Why Mariners might be MLB’s most fascinating team at MLB trade deadline

As the Seattle Mariners wake up here in late July and canvass the American League standings, they ought to see one thing and one thing only:

Opportunity.

This is their time, and the Mariners’ front office appears to recognize that very point.

Which is why the Mariners just might be baseball’s most fascinating team approaching Thursday’s MLB trade deadline.

The Mariners, according to industry sources, are expecting to make another trade to bolster their playoff chances, be it a high-end reliever or a third baseman.

To be clear, though: The Mariners are not desperate.

Despite their maddeningly inconsistent play, the Mariners (57-51) entered Wednesday holding the third and final AL wild card spot, and they remain within striking distance of the Houston Astros in the AL West.

Everything is out there for them.

And while desperate isn’t the right description for the team’s deadline sensibility, urgency feels right.

And as the only MLB club that has never reached the World Series, shouldn’t that be the Mariners’ modus operandi at all times?

They are motivated to make a deal. They have as much prospect capital as any team. And they have specific needs in areas (bullpen, third base) where there is help available.

Just get it done, right?

The Mariners, to be fair, have already acquired the best bat (Josh Naylor) available so far this month, and by all accounts they have been as engaged as any team leading up to the deadline.

There was very little activity around the league Tuesday in a trade market that has been slow to develop because of the shortage of teams willing to sell.

The teams that are open for business — the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Minnesota Twins — have put an asking price that no buyers have yet been willing to meet.

And so it becomes something of a staring contest in the hours leading up to the 3 p.m. PT deadline Thursday. Will the asking price come down? Or will a contending team meet the sky-high demands?

The Mariners have one of the strongest farm systems in the sport, with eight prospects ranked in Baseball America’s Top 100: Colt Emerson (14); Kade Anderson (31); Lazaro Montes (39); Jonny Farmelo (40); Michael Arroyo (59); Harry Ford (79); Ryan Sloan (86); Jurrangelo Cijntje (90).

That updated list doesn’t include 19-year-old shortstop Felnin Celesten, perhaps the Mariners’ most tantalizing talent, whose stock has fallen because of injuries. Nor does it include Tyler Locklear, a one-time Top 100 prospect whom the Mariners are formally recalling from Triple-A Tacoma today.

Generally speaking, the Mariners have not labeled any of their prospects “untouchable,” but they’ve also been disciplined enough in recent trades to not have to include any of their top prospects in trades.

To make a splash this time, though, they’ll likely have to include someone from that list.

The Twins, according to industry sources, are asking for two Top 100 prospects for each of their elite relievers, Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax.

The Mariners are known to be interested in both relievers, as well as Twins super utility player Willi Castro, who will be a free agent this winter. Duran and Jax both have more two years of club control remaining.

Eugenio Suárez remains the most impactful bat on the trade market, and the Diamondbacks’ ask remains high.

It’s unlikely the Mariners would land both an elite reliever and Suárez, but the opportunity is there to do something, and the Mariners appear determined to seize it.