Jerry Dipoto's trade deadline shopping for Mariners must have 1 unbreakable rule

With the trade deadline now upon us, Mariners fans are wondering what the front office's approach will be. We know that even with a losing record they're still in contention, just by virtue of playing in arguably the weakest division in the majors. However, ESPN's Jeff Passan put it best when he asked: "How much do you invest in a team that hasn't proved itself worthy of investment?"

It just wouldn't be right to give up on a season of such promise, yet there's no getting around the reality this Mariners team has severely underperformed. Cal Raleigh is the poster boy for all the disappointment by a team which should be challenging for the best record in the AL. The onus is on the current roster to perform closer to their collective talent level more consistently, otherwise it won't matter who Jerry Dipoto and company bring in between now and 3:00 pm PT on Aug. 3.

Passan does retain belief in the Mariners' ability to contend, as he told Brock Huard and Mike Salk during his latest weekly appearance on Seattle Sports. Now add in the need for a new face or two, with him alluding to any change being good. Still, even if we're all in agreement that the M's will be buyers at the trade deadline, Dipoto needs to think about his strategy.

We feel confident in predicting that if the Mariners do move Luis Castillo and/or Emerson Hancock, it's not going to be for prospects. Similarly, even though it seems unlikely Randy Arozarena will be traded, it wouldn't be done in order to stock up the farm system. With this in mind, Dipoto would be wise to deploy a hard and fast rule when it comes to bringing in players who can help the team right away.

And that rule is this: no rentals.

The Mariners can't afford to be as gung-ho as they were at last year's trade deadline

We appreciate some people will ask why, considering the Mariners' approach at last year's trade deadline, when they acquired Josh Naylor, Eugenio Suárez and Caleb Ferguson as each was staring down free agency. It was different then however, with the M's having a clear path to the AL West title that made it safe to go all-in. This time around, due to how the team has played thus far, it needs to be more about hoping for the best, but also planning for the worst.

This might not sound as exciting as what the Mariners did last season, but it goes back to the team not proving themselves fully worthy of investment. As such, planning for the worst effectively means only sacrificing trade capital for guys who will still be around after 2026. As much as this might limit the front office's reach to some extent, it's still about finding that quality reliever and right-handed bat, but also sending a subtle message to the players that it's mainly on them to turn this ship around.

For what it's worth, as per Adam Jude of The Seattle Times, the plan is apparently for the Mariners to still be aggressive at the trade deadline. However, if Dipoto is smart -- which he is most of the time -- he'll take what can only be described as an aggressively careful approach, no matter how contradictory that might sound.

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