MLB rumors: Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Red Sox

Let’s start Friday with some of the latest MLB rumors, including tidbits on the Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox.

MLB rumors: Seattle Mariners may be looking ahead to 2024

Entering Thursday’s play with a 47-48 record after dropping their last two games and going 5-5 over the last 10 contests, Seattle Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto hinted that his team may use the trade deadline as a springboard for more success in 2024 as the team tries to overcome recent mediocrity as it chases a Wild Card spot in 2023.

After calling the Mariners “average” on offense, Dipoto mentioned the lack of bats in the farm system who could make an immediate impact in Seattle. That could well determine what the Mariners are looking for to strengthen the team for the rest of this season and beyond.

“It’s going to require some creative moves because we don’t have a next wave of bats at Triple-A ready to come and push us over that edge,” Dipoto said in the interview. “We need our young players to step forward moving forward, and we’re probably going to need to address something from outside as well.”

Dipoto continued by discussing trade deadline possibilities.

“We are headed into the trade deadline. We’ve not really separated ourselves in a meaningful way to be aggressive on the buying end, but we’re constantly trying to find ways to make ourselves better,” Dipoto added. “We’ll use these next couple of weeks of July to consider those ways, whether it’s better to make a push for the ’23 season or to better situate ourselves for ’24.”