Most of this offseason, the Seattle Mariners were tied to two players in trade conversations: Ketel Marte from the Arizona Diamondbacks and Brendan Donovan from the St. Louis Cardinals.

Marte is a three-time All-Star who originally began his career with the Mariners and is regarded as one of the best second basemen in the major leagues.

Donovan was coming off his first career All-Star selection with the Cardinals last season, was under team control under his rookie deal through 2027 and had utility-player-level versatility that fit well with Seattle's roster construction.

The Mariners opted to push to acquire Donovan and were successful. He currently projects to be the team's third baseman.

According to a recent article from Adam Jude of the Seattle Times, there's a particular reason why conversations between Seattle and Arizona didn't progress: current M's second baseman Cole Young.

According to Jude, talks between the Mariners and Diamondbacks failed to move forward due to the prior's unwillingness to trade Young.

The former top 100 prospect made his major league debut in 2025 and was given runway to be the team's starting second baseman for a majority of the year.

Young slashed .211/.302/.305 with a .607 OPS and hit seven doubles, a triple and four home runs with 24 RBIs in 77 games.

Young went through a slump after mid-August and ended up losing the second base job to Jorge Polanco, who has since left to join the New York Mets.

Despite his slump, Seattle still has faith in the 22-year-old. He entered this spring as the front runner to start at second base come Opening Day. He reported to the team's spring training complex in Peoria, Ariz., notably stronger. According to Jude's story, Young was motivated, in part, by end-of-season words from franchise superstar Julio Rodriguez, who told the young infielder he needed to be better this season.

"I think that just showed (Rodriguez's) leadership. For me it did," Young said in Jude's article. "I remember him saying like, 'I want more. This is not enough. I want to make it farther next year.' ... As soon as it ended, he was already saying that. Like, he’s gonna work hard to win a World Series and he’s gonna push other people to help. I thought that was awesome."

Young won't be handed the job. Donovan and top 100 prospects Colt Emerson and Michael Arroyo are all getting looks at second this season and the Mariners are open to having someone else take over at second if they feel that's what's best.

Remember to join our MARINERS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Mariners fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!