Mariners Rumors: Seattle teased for 'a big swing' at the trade deadline

The first month of the Seattle Mariners' regular season is going better than most anticipated. Despite a rough first few weeks, the entire team seems to have hit a new gear and is firing on all cylinders.

If you had guessed that the Mariners would have the sixth-best OPS in MLB at the end of April, then you had better foresight than the majority of fans. Among all of the positive surprises are several key lessons the organization would be wise to heed, and the unifying theme among them is to make sure that this hot start isn't wasted.

The Mariners are already being teased for 'a big swing' at the trade deadline, and they may need it

Much of the offensive boost has come from unsuspected sources, which either means that the front office's dogged optimism in the roster was well-founded, the team's performance is due for regression, or something in between.

For example, Jorge Polanco has taken a meaningful step forward at the plate, but it'd be shocking if he was able to carry his .808 slugging percentage through the remainder of the season. He's not the only player whose current statistical profile borders on anomaly, and it's all the more reason for the Mariners to keep their eyes peeled for potential improvements to the squad leading up to the trade deadline.

Luckily, according to some sources, that's exactly what they plan on doing.

In a recent interview on Foul Territory, Adam Jude of The Seattle Times spoke on just how unique the team's current position is and how it could lead to an influx of trade activity later on in the season.

Before this hot streak, any trade discussions involving the Mariners typically placed them as sellers with their star-studded rotation as the inventory. However, the tables have now turned and, should they keep up their winning ways and maintain their lead in the AL West, Seattle could be one of the biggest buyers ahead of the July 31 trade deadline.

It's too early to tell what the biggest gaps will be at that time, but the effects of recent injury news regarding Ryan Bliss and Gregory Santos will still be felt by the time they get around to finalizing their strategy moving forward.

Sadly, as many Mariners fans know all too well, the tone of this conversation could be dramatically different if the team's fortune reverses and they find themselves floundering for a Wild Card spot. It's always a risky move to get too invested into Seattle's postseason push this early in the season, as they tend to have a way of tripping over themselves at the eleventh hour.

Still, something about this particular group feels different. It could just be the warm winds of spring or it could be fundamentally sound baseball being played night in and night out. Either way, the organization needs to do as much as they can to seize the moment lest it becomes yet another entry in a long list of "what ifs."