The Seattle Mariners have shown they aren’t afraid to make a splash at the trade deadline in recent years, but not quite to the level of a deal MLB Network insider Joel Sherman recently suggested.
Which top Seattle Mariners prospects are their best trade chips?
During an episode of “MLB Now” on Wednesday, Sherman said the Mariners and Atlanta Braves would make sense as trade partners for a deal that would send star right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. to Seattle.
“Acuña, in this marketplace without offensive players of this stature, you can make the Juan Soto trade,” said Sherman, who is also a New York Post baseball columnist. “Who can I make the Juan Soto trade with? Now I gotta talk to the Seattle Mariners, who’ve made the playoffs one time since 2001, are the only of the 30 teams that has never made the World Series. They’re about to let the zombie Astros win the division again because they haven’t taken advantage.”
.@Joelsherman1 makes the case for trading Ronald Acuña Jr. https://t.co/T2DI3GqPu1 pic.twitter.com/F5PF92CmkW
— MLB Now (@MLBNow) July 2, 2025
Acuña, the 2023 NL MVP, would be a welcomed addition to the Mariners, as he would be to any team. The 27 year old is a career .292 hitter with 174 home runs, 200 stolen bases and a 141 OPS+ (league average is 100) across eight seasons.
This year, Acuña is hitting .333 with a 1.017 OPS and nine home runs in 39 games since returning from torn ACL in his left knee suffered last season. He’s set compete in the Home Run Derby and was just elected to his fifth All-Star Game.
Sherman sees the Mariners, who possesses a league-high nine prospect in MLB Pipeline and Baseball America’s top 100 rankings, as a team who could address some of Atlanta’s needs in return.
“(The Mariners) have a lot of duplication in the middle infield (among their top prospects),” Sherman said. “What do the Braves need? (Second baseman Ozzie) Albies has gone the wrong way. Nick Allen (a career .215 hitter) is playing shortstop.”
During Thursday’s edition of Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy, co-hosts Stacy Rost and Michael Bumpus and producer Curtis Rogers weighed in on a potential Mariners trade for Acuña.
“It would be a statement to the fans and to the rest of the league,” Bumpus said. “Could you imagine having Ronald there, Julio (Rodríguez), Cal (Raleigh), (Randy) Arozarena and J.P. (Crawford)? Those four or five alone just changes the way that you look at this lineup, and I think that it would be an aggressive move.
“It’s a necessary move if you want to be considered legit contenders. That is what teams do if they’re really trying to win championships.”
A steep cost
A deal for Acuña would be the biggest in MLB since the blockbuster trade that sent Soto from the Nationals to the Padres in 2022.
In that trade, the Padres dealt four of their top-five prospects (CJ Abrams, James Wood, Mackenzie Gore, Robert Hassell III), relief pitcher Jarlin Susana and veteran first baseman Luke Voit to the Nationals.
Per MLB Pipeline’s rankings, a similar package from the Mariners prospect-wise would include four from the five-player pool of Colt Emerson, Lazaro Montes, Cole Young, Felnin Celesten and Harry Ford.
There are some key differences between a trade for Acuña and the Soto trade from 2021. First and foremost, the Padres also acquired former All-Star first baseman Josh Bell, who was hitting .301 with an .877 OPS and 14 home runs at the time. And Soto didn’t have the injury history of Acuña, who has torn both ACLs since 2021.
Acuña’s team-friendly contract also factors into the equation, though. At the time Soto was traded, he was under control for two more seasons. Acuña has three years left on his deal after this season at bargain of $17 million per year, with the final two years of the deal as club options.
Bumpus is on board with the idea of the Mariners making an aggressive push for Atlanta’s star right fielder.
“The prospects, nothing’s guaranteed,” Bumpus said. “People are hesitant to get rid of prospects because of the potential. Potential is great, (but) potential can have you holding on to things you’re not supposed to hold on to because you feel like a change is right around the corner.”
“Focus on who’s in the big leagues right now, cause it’s so hard to make it to The Show,” Bumpus added. “If there’s any climbing in sports that is the most difficult, it is probably Major League Baseball and getting on the PGA Tour. It is hard to do – the hardest to do.”
Rogers pointed out that while trading from their pool of touted prospects could be difficult, they have an opportunity in the near to replenish some of the talent needed to get Acuña.
“The Mariners do have a bit of a get-out-of-jail free card in the number three overall pick … when the draft happens on July 13th,” Rogers said. “Yes, you would have to give up a prospect that you’ve put time and energy and all sorts of resources into developing, but you’re also going to get a stud in the draft, somebody that is probably going to be a top, like, three or four prospect in your system the day he signs.”
Rost isn’t so sure trading Acuña is something that could happen but said it brings to light the most important question facing the Mariners this month.
“I don’t know that the Braves are actually going to deal Acuña Jr.,” Rost said. “I don’t know that this is really a trade (that could happen), but what this kind of becomes is, ‘how uncomfortable would you make yourself to add star power right now?’ That’s the real conversation that the Mariners’ front office is going to be asking themselves over the next four weeks.”
Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player in this story. Listen to Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
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