Don’t think that the Seattle Mariners’ trade Thursday night for one of the Arizona Diamondbacks’ All-Star corner infielders rules them out for acquiring the other.
Mariners get All-Star 1B Josh Naylor in trade with D-backs
The M’s sent a pair of pitching prospects to the D-backs on Thursday for first baseman Josh Naylor, a move that comes not all that long after D-backs third baseman Eugenio Suárez was reported to be the team’s top target ahead of the July 31 MLB trade deadline next Thursday.
A reunion with Suárez, who spent 2022 and 2023 with the M’s, remains on the table, according to Mariners insider Shannon Drayer of Seattle Sports.
Drayer posted on social media Thursday night that, per a source, the Mariners are “very much still open” to a trade for Suárez after acquiring Naylor.
Like Naylor, Suárez would be a rental as he is set to be a free agent at the end of the season.
Mariners general manager Justin Hollander and president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto are no strangers to making multiple trades with one team during the trade deadline period.
Last year, they traded with the Toronto Blue Jays for first baseman Justin Turner and reliever Yimi García in separate moves two days apart. And in 2020, Seattle had a pair of deals with the San Diego Padres on the same day that netted them several players including current bullpen weapons Andrés Muñoz and Matt Brash.
The acquisition of Naylor gives the M’s some insurance should they not land Suárez, who leads MLB with 86 RBIs and is fourth with 36 homers. Suárez was ranked this week by ESPN as the top player who is a candidate to be traded before July 31 (Naylor was ranked 14th), and there appears to be a robust market to acquire his services that in addition to Seattle includes the New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, and another of his former teams, the Cincinnati Reds.
More Seattle Mariners trade deadline coverage
• Keith Law says Cole Young is Mariners’ best prospect to trade
• What 3B being Mariners’ top trade need says about rookie Williamson
• Astros’ sweep of D-backs may have oddly helped Mariners
• The reasons ESPN’s Passan ‘firmly’ believes M’s can win it all
• Seattle Mariners could turn to Mets to upgrade 3B
