If the Seattle Mariners are going to make a big trade this offseason, there’s now one indication of who it could be with.

Here’s who Mariners could take at No. 3 overall in 2025 MLB Draft

MLB Network insider Jon Morosi reported Wednesday that per a source, the Boston Red Sox “are working to acquire one of the Mariners’ starting pitchers.” That comes on the heels of the Red Sox making a blockbuster deal with the White Sox for All-Star pitcher Garrett Crochet earlier Wednesday.

Seattle Times Mariners reporter Adam Jude had his own report shortly after, posting on social media that “Boston has been persistent in its pursuit of one Seattle’s starters.” He added that a hypothetical deal that would send Mariners pitcher Luis Castillo to the Red Sox for first baseman Triston Casas would “seem to make sense for both sides.”

Alex Speier, who covers the Red Sox for the Boston Globe, followed up on that, splashing some water on the fire at least when it comes to the names.

“Asked a source if there were legs to a deal involving Triston Casas for Luis Castillo,” Speier wrote on social media. “The answer was straightforward: ‘No.’”

So while specific names haven’t been pinned down yet, it at least seems clear that the Red Sox are interested in a trade for a Mariners pitcher. The level at which Seattle is interested, however, remains to be seen.

The M’s have been steadfast about wanting to keep their starting rotation intact, in particular their four youngest starters: All-Stars Logan Gilbert and George Kirby, and recent breakout pitchers Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo. Seattle president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said trading one of the Mariners’ young starters this offseason would be “Plan Z” when talking to the media at the end of the 2024 season, and he spoke this week at MLB’s winter meetings more about looking to trade from the team’s well-stocked farm system than from the big league club (click the link below for that story).

Dipoto shares how Mariners are being ‘very aggressive’ on trade market

It has been a quiet offseason thus far for the Mariners, who have made a minor addition in corner infielder Austin Shenton and expressed their interest in pursuing Japanese star pitcher Roki Sasaki, who was posted by his Nippon Pro Baseball team as available to MLB clubs this week.

The biggest news of Seattle’s offseason came Tuesday when the Mariners surprisingly ended up with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft despite entering the draft lottery with odds that put them most likely to get the 14th pick.

More on the Seattle Mariners

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• The Mariners will have a strong pitch for Japanese star Roki Sasaki
• Salk: The three Seattle Mariners to watch as surprise trade candidates
• Dipoto shares how Mariners are being ‘very aggressive’ on trade market
• Salk: No thanks on a Seattle Mariners trade for 3B Alec Bohm

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The Seattle Seahawks’ secondary is about to get some reinforcements for the home stretch of the regular season.

On Wednesday, the team announced that cornerback Artie Burns and safety K’Von Wallace have been designated for return to practice. Burns has been on injured reserve since mid-October due to a toe injury suffered against the San Francisco 49ers, whereas Wallace suffered an ankle injury in Week 9 against the Los Angeles Rams. This was Wallace’s first week of eligibility to return, whereas Burns could’ve been activated since Week 12.

Both players have a 21-day practice window to be activated off injured reserve and onto the active roster. If neither one is ready to return within that window, then they will revert to IR and be done for the season.

Burns has been primarily a special teams player and backup nickel corner, whereas Wallace started the season as the third safety behind Julian Love and Rayshawn Jenkins. Coby Bryant has assumed the role of starter alongside Love, while Jenkins is the third safety. It’ll be interesting to see what role, if any, Wallace has in the defense upon return.

The Seahawks will have to do some roster shuffling in order to get those two and reserve tackle Stone Forsythe back on the active roster. Forsythe is entering his final full week of his practice window and hasn’t yet been activated off of IR.

Fellow backup tackle George Fant, guard Anthony Bradford, and nose tackle Cameron Young are the other Seahawks players on injured reserve. NFL teams can only activate eight players off of injured reserve within the regular season, and the Seahawks are currently at six. You can do the math in terms of who may not be back for the regular season, but keep in mind playoff teams are allowed two more activations off of IR.

Sparked by a midseason turnaround on defense, the Seattle Seahawks have rattled off a four-game win streak to surge into first place atop the razor-tight NFC West.

