Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- The Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners are tightly locked in a close race for the AL West title despite both sitting near a .500 record.
- Texas must add a high-leverage reliever to bolster its bullpen, while Seattle urgently needs a right-handed bat to fix its major struggles against lefties.
- Fixing these glaring roster flaws before the trade deadline is essential for either club to capture a winnable division and make a real run in October.
The Texas Rangers and the Seattle Mariners are set to play in perhaps the biggest series of the year. Not even a full game separates them in the AL West standings, and they're the teams jockeying for the top spot despite both of them having fairly lackluster seasons. The Rangers are a .500 team, and the Mariners are a game below .500.
For these teams to assert dominance in this incredibly winnable division, they're going to have to address the many weaknesses that have them hovering around the .500 mark as of this point. Here's the biggest weakness Texas and Seattle must address sooner rather than later.
The Rangers need at least one more high-leverage reliever
The Rangers' bullpen has arguably been better than expected, particularly with injury-riddled seasons from Chris Martin, Jalen Beeks and Robert Garcia, but outside of All-Star Jacob Latz, is there anyone you can fully trust late in games?
Jakob Junis and Tyler Alexander have had great years, but it's not as if either one of them has a stellar track record. They both signed cheap one-year deals with Texas this past offseason for this exact reason. Peyton Gray is another reliever having a strong year for the Rangers, but he's a rookie and hasn't pitched in high-leverage spots consistently.
Texas' starting rotation should be formidable in October, especially if MacKenzie Gore pitches as he is capable, but starters only go so deep into games nowadays. Texas needs to have a set of relievers it can trust nightly to get big outs, and outside of Latz and perhaps a couple of others, they're lacking in this department. That's going to have to change for them to win the AL West, let alone do anything of substance in October.
From Luke Weaver to Huascar Brazoban to Adrian Morejon, there should be viable options for Texas to pursue. Hopefully, Chris Young gets the job done.
The Mariners need at least one potent right-handed bat
The Mariners are another team in need of a leverage reliever, but that's not the biggest need for Jerry Dipoto to address. What the Mariners truly cannot leave the deadline without is another big bat, and preferably one who hits right-handed.
The Mariners rank 29th in the majors in runs scored, 29th in OPS and dead last in batting average. It's not even as if they're hitting home runs at an elite level as they did last season. They've struggled mightily partly because of their inability to hit left-handed pitching (87 wRC+ vs. LHP, 28th in MLB).
The Mariners hoped Rob Refsnyder would help them in this regard, but he's been a bust of a signing, hitting .140 with a .458 OPS against southpaws. He's the player supposed to shield Luke Raley from southpaws. Other key regulars for Seattle, like Cal Raleigh, Cole Young and Colt Emerson, have also struggled against lefties.
There're several right-handed hitters that Seattle can pursue to fill this void against lefties, like Casey Schmitt, Jo Adell and Spencer Steer, among others. The Mariners have a high-end farm system, giving them the wherewithal to be aggressive. They could even move a starting pitcher to fill this need. However the Mariners can add a big bat; they must, as this is their window to win.
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