Mariners teased as 'poised to strike' at MLB trade deadline by insider

Things haven't exactly been going great for the Seattle Mariners as of late. Following a disappointing stumble in their most recent series, Seattle's first game against the Minnesota Twins ended in similarly heartbreaking fashion.

This string of losses allowed the Houston Astros to temporarily take back the lead in the AL West, but don't count the Mariners out just yet. FanGraphs is still giving them a 69.6 percent chance to crack the postseason, and thus they're still anticipated to be buyers ahead of the July 31 trade deadline. If one insider is to be believed, they could go on quite the spree.

MLB insider explains why the Mariners will be a team to watch at the trade deadline

In his most recent set of MLB notes, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic highlighted that in two of the past three seasons, the Mariners have traded prospects for big league talent, notably acquiring Luis Castillo in 2022 and Randy Arozarena in 2024.

The organization still has an excess of outstanding players in the minor leagues, so if it does choose to make a run for the playoffs this year, it will have plenty of inventory to work with when it comes to trade negotiations. But what parts of the roster need the most help?

To Rosenthal, the most glaring needs for the team are at first base and right field. Both positions are currently occupied by players with clear weaknesses. The current tandem of Rowdy Tellez and Donovan Solano leave plenty to be desired at first, and Leody Taveras has managed an OPS of just .538 since being picked by Seattle to fill in for Victor Robles in right field. Third base also has room for improvement with Ben Williamson's struggles showing few signs of improvement.

There are several possible options from anticipated sellers that could be meaningful steps forward for Seattle. The Colorado Rockies have little to offer, but could have a solution for the hot corner. There is a potential outfield option lurking in the AL East that could fill the holes left by Robles and Luke Raley, depending on when they return from the injured list.

It should also be said that the trade deadline is still a few months away and if the Mariners aren't able to turn things around soon, they could find themselves totally out of reach by the time it comes around. Even worse, they could fork over a significant prospect haul in exchange for major league help only to fall short.

To their credit, the front office is aware of the urgency of the situation and has made moves accordingly. Overall, it seems like they're still pretty bullish on their postseason chances, but there's still plenty of baseball left to be played and not a ton of room for error moving forward.