Earlier this week, Adam Jude of the Seattle Times reported that the Seattle Mariners were very hesitant to give up second baseman Cole Young in a possible offseason deal for Ketel Marte of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

I want to make this 1,000 percent clear: I believe Jude's reporting and I believe that's what Jude was told.

My question lies here: Were the Mariners telling Jude the truth?

It's something I discussed on the most recent 'Refuse to Lose' podcast:

"I want to know the truth. I want to give somebody truth serum here. Did the Mariners not want Ketel Marte because they believed in Cole Young so much and didn't want to get rid of him? Or did they not acquire Ketel Marte and now they are out here publicly backing Cole Young, trying to infuse him with confidence and downplay the fact that they were maybe looking to go out and, you know, "upgrade"?

That's what I want to know. Did the Mariners think there was a world where they could get Ketel Marte without giving up Cole Young? I don't know how that would've worked because those guys would not have worked together. If Cole Young and Ketel Marte were both here, what's happening? Ketel Marte is moving to third? Ketel Marte is the DH? Cole Young's the DH? Cole Young's moving to third? That would've been a clunky fit, especially if Ben Williamson had still been here as well.

So I don't know. I believe what Adam Jude was told, and I believe Adam's reporting. I just want to know if they're telling Adam the truth. Did they not want Ketel Marte because they so believe in Cole Young? Or did they not get Ketel Marte and now they're out here telling us how much they believe in Cole Young? I don't know.

And you know what? Maybe it's also just possible that the Mariners like Brendan Donovan better than Ketel Marte. That is very possible as well. And in fact, I think that that is probably the real answer to all of this. Brendan Donovan had positional flexibility that doesn't block Cole Young or Colt Emerson. He has two years of team control, not five like Marte did. And he's significantly cheaper than Ketel Marte is.

Ketel Marte is making $92.5 million for 5 years, 18 mil a year. Brendan Donovan's making 5.5 million this year, and if we have a baseball season next year, he'll make eight or nine probably.

So I think that that is probably the real story."

Just something to think about.... Young is the presumptive favorite at second base heading into the 2026 campaign while Donovan is the favorite to play third. 

The Mariners will play the Cleveland Guardians at 12:10 p.m. PT on Thursday in Cactus League play. Bryce Miller is on the mound.

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