The Seattle Mariners lost 6-5 to the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night in a game that underscored some of the M's biggest issues: They went just 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position, and they were hampered by a short bullpen, both in terms of actual pitchers and in terms of pure leverage arms.

The Mariners are in this spot, at least partly, because they are operating with a six-man starting rotation that leaves them a man short.

It's been thought of for a while now that the Mariners need to move Luis Castillo to the bullpen, though recently, it's been thought that maybe Emerson Hancock is the right man to send to the 'pen.

The Mariners can do either of those things to help alleviate the problem, and they could also look to trade someone to clear the logjam. Castillo is the logical choice on that front, given that he's been the worst performing M's starter, is the oldest, and that he's owed a significant amount of money for the rest of 2026 and in 2027, and there's a vesting option for 2028.

Given the price tag on Castillo, it feels like a difficult trade to pull off - if the Mariners even want to. And ESPN's Buster Olney re-iterated that to us on the July 2 edition of the 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast.

"Here are a couple things to think about.

First off, I think it's going to be hard for the Mariners to get a trade, to be able to get something in return for Luis Castillo, unless they eat a significant amount of money going into next year, for a couple reasons.

One, there are a ton of starting pitchers that are going to be available. I mean, in a market that's relatively thin, you're going to have Tarik Skubal, it looks like, and Freddie Peralta and Robbie Ray. And I can come up with another six, eight names—Michael Wacha, Seth Lugo, the Kansas City Royals could be in play, on and on and on.

And so you can't just dangle Luis Castillo and hope someone gives you some value in return. You're going to have to actually eat some money. I don't know how prepared they are to do that.

And the other thing is, given the money owed to Castillo, the labor situation plays into it as well. When I've talked with executives with other teams, they say that they believe that there will be teams that will be looking to streamline on dollars going into the uncertainty of next year, not knowing exactly when the season is going to start, not knowing how much value you're going to get in return.

I think the expensive older guys will be players that'll be like hot potatoes, and Castillo is in that boat.

So I like your imagination, and maybe there's a deal to be found there, but I think it's going to be tough because of the way the market's playing out."

A three-time All-Star, Castillo is 3-7 with a 4.79 ERA, though he's been much better of late. He has allowed two runs or less in four of his last five outings, four of which have gone 5.2 innings or more.

The latest edition of the 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast is now out, and it features former Mariners' 3B Ben Williamson. You can listen here, or you can watch the YouTube player below.

We will have a new draft-focused episode on Friday with Joe Doyle, the founder of Overslot Baseball.

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