On Saturday night, the Boston Red Sox traded left-handed pitcher Connelly Early to the Washington Nationals for infielder Curtis Mead.

Early is a solid, young lefty who is under team control for the next five years. He's shown flashes of excellence, and currently sits at 7-5 with a 3.44 ERA, though his FIP of 4.61 suggests he's gotten a little lucky this year.

Regardless, controllable starting pitching is hard to get, and the Nationals got it in this deal for Mead, a former top prospect who has bounced around before hitting 17 homers with Washington this season.

He's under team control for the next four years and is hitting .254 this season with the 17 homers and an OPS+ of 135.

Undoubtedly, it's been a good season for Mead, who had just five career homers before this season.

Put all this together, and this is bad news for the Seattle Mariners.

Why?

Because this deal is viewed through public perception as an overpay by Boston, and that's backed up by mathematical models too.

So, the Mariners, in desperate need of a right-handed hat to help save this sinking season, as well as to help the future, now have an idea of what it will cost.

We've heard the Mariners connected to Casey Schmitt, another player who has broken out this season with years of team control left. Does that mean the Mariners have to trade a group of prospects it doesn't want to? Does that mean the M's have to move Emerson Hancock, an already established starter, for a guy who has two-thirds of a good season in his career?

That would be a tough pill to swallow, but it's the position the Mariners have put themselves in through a poor first 105 games that has seen them go 51-54 and fall to 2.5 games back in the American League West.

Seattle has dropped to third place in the West, shockingly behind the Houston Astros, and the chances of getting back to the playoffs appear slim. If they don't want to overpay and to hold their guys, that's fine, but it probably means more of the same frustration is coming over the season's final two months.

While we're writing about the team adding at the trade deadline, there are a fair number of fans who want to see the team actually sell at the deadline.

And that would be a major disappointment after the team entered the season with so much expectation.

The trade deadline is Aug. 3.

The Mariners and Rangers will play on Sunday at 11:35 a.m. PT. Logan Gilbert will pitch against Jacob deGrom.

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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