Randy Arozarena and 4 more Mariners who should be gone at the trade deadline if Seattle sells

The Seattle Mariners have lost three straight and eight of their last ten to fall five games below .500 and 3.0 games behind sixth-place Cleveland for the final AL Wild Card spot. It has been an incredibly frustrating season for the Mariners, who lost a Game 7 heartbreaker in the ALCS last October. The hope was to take the next step. Instead, Seattle has all but imploded.

There's still a case for buying at the trade deadline. Seattle has a plus-one run differential on the season, better than five teams (Houston, Cleveland, Minnesota, Texas, Baltimore) ahead of them in the standings. On paper, the Mariners are still more than talented enough to scale the ladder. Their division leaders in Houston are a single game above .500 — just one!

On Saturday, though, rumors started swirling that a different path could be in the cards, with ESPN's Jeff Passan reporting that the team was at the very least gauging interest in rental outfielder Randy Arozarena and righty George Kirby. That would suggest that Seattle might not be willing to aggressively improve the team this season and instead plan for 2027 and beyond. Here's what that might look like.

OF Randy Arozarena

Randy Arozarena's name was popular in offseason trade rumors and it's back in the mix now, with Seattle presumably anticipating his departure in free agency. Arozarena has attacked his contract year with all the fervor you'd expect from one of MLB's most passionate stars. He's up to 13 homers with an .822 OPS and 141 wRC+, creating a team-high 3.1 wins above replacement (fWAR).

The 31-year-old outfielder has really cleaned up his approach, trimming his strikeout percentage by five points while upping his batting average by more than 40 points — from .238 last season to .280 this season. Arozarena is generating hard contact to all fields. He's not a great defender in left, but right-handed bats are a hot commodity this summer and Arozarena might be the best to be made available.

RHP George Kirby

It seems like the Mariners will listen on all their starters except Bryan Woo and Logan Gilbert, but the name generating the most buzz alongside Arozarena at the moment in George Kirby. A former All-Star who has pitched at least 120 innings in all five of his MLB seasons to date, Kirby is a phenomenal talent and far better than his current No. 4 starter billing would suggest.

He can attack lefties up in the zone with his four-seam fastball or bury a sinker on righties, with his signature sweeper his most used (and often most successful) offering. While Kirby can touch the upper-90s in terms of velocity, he's not an overpowering pitcher. Instead, he relies on surgical precision, almost never allowing free passes (5.0 BB%) and, on his best nights, seldom hanging a pitch out to dry.

The 27-year-old is under club control for two additional years after 2026, so Seattle would expect a massive return.

RHP Emerson Hancock

Emerson Hancock is good enough to force a six-man rotation in Seattle, with a 3.28 ERA and 1.04 WHIP across 110.1 innings pitched this season. The 27-year-old, who has four more cheap arbitration years left on his contract, has become a popular name in Mariners trade rumors. For a team with surplus pitching and an underperforming offense, trading one of their six starting pitchers for a bat always felt like a logical step.

Even if the Mariners take prospects in return for Hancock, expect Seattle to focus on bats who can help them contend again in 2027. Health and vibes are not on this team's side right now, but Hancock is a rare gift — a genuine mid-rotation arm who's stuck on the bubble of a deep rotation, who's probably worth more to Seattle as a trade chip than as a starter at this point.

OF Rob Refsnyder

It's unclear if Rob Refsnyder has much (if any) value these days. Signed to a one-year, $6.3 million deal in free agency, Seattle viewed Refsnyder — like we all did — as the ultimate outfield platoon bat. Refsnyder has never really hit right-handed pitching, but he posted a .959 OPS against left-handers in 2025. This season, that number has plummeted to .499 in more limited exposure, with a hilarious .255 OPS against righties.

He is straight up unplayable right now. Refsnyder isn't super dependable in the field. He's not moving the needle as a base-runner. He's out there to generate extremely hard contact and slug prodigously in certain matchups. Refsnyder's hard-hit rate has fallen from 52.3 percent to 34.6 percent in the span of a year. It seems Father Time has caught up, but perhaps there's a team looking for right-handed power that's willing to hope Refsnyder can rediscover his old platoon magic in a new ballpark.

RHP Andrés Muñoz

If the Mariners are in proper sell mode, Andrés Muñoz figures to appeal to a wide range of contenders. Every team can use another bullpen arm. Muñoz has found the sledding a bit tougher than usual this season, but he still has 59 strikeouts in 38.1 innings with a 3.99 ERA. His gaudy strikeout numbers and sizzling velo are buoyed by a devastating slider, against which opponents are hitting just .157 this season.

Muñoz can technically become a free agent this winter, although his $8.5 million club option for 2027 (and $10 million option for 2028) are friendly enough for Seattle to keep him around. That said, this is a sellers market, and Muñoz would instantly become the most appealing closer on the market for teams who can't afford an arm and a leg for Mason Miller. The Mariners' bullpen is a strength and trading Muñoz is not remotely a must, but it could help them retool, either with another young starter to backfill the rotation or a couple bats that project well moving forward.

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