Trade Deadline Plan? Sure, why not.

[Seattle or Bust]

DFA: Donovan Solano, Mitch Garver, Eduard Bazardo, Trent Thornton.

Option: Ben Williamson, Miles Mastruboner.

Call Up: Cole Young, Harry Ford, Matt Cronin.

Trades:

- M's trade SP Emerson Hancock, OF Dom Canzone to the Orioles for OF Ryan O'Hearn - When Gilbert, Kirby, Miller are back in 2 weeks Hancock will again be the odd man out with Evans clearly being the better option as a depth starter. Taveras is a fine defensive outfielder and he gives you some speed on the base paths but he shouldn't be starting for any contending team. O'Hearn is hitting .304/.394/.522/.916 with 7 homers and is in the final year of his contract. The Orioles look like they're going to have a lost year and they need young starters in the worst of ways.

- M's trade SP Logan Evans, SP Jeter Martinez to the Brewers for 1B Rhys Hoskins, RP Trevor Megill - The M's have a lot of pitching depth that will be in AAA in 2026 making Evans expendable... namely Morales and Garcia with Cijntje knocking on the the door as well. The Brewers have probably the worst starting pitching depth in the minors of any farm in baseball. Hoskins is hitting .286/.392/.451/.844 and is also in the final year of his contract. Megill is an absolute stud, is getting expensive for the Brewers, and would be the perfect setup for Munoz.

Lineup:

1. Julio Rodriguez CF --- (.236/.318/.408/.726, 7 HR, 20 RBI, 115 OPS+)
2. Jorge Polanco DH ---- (.324/.372/.649/1.021, 10 HR, 29 RBI, 197 OPS+)
3. Cal Raleigh C --------- (.250/.371/.571/.941, 14 HR, 30 RBI, 176 OPS+)
4. Ryan O'Hearn RF ----- (.304/.394/.522/.916, 7 HR, 14 RBI, 164 OPS+)
5. Randy Arozarena LF - (.236/.382/.410/.792, 5 HR, 20 RBI, 136 OPS+)
6. Rhys Hoskins 1B ------ (.286/.392/.451/.844, 5 HR, 24 RBI, 136 OPS+)
7. Dylan Moore 3B ------ (.290/.346/.538/.884, 7 HR, 13 RBI, 159 OPS+)
8. Cole Young 2B -------- (NIL)
9. JP Crawford SS ------ (.278/.385/.389/.774, 4 HR, 19 RBI, 132 OPS+)

Bench: Leody Tavares OF, Leo Rivas 2B/SS, Rowdy Tellez 1B/DH (likely DFA if Raley is back), C/OF Harry Ford.

Staff:

1. Logan Gilbert ------- (2.37 ERA, 155 ERA+)
2. Bryan Woo ---------- (2.84 ERA, 129 ERA+)
3. George Kirby ------- (NIL)
4. Luis Castillo -------- (3.65 ERA, 100 ERA+)
5. Bryce Miller -------- (5.22 ERA, 70 ERA +)

Relievers:

Closer:
Andres Munoz --------- (0.00 ERA, 200 ERA+?)

Setup:
Trevor Megill ---------- (2.92 ERA, 145 ERA+)
Matt Brash ------------ (0.00 ERA, no ERA+)
Gabe Spierer --------- (2.70 ERA, 138 ERA +)

Long:
Carlos Vargas --------- (3.86 ERA, 96 ERA+)
Collin Snider ---------- (3.98 ERA, 89 ERA+)
Casey Legumina ------ (1.93 ERA, 194 ERA+)
Matt Cronin ----------- (NIL)

[harmony]

Should the Mariners trade away pitchers to assume the balance of Ryan O'Hearn's 2025 salary of $8 million and the balance of Rhys Hoskins' 2025 salary of $18 million (plus the $4 million buyout of the 2026 team option) when the M's are currently tied for second in the American League with an OPS+ of 116 and 11th in the league with an ERA+ of 97?

[Seattle or Bust]

Should the Mariners trade away pitchers to assume the balance of Ryan O'Hearn's 2025 salary of $8 million and the balance of Rhys Hoskins' 2025 salary of $18 million (plus the $4 million buyout of the 2026 team option) when the M's are currently tied for second in the American League with an OPS+ of 116 and 11th in the league with an ERA+ of 97?

Can you comment like a human?

[Seattle or Bust]

To answer your question that per usual points solely to stats and 0 context, the M's starting pitching staff is set when healthy. They are going to give Miller every chance to recover when he's back and Evans/Hancock will be right back in AAA as soon as Gilbert and Kirby are back.

They aren't "trading pitching"... they are trading starting pitchers who don't have a roster spot in favor of filling big holes in their lineup.

A better question would be, should the M's assume they can keep up their offensive performance with black holes in the lineup when they can assume a bounce back from a pitching staff that has lacked George Kirby and Bryce Miller at his best?

RF: -0.9 bWAR - 25th in baseball.
1B: -0.9 bWAR - 24th in baseball.

Yes, I'd pay about $12 million to fix those positions.

[D-train]

Probably the biggest benefit is all the addition by subtraction but adding two solid bats to the lineup would be huge. I like it.

[desbcoach]

I can see getting rid of one of Hancock and Evan’s but not both , you need backup and if both gone we don’t have it

[Pharmabro]

SOB "- M's trade SP Emerson Hancock, OF Dom Canzone to the Orioles for OF Ryan O'Hearn - When Gilbert, Kirby, Miller are back in 2 weeks Hancock will again be the odd man out with Evans clearly being the better option as a depth starter. Taveras is a fine defensive outfielder and he gives you some speed on the base paths but he shouldn't be starting for any contending team. O'Hearn is hitting .304/.394/.522/.916 with 7 homers and is in the final year of his contract. The Orioles look like they're going to have a lost year and they need young starters in the worst of ways."

I like it he is a rental and so the cost should not be anything like a Manny, or Soto level type of deal. Hancock is an interesting choice: former top 10 pick, former top 100, A prospect that had his stuff tick down but recently hit 98 and shut down an elite team in San Diego.

Ryan O. reminds me a lot of Luke Raley. Lefty 1B, OF, DH who can give you a 120-130 OPS+ bat I don't buy
the 36-game sample of 160 OPS+ as an expectation but I could see giving up a mid top 30 prospect for him.

[seattlefan-daBronx]

I cannot understand this organization.
What is their obsession with bottom of the barrel washed out hitters?

We still have Solano and Garver and now Taveras on this squad and they refuse to play Rivas vs. Masterbogus???

If you're not going to call up Harry Ford who is going to be your backup catcher next year anyway why not trade him then at the deadline?

Our luck has been great to this point with the bottom of the lineup but talent will win out during the dog days of summer.

We need imho a legit bat with power outfielder maybe and a bullpen arm to bridge the gap between our starters and Brash/Munoz.

At a bare minimum. I also like Seattle or Bust' idea.

[DavidGee24]

Threads like these always crack me up because neither team has even put a first thought into this, nor will they. Leadoff from the Times Forum will for eternity be the only one to ever call a specific trade before it was an idea (Carlos Silva for Milton Bradley).

[Donn Beach]

It's fun to imagine pulling off a trade, and the possibility of trading for someone like O'Hearn. But the deal for me is teams these days know each others system like they know their own, that's the key. I really don't think it's about offering another team a package as much as it's then surveying the mariners system and asking for do and so. That's where negotiations would begin. The orioles have followed these players as much as the mariners. They are going to know who they want. It's not going to be about what's offered. That's why you have th6 head scratching trades, it comes down to what the team wants