Complete Mariners trade deadline grades after Jerry Dipoto ends with a whimper

For a second there, it felt like the Seattle Mariners were building toward something big at the trade deadline. After trading away Luis Castillo and dealing for Taylor Ward, there were still a number of ways that Jerry Dipoto could cook. A big bat? An ace reliever? It all felt possible.

Yet here we are in the aftermath, and the Castillo and Ward trades were it.

The tip-off that the Mariners were headed for this destination happened well before the deadline came and went at 3:00 p.m. PT on Monday. There was a brief mention of Mason Miller, but only to clarify that the San Diego Padres wanted Kade Anderson for him. That was an obvious "no" for Seattle, and it might as well have been the air coming out of the balloon. As such, the best review to give is that at least it wasn't a total waste.

Final grades for Jerry Dipoto's mixed-bag effort to resolve Mariners' problems before 2026 Trade Deadline

August 1: Mariners trade RHP Luis Castillo to Chicago White Sox for RHP Seranthony Domínguez, OF Nolan Jones, C Boston Smith (now MLB Pipeline's No. 14 Mariners prospect)

GRADE: A

It never felt like a given that the Mariners would be able to trade Castillo, and that had a lot to do with the question of who would even want him. And even if anyone did, how much could the Mariners really get for him?

Hence the pleasant surprise of this trade. Add it all up, and Seattle got about $15 million in payroll relief, a guy who's no worse than a middle reliever and real depth for their minor leagues. Heck, Smith even has a 1.038 OPS and 22 home runs.

Nobody in the clubhouse was happy to see "La Piedra" pack his bags. He meant a lot to everyone in there. But at the end of the day, turning a declining pitcher (-0.7 rWAR, 5.06 ERA) into this kind of package is a net positive. And that's without even getting into the benefits of a regular five-man rotation (finally a full bullpen!), or how there's now one less obstacle in Kade Anderson's way.

August 3: Mariners trade RHP Alex Hoppe, RHP Brock Moore, RHP Harrison Kreiling to Baltimore Orioles for OF Taylor Ward

Grade: A-

Why the bump down in the grade relative to the Castillo deal? Really only because it's a little nerve-wracking that the Mariners gave up capital of any kind for a rental player. If the Mariners don't make the playoffs with Ward, this will go into the books as a waste.

But this is a nitpick. The reality is that the Mariners badly needed a right-handed hitter of Ward's caliber. As nice as it would be to see more power from him, nobody's mad to get a new guy with a .383 OBP overall and a .413 OBP against lefties. Some have noted his awful career .533 OPS at T-Mobile Park, but it's worth believing that his new patience-based approach can help with that.

Whether he mainly plays left field, right field or designated hitter, Ward effectively fills the hole left by Luke Raley's injury. And given that Raley had authored a .441 OPS in his last 41 games before hitting the IL, there wasn't much of a hole to fill.

If nothing else, Ward will help the Mariners start landing punches in what has been a losing bout with lefty pitchers. If Cal Raleigh also keeps coming back online, who knows? Maybe the Mariners can even start winning some rounds.

OVERALL GRADE: C

How do two A grades add up to one C grade? That's just how the math works in our head, mainly because the Mariners lose points for not landing anything bigger.

Once Tarik Skubal came off the board, George Kirby was arguably the best starting pitcher on the market. If not him, the Mariners could have moved Emerson Hancock in a trade for a true impact player. Maybe the Padres were wasting Seattle's time with Miller, but what of CJ Abrams? Or Otto Lopez? Or even one of those pie-in-the-sky types like Elly De La Cruz?

Granted, our imagination is not a negotiating table. And looking back on the trade deadline now, it seems clear that it was not a seller's market for starting pitchers. It is absolutely believable that there were no good deals to be made using Kirby or Hancock as bait.

The letdown is real, though. The Mariners went into the deadline as a 55-58 team and emerged only marginally better. It'll be mostly up to the incumbents to save the season, which largely comes down to guys getting heathy (i.e., Brendan Donovan, Matt Brash, Carlos Vargas, Cooper Criswell) or finally heating up (i.e., Cal Raleigh, Josh Naylor).

It's hard to pick a side between accusing Dipoto of playing it safe or simply falling back on trust. Probably both, honestly. But even if that's understandable, it's not exactly inspiring.

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