few bigger-picture possibilities, including names like George Kirby and Emerson Hancock, which underscores how serious the front office was about exploring every lane it could find.
One of the more intriguing threads, though, was the interest in Angels shortstop Zach Neto, a player who fits the kind of long-term planning Seattle has to keep in mind as it maps out the 2027 season. The talks never really took off, but the fact the Mariners were already checking in suggests this may not be a one-time idea, especially with offseason decisions likely to shape where Colt Emerson eventually fits on the infield. [Read more 🡒]
Kyle Seager's Mariners Absence Revives A Franchise Identity Debate
Kyle Seagers decision not to make Seattles 50th anniversary celebration at T-Mobile Park has stirred up more than a little reflection around a franchise that has long wrestled with how it honors its own. Seager said he has a prior commitment with his sons travel baseball team in Cooperstown, and the explanation matters because his departure from the Mariners never quite settled cleanly in the first place. Even with the awkwardness that marked the end of his tenure, this absence is not being framed as a snub of the organization, which only makes the conversation around it feel more complicated.
For Mariners fans, Seagers place in the clubs history is part of a larger debate about what kind of player gets remembered most vividly and how much recognition he deserves compared with other top names in team history. His career accomplishments stack up with the best the franchise has produced, but the way the final chapters unfolded still colors how he is viewed. A celebration built around half a century of baseball in Seattle inevitably invites those comparisons, and Seagers nonappearance adds one more layer to a familiar question: which Mariners truly become part of the teams identity, and which ones remain just outside the frame? [Read more 🡒]
Former Mariner Ben Williamsons Seattle Return Just Took A Brutal Turn
Ben Williamsons return to Seattle was supposed to be one of those small but meaningful series storylines, the kind Mariners fans circle when a former player comes back through T-Mobile Park in a different uniform. Instead, the ex-Mariners third baseman, now with the Tampa Bay Rays, is dealing with a right hamstring injury that came just before the clubs scheduled trip to face Seattle, putting his homecoming on hold for the moment.
Williamson was traded to Tampa Bay in the 2026 offseason as part of a three-team deal, so this week had been set up as a first look back at the player the Mariners sent out of town. The injury has already pushed him onto the injured list, and his status for the series is in doubt, which means the reunion Seattle expected may end up waiting longer than anyone hoped. [Read more 🡒]