Josh Naylor trade could be just the beginning of Mariners waking up to reality

The Seattle Mariners are heading into the weekend hot off the best day they've had all year. Even before they dispatched the Los Angeles Angels in a wholly satisfying 4-2 win, they had closed a deal to acquire All-Star first baseman Josh Naylor.

And just like that, there's wind in the Mariners' sails.

Just for starters, the Naylor trade is exactly as big a deal as it seems. He's a huge upgrade at first base, and thus further strengthens a Mariners offense that is already among the 10 best in Major League Baseball at scoring runs. Accordingly, there's already excitement in the clubhouse.

“It’s huge,” manager Dan Wilson said Thursday, per Daniel Kramer of MLB.com. “Looking forward to welcoming Josh into a Mariner uniform. A tremendous player, a tremendous bat, and really looking forward to how he fits into this lineup. It’s going to be a tough lineup, and it makes us so much deeper.”

With seven days still to go until the July 31 trade deadline, the natural question is what's next for the Mariners. And based on the initial rumblings, it could be something even bigger than the Naylor deal.

The Mariners still have eyes on Eugenio Suárez as they pursue the playoffs

In seemingly no time at all after the Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks had closed the Naylor trade, Adam Jude of The Seattle Times was among a number of reporters to note that Eugenio Suárez is still on Seattle's radar:

This is not surprising. Jude had previously reported that Seattle and Arizona have engaged on talks about Suárez, and there's no reason he can't also come to the Pacific Northwest just because Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto moved on Naylor first.

By way of a .670 OPS and five home runs, third base remains the biggest weakness in Wilson's everyday lineup. That's where the 34-year-old Suárez calls home, and he is continuing a career-long pattern of papering over his defensive flaws with consistent moonshots. He's hit 36 home runs and leads all of MLB with 86 RBI.

Otherwise, all the Naylor trade cost the Mariners was their No. 13 and No. 16 prospects as ranked by MLB Pipeline. While there are certainly limits on how far the Mariners should be willing to go in their quest to bring "Geno" back to Seattle, their farm system remains arguably the best in MLB even after Thursday. Dipoto can and should be willing to subtract from it.

It's easy for us to say as much, of course, but any reasonable person can see that Dipoto is in a position to be especially motivated right now — and not just because his seat is likely getting a little warm after a decade in charge of the front office. The Mariners are already in position to make the playoffs as the American League's second wild card team, but the landscape around them offers ample room and space to go even further.

Just within the AL West, the Mariners are chasing a Houston Astros squad that has been crushed by injuries. In the AL Central, the Detroit Tigers are fading fast after a hot start. In the AL East, the New York Yankees have their own injury issues as they pursue a Toronto Blue Jays team that is frankly lucky to have the AL's best record.

As such, it almost feels conservative that FanGraphs gives the Mariners the third-best odds of representing the AL in the World Series. It's a weak field, and they strike arguably the best balance between already being a good team and still having the potential to get much better.

"If not now, then when?" must be the question guiding Dipoto and the entire Mariners organization. And judging from the Naylor trade, it already seems as if it is.