4 teams with strong enough farm systems to get Mariners to trade starting pitching

With minimal payroll flexibility, Jerry Dipoto will have to do what he does best: wheel and deal to help breathe new life into the Seattle Mariners offense. The team ranked 10th in the American League in OPS and runs last season and 12th in slugging percentage.

The most obvious positions where Seattle can upgrade are second, third and first base/DH. The team has been connected to aging veterans like Justin Turner and Carlos Santana. To add a real needle-mover, Dipoto may have to tap into his loaded starting rotation, which was the Mariners' biggest strength in 2024.

He's not looking to take on bad contracts or high-dollar deals, but if he can land some young, high-upside prospects, it could help the M's not just in 2025, but for years to come, hopefully allowing them to strike more of a balance between a pitching-led club and one capable of hanging some crooked numbers. Four teams come to mind when thinking about potential fits in a trade involving Seattle's rotation depth — all of which have the prospect capital to pull off a deal.

Cubs have been connected to Luis Castillo in recent weeks

The Chicago Cubs have been one of the busiest teams early in the offseason, acquiring Kyle Tucker from the Houston Astros, trading Cody Bellinger to the New York Yankees in a straight salary dump, picking up reliever Eli Morgan from Cleveland, and signing Matthew Boyd. But Jed Hoyer doesn't seem anywhere close to done re-shaping a team that hasn't won a postseason game since 2017.

Especially after the Bellinger trade, Chicago has a ton of payroll flexibility, with around $50 million until they hit the first CBT threshold. That could allow them to take on someone like Luis Castillo, who is owed $68.25 million over the next three seasons, which is no small amount, especially if you're a team like the Mariners.

Not only could the Cubs take on that contract, but they have one of the deepest farm systems in baseball with seven top-100 prospects, according to MLB Pipeline ... and that's after including 2024 first-rounder Cam Smith in the Tucker deal. If Seattle can pry away one of those names, maybe someone like outfielder Kevin Alcantara or James Triantos, there could be alignment on a trade.

Orioles have been oddly quiet - despite a new ownership group

David Rubenstein's purchase of the Baltimore Orioles was supposed to allow the front office to turn the page on its infamous penny-pinching ways. But, so far, the club hasn't done much of anything this winter outside of bringing in outfielder Tyler O'Neill on a three-year, $49.5 million deal and signing 35-year-old Japanese rookie Tomoyuki Sugano to a one-year, $13 million pact.

Those hardly constitute the blockbuster signings the fan base had in mind heading into the offseason.

Things have been rather quiet on the Corbin Burnes front, and a reunion between the former Cy Young winner and Baltimore is still possible. But if Mike Elias doesn't bring him back, the team could tap into his prospect depth to acquire one of the Mariners' young controllable starters. Don't expect the O's to come off Coby Mayo or Samuel Basallo, but former first-rounders Vance Honeycutt or Enrique Bradfield Jr. could be attainable — or maybe someone with good upside, but also risk, like Dylan Beavers.

Reds have been working behind the scenes to improve all winter

A team that may not initially come to mind when thinking about big players on the trade market is the Cincinnati Reds. After luring future Hall of Famer Terry Francona back from retirement, the Reds are looking to make big moves in 2025, led by a young core of position players that were decimated by injury last season.

Cincinnati has a deep farm system, but they're a less likely match in a trade with the Mariners because most of their top position player prospects are years away from making it to the big leagues and, frankly, Seattle needs to add pieces that will help as soon as 2025.

But there could still be something there for a guy like Cam Collier or Sal Stewart, who could slot into the M's infield mix in the next few years. Again, it's a less-than-perfect fit, but the Reds need to shore up the rotation behind fireballer Hunter Greene, and the Mariners have expendable pitching depth.

Boston wants more arms, even after the Garrett Crochet trade

The Boston Red Sox made one of the biggest splashes of the offseason, acquiring Garrett Crochet from the White Sox, and they did it without coming off their two "untouchables" in Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer.

New Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow hasn't been shy about his focus on pitching (which makes sense coming from a former big league arm who helped oversee the Cubs' pitching infrastructure prior to taking the job in Boston). And even with Crochet in the fold, he wants more.

Boston still has decent prospect depth and if they don't find any free-agent deals to their liking, a trade with Seattle could help further bolster a rotation Breslow believes will lead the Red Sox back to the postseason for the first time since 2021.