Mariners Rumors: Seattle has nothing to lose with George Kirby's sudden availability

It seems that the Seattle Mariners woke up on Saturday ready to face reality. There are rumors that George Kirby is available, which in itself marks a departure from the club's stance as of a few days ago. It's almost as if the team has lost 16 out of its last 20 games, or something.

That's obviously just part of a larger body of evidence that the Mariners' best intentions for 2026 have unfortunately landed them on the road to Hell. Suffice it to say that MLB history painted an unflattering portrait of their playoff chances even before the Minnesota Twins hung another L on the home team at T-Mobile Park last night.

The situation is the opposite of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." It is broke. It must be fixed. And to the front office's credit, putting Kirby on a line and casting him out on the market has the potential to be a can't-lose decision.

George Kirby is an uncommonly large fish on the starting pitching trade market

As per Adam Jude and Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times, both Kirby and Randy Arozarena are now on the table for potential trades. Talks about Arozarena are "expected to intensify," while talks about Kirby are apparently already happening. So says ESPN's Jeff Passan:

Arozarena is the trickier trade candidate of the two. As he's the best hitter on the team, there's no point moving him unless a trade were to bring back, say, an impact reliever that would allow the Mariners to double down on run prevention.

But Kirby? Well, put it this way: The Mariners can afford to spare him, and he now stands as the best available starting pitcher this side of Tarik Skubal. If anything, you wonder how many teams would just as soon have Kirby instead of Skubal.

Skubal is a two-time Cy Young Award winner, but also a $32 million rental. Kirby is making $6.55 million and is under club control through 2028. Take those things and combine them with the 28-year-old's established All-Star upside, and you get quite the valuable trade asset. And the Mariners can set the price and wait for teams to come to them.

Mariners can't think small if they're going to trade George Kirby

Take Kirby out of Seattle's rotation, and there are still five functional starters present. Call up No. 1 prospect Kade Anderson, and the number goes back to six. Maybe Anderson doesn't fully fill Kirby's right away, but the musical chairs could still be a net positive for the Mariners if the return for Kirby was big enough.

To this end, we've already said our piece as to how big the return should be.

There is next to zero point in dealing Kirby for prospects. The Mariners have enough of those, and Anderson is but one who's nearing MLB-readiness. So as far as Jerry Dipoto should be concerned, the only right response to interested teams is: "Put your best hitter on the table, and then we'll talk."

Maybe you carve out an exception for two-time All-Star closer Mason Miller if the San Diego Padres dangled him, but that's the only one. The names that really come to mind belong to the Zach Netos, Otto Lopezes, CJ Abramses and maybe the Hunter Goodmans (or is it Goodmen?) of the baseball world.

If nobody like that is forthcoming, then the Mariners should simply keep Kirby. What a shame that would be, as it would ensure that they would retain one of MLB's best rotations even if nothing else changed.

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