3 trade targets for the Mariners to replace Victor Robles after shoulder injury

It has only taken a few weeks for disaster to strike the Seattle Mariners. In the ninth inning of a close game against the San Francisco Giants on Sunday, outfielder Victor Robles made a heroic play that will cause him to miss a significant amount of time on the injured list.

As relayed by Daniel Kramer of MLB.com, Robles has a small fracture in the humeral head of his left shoulder, which he dislocated while making the catch in question. He may not need surgery, but he will be sidelined for at least 12 weeks regardless.

The team will need to make some adjustments and to fill the immediate void in right field, the organization has already made a couple of key moves. Luke Raley has been spending more time in the outfield and the Mariners have recalled Dominic Canzone from Triple-A Tacoma, but are there more alluring long-term options to be found on the trade market?

3 outfielders who could help fill the void left by Robles' injury in Seattle

Heston Kjerstad, Baltimore Orioles

The Orioles have a massive surplus of talent in the outfield. The core of Cedric Mullins, Colton Cowser, and Tyler O'Neill make for quite a capable trio, which limits the playing time available for Kjerstad, who MLB Pipeline ranked as the league's No. 32 prospect in 2024. Furthermore, three of the team's top 10 prospects are also outfielders, creating a potential logjam for the franchise.

Kjerstad has already proven himself capable of holding his own at the big-league level. Since debuting in 2023, he has posted a cumulative 110 OPS+ over 171 plate appearances. He hasn't yet logged more than 40 games in a single season but given the opportunity to do so, there doesn't seem to be reason why he wouldn't find success.

A few years ago, the Orioles seemed like they would be the future of the AL East. With their group of top prospects led by Adley Rutschman, the organization has settled into a contention run, peaking with a 101-win season in 2023.

Unfortunately, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are returning to their old habits of big-spending and have returned to being divisional favorites, pushing Baltimore back to afterthought territory. Their main problem? A lack of impactful starting pitching. Without Grayson Rodriguez to lead the rotation, they're stuck with Zach Eflin and a few other middling arms. This could make them a perfect trade partner for the Mariners who have the opposite problem: too much pitching and not enough hitting.

What might make this trade difficult is the fact that Cowser is expected to miss two months with his own injury. However, the Orioles still have other outfielders they can pull from and their starting pitching situation should instead be the focus of their attention.

Garrett Mitchell, Milwaukee Brewers

When healthy, Mitchell is an outstanding outfielder. A top-tier defender with some pop in his bat, he would be a valuable asset on any team, provided it can keep him on the field for more than a month at a time.

Last year, he managed to put together 224 plate appearances and posted a 125 OPS+ with 12 doubles, three triples, and eight home runs. He's off to a slightly slower start this year, especially in the power department, but he's still maintaining a strong on-base percentage of .370 with a walk rate of 11.1 percent.

The Brewers have plenty of outfield depth and they'd likely be far less willing to part with Jackson Chourio, Christian Yelich, or Sal Frelick. Even without Mitchell, they still have Blake Perkins due to return from a fractured shin in May and even Isaac Collins has been getting some reps this year. If they are to trade away any major-league talent, this is the only part of the roster where they have viable players in excess.

As bad as one might think the Mariners' luck has been already, the Brewers might be in an even worse spot. After being on the receiving end of the "torpedo bat" craze, the rotation has been further decimated by injury, bringing the total number of starting pitchers on the injured list to seven. They've already made a move to bolster their roster, but additional help could be needed sooner rather than later, especially given how good the Chicago Cubs have looked.

Trent Grisham, New York Yankees

Grisham is one of the more underrated outfielders in baseball. He had three solid years in San Diego as the Padres' starting center fielder, where he accumulated 7.6 rWAR and won a Gold Glove. Since being packaged along with Juan Soto in a trade to the Yankees, he has remained a backup and appeared in just 76 games in 2024. He's off to a great start so far in 2025, posting a 265 OPS+ with a .423 batting average and three home runs.

The Yankees have offense to spare but are struggling to get their starting pitching on the same level, especially with Gerrit Cole getting Tommy John surgery and Luis Gil recovering from a lat strain. If they want to return to the postseason in an even more competitive AL East, they can't afford to leave roster holes unaddressed for too long.

Bolstering their pitching staff at the cost of a backup outfielder seems like a reasonable price to pay and for Seattle, it could help them last long enough to stay relevant for this year's playoff race.