After a tough loss against the New York Mets on Wednesday, the Seattle Mariners enter Thursday's off day at 33-30 and leading the American League West by two games. 

Though the Mariners appear to have the righted the ship during their recent eight-game win streak, there are still questions about the roster and areas where the team can improve ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline: Can they become more consistent defensively? How about against left-handed pitching? Can they add another piece to the bullpen? 

There's no doubt that Jerry Dipoto and Justin Hollander are scouring the market trying to get a gauge on if there's anything to be done on any or all of those fronts, but ESPN's Jeff Passan stepped in with an interesting trade target idea on Thursday: Reliever Rico Garcia of the Baltimore Orioles.

A 32-year-old native of Hawaii, Garcia is in his sixth major league season with his seventh team. He's played with the Colorado Rockies, San Francisco Giants, Orioles, Oakland Athletics, Washington Nationals, New York Mets, New York Yankees and Orioles again.

For his career, he's 4-4 with a 4.02 ERA, but this year? He's gone 3-0 with a 0.68 ERA, striking out 30 batters in 26.1 innings.

First off, the Mariners have a goal to make the playoffs again - and win the World Series. As much as the playoffs are about starting pitching, they are really about the strength of your staff as a whole. If the M's can build a "bullpen of death," with Andres Munoz, Matt Brash, Jose Ferrer, Gabe Speier, Eduard Bazardo and Garcia, then you're talking about a group that can provide Dan Wilson with matchups nightly and cover games should it be necessary.

Secondly, Garcia is affordable. He's on a league minimum deal still and is under contract through 2030. The Mariners wouldn't be just acquiring him for this season, they'd be acquiring him for 3.5 seasons - at a good price.

Well, relievers are incredibly volatile. Remember when the Mariners acquired Yimi Garcia from the Toronto Blue Jays in 2024 and Caleb Ferguson from the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2025? Neither of those pickups worked out, and do the M's want to buy high on a 32-year old journeyman?

If they are in a position to win the World Series? Then maybe. But how steep will the cost be?

Interestingly enough, the M's will get a first-hand look at Garcia on this upcoming road trip. The M's will play the Detroit Tigers for three games before playing Baltimore for four and the Washington Nationals for three.

You can listen to the latest 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast here, or you can watch the episode on YouTube. The episode features Anderson Hirst of 93.3 KJR and the Locked on Mariners Post-Cast. The next episode comes out on Thursday.

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