Unexpected Impact: 4 Seahawks key to surge back atop NFC West

With four weeks remaining in the regular season, Seattle holds the division lead at 8-5. The Los Angeles Rams are one game behind at 7-6, while the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers are both two games back at 6-7.

The NFC West is the only division in the league where all four teams are still realistically alive for the division title. All four NFC West teams are within two games of each other, whereas each of the other seven divisions have at least a four-game gap between their first-place and last-place teams.

According to ESPN’s Football Power Index, the Seahawks have a 52% chance to win the NFC West and 55% chance to reach the playoffs. The Rams have a 32% chance of winning the division, followed by the 49ers at 9% and the Cardinals at 7%.

Here’s a closer breakdown of the NFC West race. All odds and strength of scheduling rankings are according to ESPN.

Seattle Seahawks

Record: 8-5

NFC West title odds: 52%

Division record: 3-2

Head-to-head: 2-0 vs. Cardinals, 1-1 vs. 49ers, 0-1 vs. Rams

Remaining schedule: vs. Packers (9-4), vs. Vikings (11-2), at Bears (4-9), at Rams (7-6)

Remaining strength of schedule: 8th-hardest

Breakdown: The Seahawks are in the driver’s seat of the NFC West race, but their next two games are against Green Bay and Minnesota – who own two of the four best records in the NFC. The good news is that both matchups are at home, but Seattle is currently the underdog in both games, according to ESPN’s FPI. The Seahawks’ regular-season finale against the Rams could very well end up being a de facto NFC West title game, especially since Los Angeles currently holds the head-to-head tiebreaker after beating Seattle on the road in Week 9.

Los Angeles Rams

Record: 7-6

NFC West title odds: 32%

Division record: 2-1

Head-to-head: 1-0 vs. Seahawks, 1-0 vs. 49ers, 0-1 vs. Cardinals

Remaining schedule: at 49ers (6-7), at Jets (3-10), vs. Cardinals (6-7), vs. Seahawks (8-5)

Remaining strength of schedule: 13th-hardest

Breakdown: At the moment, the Rams are the biggest threat to the Seahawks. Los Angeles is just one game behind Seattle and currently holds the head-to-head tiebreaker after beating the Seahawks in Week 9. The Rams travel to face the 49ers on Thursday night, which will have major implications on the NFC West race. If the Rams win, they would put themselves in position to move into first place with a Seahawks loss to the Packers on Sunday night. The Rams then have a favorable matchup the following week against the 3-10 Jets, while Seattle faces 11-2 Minnesota that same day.

Arizona Cardinals

Record: 6-7

NFC West title odds: 7%

Division record: 2-2

Head-to-head: 1-0 vs. Rams, 1-0 vs. 49ers, 0-2 vs. Seahawks

Remaining schedule: vs. Patriots (3-10), at Panthers (3-10), at Rams (7-6), vs. 49ers (6-7)

Remaining strength of schedule: 28th-hardest

Breakdown: The Seahawks beat Arizona twice in the past three weeks to sweep the season series and secure the head-to-head tiebreaker between the two teams. That means Seattle’s two-game lead over Arizona is essentially a three-game lead, which would be very difficult for the Cardinals to overcome – even with their favorable closing slate.

San Francisco 49ers

Record: 6-7

NFC West title odds: 9%

Division record: 1-3

Head-to-head: 1-1 vs. Seahawks, 0-1 vs. Rams, 0-1 vs. Cardinals

Remaining schedule: vs. Rams, at Dolphins, vs. Lions, at Cardinals

Remaining strength of schedule: 7th-hardest

Breakdown: The injury-plagued 49ers are currently in last place, but they could surge right back into the mix if they beat the Rams on Thursday night – especially with the Seahawks facing challenging opponents the next two weeks. Many wrote off the 49ers as the injuries continued to pile up during their recent three-game losing streak. But as they showed with their emphatic 38-13 rout of the Bears on Sunday, the defending NFC champions can’t be counted out just yet.

Seattle Seahawks news and analysis

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