Mariners stuck in neutral as they stare down lethal A's rookie, trade deadline

This past weekend pulled quite the switcheroo on the Seattle Mariners, as they went from celebrating the Josh Naylor trade and a win on Thursday to settling for a mere split against the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday.

This is just how it's gone for the Mariners throughout 2025 and, well, most of their history. There may not be another MLB fanbase that is more accustomed to getting its hopes up just to get punched in the gut. It's a vicious cycle that has been going on for almost half a century, and it will continue for as long as Mariners fans dare to hope in the first place.

Yet despite what happened this past weekend, Seattle fans do actually have ample reason to be excited right now. The Mariners are in position to make the playoffs despite having a deeply flawed roster from Day 1. The Naylor trade made it better, and still to come between now and Thursday's trade deadline could be a deal for Eugenio Suárez and another for high-end bullpen help.

For the meantime, though, the Mariners don't exactly have momentum amid a 34-35 run that stretches all the way back to May 9. And for the next three days, they'll be tangling with one of the most dangerous hitters in Major League Baseball.

The Mariners must first conquer Nick Kurtz before worrying about the trade deadline

The three games the Mariners are about to play in Sacramento against the Athletics should resemble a reprieve. The A's are in last place in the AL West at 46-62, and Sutter Health Park hasn't been a hospitable home for them. They are 11 games under .500 there.

On the other hand, the A's have the guy who just had maybe the best game that anyone has ever had offensively.

If the Mariners didn't already have cause to fear rookie slugger Nick Kurtz, they sure do now after what he did to the Houston Astros last week. Six hits, four home runs, eight RBI and 19 total bases are hard feats to achieve in one game just individually. He checked all four boxes in a 15-3 romp on Friday.

No game like that is inevitable, but it's saying something that it didn't feel especially surprising when Kurtz pulled it off. He's been on a heater for over two months now, with 44 games since May 20 yielding a 1.293 OPS, 22 home runs and 53 RBI.

Albeit with only 276 plate appearances to his name, Kurtz occupies the spot in between Aaron Judge (208) and Cal Raleigh (171) with a 184 wRC+ for the season. He also leads MLB with a .374 ISO, which is about where Judge sat amid his record-setting 62-homer season from three years ago.

Kurtz alone gives the A's a chance to play spoiler against the Mariners over the next three days, and the effects could be devastating. Just ask the Astros, who got thoroughly pantsed by Kurtz and the A's in a four-game sweep over the weekend.

Still, let's go ahead and be optimistic for a second and grant that it's never been easier to have confidence in the Mariners holding their own in a slugfest.

The addition of Naylor gave them an actual above average hitter at first base, and Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez and Randy Arozarena are all swinging hot bats right now. For the month of July, the three of them have a combined 141 wRC+ and 25 homers.

And yet, the reality right now is that there's a disconnect between what the Mariners should be capable of and what they're actually doing on the field. They have been in a weird limbo for months, not hitting on days when they get good pitching and not pitching on days when they get good hitting.

The hope has been and continues to be that things will come together eventually, and this is the week where that pretty much needs to happen. The Mariners can't afford to lose ground in the AL playoff race and, accordingly, can't afford to leave good enough alone at the deadline. The Naylor trade simply can't be the last impact move for Jerry Dipoto and the front office.

Otherwise, even Mariners fans could have a hard time getting their hopes up for the final two months of this season.

Game Times and Probable Pitchers for Mariners vs. Athletics, July 28-30

• Monday, July 28 at 7:05 p.m. PT: Luis Castillo vs. JP Sears
• Tuesday, July 29 at 7:05 p.m. PT: Logan Evans vs. Luis Severino
• Wednesday, July 30 at 7:05 p.m. PT: Bryan Woo vs. Jeffrey Springs