Seattle Mariners traded away key player Paul Sewald to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for infielder Josh Rojas and top prospects outfielder Dominic Canzone and minor leaguer Ryan Bliss.
The move was interpreted as Mariners shifting its focus to the next season, but manager Scott Servais insisted they are not giving up their 2023 playoffs aspirations just yet.
The Mariners are fourth in the American League West conference, but they are only 4.5 games behind the wildcard spot and 5.5 games behind the top spot occupied by the Texas Rangers.
"Players never want to see a guy like (Sewald) walk out the door," Servais said of their latest decision.
"But you have to wait and see what comes in the door. There's a lot of ways of improving your team and giving your team a better chance maybe to make a run at the playoffs and hopefully the guys we acquired can come in and help us."
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Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto also defended the trade, saying the three new players balanced their roster.
"Each brings something a bit different to the field with athleticism being a common denominator," Dipoto stated.
"We feel like this deal makes us a deeper, more well-balanced team, both now and moving forward."
Strong second-half push for Seattle
The Mariners went undefeated in their last three series: 2-1 vs. the Diamondbacks, 2-1 against the Minnesota Twins, and 2-1 against the Toronto Blue Jays.
They will host Boston for three games and travel to Los Angeles to slug it out with the Angels for four straight games.
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