Fitting That Seattle Mariners Head to Sacramento Before MLB Trade Deadline

The last time the Seattle Mariners were in West Sacramento to face the Athletics, the two clubs put on what looked to be a classic showdown that could have ramifications at the end of the season. The A's came into the series having taken three of four from the Texas Rangers and two of three from the Miami Marlins, and won the opening contest 7-6 on a Jacob Wilson walk-off single in the 11th inning.

The A's led 3-2 entering the ninth the following night, but Tyler Ferguson came in and gave up three runs, and the green and gold ended up dropping the second game. Ferguson had been brilliant up to that point, holding a 0.52 ERA, but that game against the Mariners was his fourth consecutive contest on the mound.

From that game on, the A's season took on a different shape. It was with that loss that the A's 1-20 streak began, lasting into June. Ferguson went from a shutdown setup man to holding a 12.74 ERA across 19 appearances (17 2/3 innings) from that game until he was optioned to Triple-A on June 30.

That one game was the tipping point for the A's entire season. The A's entered it at 20-16, just one game back of the Mariners in the AL West. They have gone 26-46 since and now sit in last place, 15 games beind the first place Houston Astros (who they just swept in a four-game series).

The reason that it's fitting that these two clubs are matching up again at this specific moment is because the MLB Trade Deadline is on Thursday, so right when the series ends, the teams will be looking to improve their own rosters, albeit on different timelines. Seattle will be concerned with a postseason run, while the A's will still be looking to climb back into the hunt in 2026.

While no single series carries too much weight, the reason that this series could be a little more important is that the front office may be debating just how deep they need to go in their trades. Obviously the club is in last place, yet again, and is on roughly the same win total pace they had last season.

They could decide to pull the trigger on moving some of their big pieces and ship them off to help supplement the young core they're building. Or, if the A's take two of three from yet another tough divisional opponent and Luis Severino pitches well at home, perhaps they hold off on some of the bigger trades to see how this all plays out over the course of the rest of the season.

The big trades can wait until the offseason.

The A's aren't going to have a 1-20 stretch every season, and the roster has been a slightly better than .500 team outside of that stretch. If they had gone 10-11 in those 21 games instead, they'd be just two games back of the Rangers for the final wild-card spot. The clubhouse believes in the group that has been assembled, so we're expecting minor tweaks at the deadline, not wholesale changes.

Adding another bullpen option or two could be what it takes to make a big difference for this club. Which path they end up going down likely won't solely depend on how this Mariners series goes, but it presents a nice opportunity for the A's to get a little revenge from that series in May, while also showing the front office that this team can compete.

The Mariners have been a bit of a measuring stick for the A's all season, and this is one last chance for them to show they measure up to the best teams in the division.