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Rafael Devers could be a trade candidate if the Giants keep struggling. Perhaps the Mariners could make a bad-contract swap to land him.

The Seattle Mariners are off to a slow start this season. At 21-23, they are in third place in the American League West, yet somehow only a half-game behind the Texas Rangers for the third AL wild card spot.

Their offense hasn’t been great. They are tied for 14th in Major League Baseball in runs scored and are hitting just .232 as a group. Potentially adding a bat at the trade deadline might make sense for Seattle.

Bleacher Report’s Zachary D. Rymer listed a few top potential landing spots for San Francisco Giants slugger Rafael Devers, and the Mariners were near the top of the list of suitors, with Rymer even proposing the idea that Luis Castillo could be part of San Francisco’s return package.

“Acquiring Devers would be a means to pick up some of the resulting slack,” Rymer wrote. “Yes, he’d be another lefty bat for a lineup that skews left-handed. And no, he wouldn’t bring down the club’s swing-and-miss tendency. But he’s also a 30-homer threat when he’s right, and he even has a .938 OPS at T-Mobile Park.

“The Giants could take on Luis Castillo, who’s now a non-viable starter with $24.15 million salaries for this year and in 2027.”

Mariners Pushed to Make Rafael Devers Trade

Devers would certainly give the Mariners an offensive boost. He is struggling this season with San Francisco, slashing .247/.295/.395 with just five home runs, 18 RBI and a .691 OPS.

However, perhaps a change of scenery could help him. The Giants are not a contender, as they have started 18-25 and are already 7 1/2 games back in the National League West. They are also tied for the second-worst record in the senior circuit.

Perhaps going to a contender like Seattle could fix things a little bit for Devers. The Mariners were just one win away from reaching the World Series for the first time last October, so they do have a bright future.

As for Castillo, the Mariners haven’t gotten much out of him since they gave him a contract extension. The veteran right-hander is 0-4 with a 6.57 ERA in eight starts with Seattle this season, so in a perfect world, they would be able to get rid of him and not have him taking up a spot in the starting rotation.

This would essentially be a swap of bad contracts between the Giants and the Mariners. Both players’ trade value has gone down, so for the Giants to get something good for Devers, they would have to eat a lot of money.

How Likely Is It?

Ultimately, this deal is probably unlikely. Neither team gets a lot of salary relief, and while Devers could be a huge pickup for the Mariners, the Giants will likely want more in return, but the only way they’ll be able to do that is if they eat more money.

So, in truth, this deal doesn’t make a lot of sense for San Francisco. They acquired Devers with the intention of building a contender around him, and that just hasn’t worked out so far.