With Astros on their tail, first-place Mariners face critical trade deadline

More than any other team in baseball, the first-place Seattle Mariners may feel the heat as the season progresses. That's mainly because a recent hot streak by Houston has the Astros sitting just one game back of the AL West leaders.

The Mariners' story in 2024 is straightforward: They have terrific pitching, sometimes even historically so, paired with dismal hitting. No one in the regular lineup has an OPS above .750. They strike out too much and don't make enough contact. Consequently, their +19 run differential is the lowest among division leaders.

The Mariners resume play Friday with a season-defining series in Houston. Seattle will either leave Texas in first or having surrendered the top spot to the Astros for the first time this season.

Mariners fans have reason to be concerned after president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto gave a worrisome answer about the team's trade-deadline plans. 

"We are open to doing something that has the potential to be dynamic," he told Seattle Sports 710. "Don't know if that's going to be available. Right now it's not and this is as late as we've ever gone into a deadline where I can honestly say it's not."

As of Thursday afternoon, FanGraphs gives the Mariners a 57.3% chance of making the playoffs, but their chances of winning the division are about the same as the Astros' chances. So Seattle must make defining moves at the deadline to hold off Houston. 

Here are the players they could target by the trade deadline on July 30 at 6 p.m. ET.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. | OF/IF | Miami Marlins

Chisholm Jr. could be a game-changer. He can play all over the field but is primarily a center fielder and second baseman. He'd be a significant upgrade over Jorge Polanco and would instantly have the second-highest OPS on the team at .727. A trade to a contender could reignite the excitement Chisholm Jr. was once known for.