The Mariners are looking for a lot of offense and are clearly willing to remove from their rotation to get it done. Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic report that the M’s have told teams that they are willing to trade the right-hander. Emerson Hancock.
Despite a poor 51-52 record, Seattle is still a half game back of the Rangers in the American League West. They should probably be higher. They have a strong roster on paper and a +17 differential, compared to Texas’ -30 mark. The Mariners are clearly going into the deadline as buyers.
Being willing to pitch in the big league rotation is simply a matter of having an abundance. The Mariners already have six major players in Hancock, Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryan Woo, Bryce Miller again Luis Castillo. And they have two of the best pitching prospects in baseball Late Anderson again Ryan Sloan. Logan Evans he is rehabbing Tommy John surgery but should be back in trouble next year.
Trading from surplus is risky because injuries are so common in the modern game. A team can reduce their depth so they can quickly regret it if a few guys hit the IL. But the Mariners are a team willing to take that risk.
There are different ways they can go about the decision. As Rosenthal and Samson point out, the Mariners could have tried to push Castillo in a trade. At 33 years old, he’s younger than the other big leaguers, all of whom are between 26 and 29. Seattle may try to move him while keeping smaller, cheaper, more controllable guys.
But Castillo has little trade value for the team. Despite his age, he is expensive and inefficient in terms of his results. He made $22.75MM this year and will make the same salary next year. There is also a $25MM buyout option if he throws 180 innings next year and passes a physical at the end of the season. He has a 4.85 earned run average this year, a career worst for him. For the past few years, he has been striking out about 27% of the batters he has faced but now it is down to 20.1% this year. Other teams may be willing to trade Castillo but they won’t give up too much. They may ask the Mariners to pay off some of that contract before considering a trade.
Some guys, on the other hand, are in their middle or pre-middle ages. Gilbert makes $10.927MM and Kirby $6.55MM. Miller is collecting a $2.4375MM salary and his deal has a $6.075MM club option for next year with a $15K buyout. He is arbitration-controllable until 2029 even if that club option is declined. Woo and Hancock are not yet eligible to arbitrate.
With Rosenthal and Sammon, the Mariners are more willing to move Hancock because he is one of the more established minor leaguers. He entered 2026 with 162 2/3 innings under his belt. He had a 4.81 ERA during that time and only struck out 15.6% of the batters he faced.
He was much better this year but he has some stars. He has a 3.16 ERA and a 23.4% strikeout rate in 105 1/3 innings. He got some help with a .245 batting average on balls in play and a 79.5% strikeout rate. His 3.72 FIP and 3.82 SIERA are much less promising than his actual ERA.
The Mariners seem willing to trade up for Hancock while holding on to other guys with long records. Perhaps clubs will view Hancock as a utility swing arm rather than a front-runner, but he will still have significant value. The start of a controlled measurement is one of the most difficult things to achieve in a given time frame. Hancock can be controlled for four more seasons after this one and won’t be eligible for arbitration until after 2027. In that window, he can fit in with any club, whether they are competing or rebuilding.
Seattle’s offense was nonexistent, especially against lefty pitching. As a team, they have a .216/.302/.334 line and an 87 wRC+ against southpaws. Only the Rockies and Blue Jays are underperforming in that division. They have a strong farm system and could trade prospects to fill that role but making Hancock available would allow them to hold on to young player prospects and keep the rotation in a really strong position.
Ryan Jeffers, Zach Neto, Taylor Ward, France, Lane Thomas, Spencer Steer, Heliot Ramos, Matt Vierling, Austin Martin, José Fermín, Oswald Peraza, Luis Robert Jr. again Matt McLain they are some of the best right-handed bats available at this year’s deadline. Hancock should be more than enough to get a lot of guys on that team or at least start a conversation.
Photo courtesy of Jonathan Hui, Imagn Images
