Even as the Seattle Mariners find themselves on the wrong side of .500 ahead of Friday's action, the general feeling is they will still be in the hunt for a playoff spot come September time. This will only be helped by playing in the underwhelming AL West, arguably the weakest division in the majors.
Throw in the reality that, as per The Athletic's Jim Bowden (subscription required), Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto is under significant pressure to do something positive at this year's trade deadline. Bowden goes on to suggest the M's are an excellent match for one of the Arizona Diamondbacks duo of Josh Naylor or Eugenio Suárez.
Suárez in particular would be a good addition/reunion, given how popular and productive he was during his time in Seattle during 2022 and 2023. However, despite having a strong farm system to make such a trade come to fruition, Mariners fans will not be particularly excited by who their team has actually been linked to by insider Francys Romero:
Luis Robert Jr. continues to draw attention as a potential trade piece.
— Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) June 11, 2025
Teams like the Yankees, Mariners, and Phillies are expected to be in the conversation ahead of the trade deadline, according to industry sources.
Mariners at least in good company
In theory, being connected with the same player as the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies puts you in rare territory, given the strength of both teams and how unafraid they are to splash the cash. However, as harsh as it will sound, once you get past this you must consider who it is that the M's and their rivals have actually been linked to.
Luis Robert Jr. had the worst season of his time in the majors last year, but is currently projected to be even worse in 2025. As things stand, his .187/.273/.304 slash line, .576 OPS, 64 OPS+ .286 rOBA and 70 Rbat+ would all be career worsts for the outfielder.
Robert's fall from grace has been a stunning one, coming just two years removed from earning the first All-Star selection and Silver Slugger Award of his Major League career, and receiving votes for AL MVP. Heck, even he knows just how badly he's slumping:
Very candid interview with Luis Robert Jr. today. When I asked him about the Trade Deadline approaching, he said he's focused on getting better because "right now as my season is going, I don't think anyone is going to take a chance on me."
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) May 20, 2025
Is the 2023 version of Luis Robert Jr. still in there somewhere?
To take a chance on the 27-year-old would be a case of Dipoto and the Mariners hoping he can rediscover his 2023 form. However, any attempts would surely only be made more difficult by having to play roughly half of his games in the pitcher-friendly environment known as T-Mobile Park.
Perhaps the plan is to take advantage of Robert's poor form by effectively buying low, but this approach didn't exactly work out with Leody Taveras. (And by didn't exactly, we mean not at all.) We won't outright say the Mariners should 100 percent give the 2020 Gold Glove Award winner a wide berth, but it's close.
As always, one final factor is that the Mariners would theoretically owe Robert the balance of his 2025 salary of $15 million. On the more positive side, the deal he signed with the White Sox in 2020 includes two club options for 2026 and 2027, meaning that at least they can walk away from him at the end of this year if they decide to acquire him and he turns out to be a disappointment.
Recent Posts
