Mariners Trade Rumors: 3 moves to make before August 1

Move #1: Trade for rotation arm

The Mariners currently have one of the weakest rotations in the MLB. Felix Hernandez and James Paxton have been solid options, but the other three M’s starters are not the options of a playoff team. If they want to break their 16-year playoff drought this season, Dipoto will make a swap for a starting pitcher.

Jeff Samardzija is one potential target. He’s had a tough 2017, and the Mariners could buy lower on him than at other points in his career, but he’s the type of pitcher the M’s could use down the stretch. Fellow Giant Johnny Cueto could also be on the Mariners radar.

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If the Mariners don’t want “Shark,” they could go after another handful of options such as Jhoulys Chacin, Marco Estrada, Francisco Liriano, or Chris Tillman.

The M’s have been linked to Athletics ace Sonny Gray, and while most fans would jump at the chance to get him, it will be hard for the Mariners to outbid the Nationals and Yankees who are also hot on the trail. If they were somehow able to land Gray it would come at a cost that would possibly mortgage their future. This brings us to move #2.

Move #2: Keep Mitch Haniger

In the Mariners mysterious pursuit of Sonny Gray, Mitch Haniger has been a name tossed around that would need to be included to trigger a deal. Ben Gamel is an alternative to Haniger, but if between the two of them, Haniger is the underperforming one, and the M’s would rather swap him than Gamel.

I’m not Jerry Dipoto, but trading Haniger seems like one of the worst moves the Mariners could make. He has underperformed in 2017, and has been especially bad since his return from the DL, but I’ll chalk that up to a lot of rust that comes from not swinging against MLB pitching for two months.

Haniger showed with his start to 2017, that he is the kind of bat you build future teams around, and as much as I’d love to have a pitcher like Gray in the fold for future seasons, I really do not love the thought of him hitting against us 18 times a year. If at all possible, the Mariners need to acquire starting pitching without compromising Haniger’s status with the team.

Move #3: Solidify the Bullpen

The Mariners currently are in a tough place, where they are really struggling to put together solid relief arms night in and night out. Some nights the pen’s work is great and some nights it falls apart. If this team wants to make the postseason, they will go add one more arm to bolster their depth.

When Dipoto got David Phelps, he acknowledged the holes in the ‘pen, but that’s the thing: there are multiple holes. The Mariners could clean that up though with a couple of deals. The man I would love to see the M’s get is the Orioles’ Brad Brach. He has a 2.70 ERA on the year in 43 games. He has a WHIP of 0.95 and has been a solid option in the Baltimore pen.

The Orioles also have Mychal Givens who teams should be salivating over, but their asking price for him would likely be too steep for the Mariners to acquire.

Next: Mariners aren't trading Kyle Lewis, at least not right now

The Mariners have less than a week to pull a rotation arm and help their bullpen. Dipoto needs to make some moves to improve Seattle’s situation. If he can pull both of these moves well, and keep Haniger in the process, I’ll chalk up his 2017 to really solid.