I want to make this crystal clear before I go on.

I have been in the Seattle Mariners clubhouse. It is full of great people and it is full of likable people. I don't believe that the Mariners have a "bad" clubhouse at all, but I still believe the clubhouse is in need of a shakeup at the Major League Baseball trade deadline (Aug. 3).

As the Mariners have dipped to 52-55 and 2.5 games back in the American League West, it seems like the clubhouse has gotten a little stale.

Why is this?

Well, I have a working theory. Admittedly, I'm not sure if it's a good one, but hear me out.

If there's one way to describe the M's personality as a team, I believe it's "business-like."

It's the kind of personality you get when you are a club full of veterans, and young people with lots of veteran experiences. And when the team was winning in 2025, I think that was a great quality. The team never got too high, they just put their heads down and plowed forward. It was clear that their was a mission at hand and they were determined to get it done. We praised it.

On the flip side, when the team was playing poorly, that demeanor meant that they never cratered. It was a benefit. We praised it.

This year? I just feel slightly different about it. Because the team is so business-like, because they are so even keel, it feels like the sense of urgency hasn't really kicked in yet, and it needs to. I thought this attitude would help them accomplish an even bigger mission in 2026, but is it actually a detriment?

There are 55 games to go, and the Mariners are sinking. Three games against the Los Angeles Dodgers this week and a dreadful August schedule ahead mean it could get even worse. If the Mariners are going to pull out of this, I believe they need a clubhouse jolt, something that brings in some new - and different - energy.

I talked about it further on the 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast on Tuesday:

"You have a lot of guys, I think, that are business-like, that are onto the next, that are capable of flushing things. But when you do that, I do wonder if the sense of urgency is really there.

And again, that is different than having no fight. That is different than quitting. I do not think the Seattle Mariners are quitting. But I do think they have so many business-like veterans that they just roll it over to the next day, and the urgency does not always seem to be there.

I think there needs to be a bit of a jolt, like in the way that there was last year when they brought in Eugenio Suarez and Josh Naylor. I think they need that jolt.

Now, the clubhouse is going to get a shakeup next year no matter what. Randy Arozarena, I don't believe, will be back. Mitch Garver, I don't believe, will be back. These are two veterans as well who are good at moving on. I don't know that JP Crawford is going to be back.

So there's going to be inherently new energy in the clubhouse next year. But this team, right now, I think could use a jolt. And if they have to make a move with one of their starting pitchers to provide it, then it's something now that I am open to in a way that I haven't necessarily been open to."

On that note, we've heard that the Mariners are open to moving both Luis Castillo and Emerson Hancock, though a move of Hancock would be especially painful considering is breakout, cost-effectiveness and 4.5 years remaining of team control.

The Mariners will play the Dodgers on Tuesday at 7:10 p.m. PT.

The latest edition of the 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast, featuring Seattle Mariners Insider Shannon Drayer, is out now. You can listen here, or you can watch in the YouTube player below.

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