The Mariners should look to MLB's worst team for their best possible trade target

As the Seattle Mariners couldn't even sustain a 10-game lead in the AL West last year, it's doubtful that anyone is feeling confident in the 0.5-game lead they have now. Luckily for the team, however, the trade deadline is coming up and Ryan McMahon could be available.

We say "could be" because the only predictable thing about the Colorado Rockies is that they're going to keep losing games. They already have 47 losses against just nine wins this year, putting them on track for a third straight 100-loss season. And yet even as the Ls were likewise piling up in 2024, McMahon was said to be off-limits.

Still, let's agree that the Rockies have no excuses not to see the writing on the wall this year. Let's also agree that the Mariners could stand to upgrade third base via the trade market, as the early returns on their experiment with Ben Williamson are not encouraging.

Ryan McMahon is a better third baseman than you might think, and he'd be perfect for the Mariners

The 30-year-old McMahon is not quite a household name, but he was an All-Star last year and he has generally done a fine job of filling Nolan Arenado's shoes ever since the Rockies sent him to St. Louis in an all-timer of a bad trade in 2021.

McMahon topped 20 homers annually between 2021 and 2024, with a solid .748 OPS that barely missed translating to an average (i.e., 100) OPS+ of 96. He also stood out as one of the top defenders in MLB, racking up 50 Defensive Runs Saved to rank fourth out of all fielders.

This year has not treated McMahon as kindly. He's rocking a .679 OPS and six homers through 54 games, resulting in an 84 OPS+ that is below his career norm of 91. He's also fanned in 29.4 percent of his plate appearances, which is bound to send a shiver down the spine of Mariners fans who know their recent history.

Yet this is a case where the results are deceiving. McMahon is doing a couple things significantly better in 2025, including drawing walks with a career-high 14.5 walk rate and making good contact. His 94.2 mph average exit velocity is in the 96th percentile, and his hard-hit rate is over 50 percent.

His defense, meanwhile, remains elite. McMahon is already up to seven Defensive Runs Saved to lead all third basemen.

We threw McMahon's name out as a speculative fit for the Mariners on Wednesday, and it is nice to know that we're not alone in thinking as much. R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports did the same thing in his trade deadline preview on Tuesday.

The catch is that is that McMahon is making $12 million this year, with $16 million salaries on tap for 2026 and 2027. That may be too much money for the Mariners to absorb, particularly given that they've already boosted their payroll by claiming Leody Taveras off waivers from the Texas Rangers.

Yet there are ways that the Mariners and Rockies could come to a cash-neutral deal, at least as far as 2025 salaries are concerned. A bad contract swap involving, say, Mitch Garver ($11.5 million salary) could be possible so long as the Rockies also got young talent. Or, they could simply eat a chunk of McMahon's contract in order to get some of the better pieces of young talent the Mariners have to offer.

The concept here is ultimately a lot more feasible than the Mariners circling back on Arenado, and not just because he and the Cardinals are beating expectations. He's earning $32 million just this year, and it's not looking like money well spent anymore now that he's cooled after a warm start.

Speaking of feasibility, sticking with Williamson at the hot corner isn't doing so great in that department. Even if he was living up to the hype on defense (and he really isn't), he's batting just .246 with only five extra-base hits in 136 trips to the plate.