Mariners Moose Tracks, 7/28/22: Andrew Benintendi, Mike Trout, and Edwin Díaz

The hot stove is lit as the deadline approaches and Seattle begins another series against the Astros. Here’s everything else you need to know today.

In Mariners news...

• Julio is a treasure, example No. 16,325:

• Joey at Pass The Everything wonders if Julio Rodríguez is the cultural sensation baseball has been waiting for.

Around the league...

• The Yankees got the hot stove rolling by acquiring outfielder Andrew Benintendi from the Royals for a trio of prospects. Benintendi, who is unvaccinated, reportedly agreed to get the shot in order to make himself available to play against the Blue Jays in a theoretical playoff series.
• The latest news on the Juan Soto front is that the Cardinals have been centering their conversations with the Nats around young infielder Nolan Gorman and just one of Jordan Walker/Masyn Winn. The team also plans to take on Patrick Corbin’s contract. If all of that is true, it will be extremely difficult for anyone to beat that offer, and certainly Seattle couldn’t without including important pieces of the big league club.
• Eno Sarris at The Athletic wrote about the potential consolation prizes for teams at the deadline that miss out on some of the bigger names. ($)
• Mike Trout is apparently dealing with a fairly rare back condition that makes the timeline for his return quite murky. Given that he is now over 30 and dealing with injuries, I wonder if he ever gets 600+ plate appearances in a season again.
• Russell A. Carleton at Baseball Prospectus attempted to answer the oft-asked question regarding the shift, “why don’t they just hit it the other way?” ($)
• Lookout Landing alum Matthew Roberson wrote about Edwin Díaz’s emergence as a New York sports superstar.
• Steph Curry...don’t quit your day job.

• The Astros are reportedly open to listening on offers regarding their “young, controllable starting pitching.” It would be strange to see them sell given their lead in the division, so perhaps they’re looking for a need-for-need kind of swap.

Anders’ picks...

• With a win tomorrow, Issaquah can become the first team in the state of Washington to go to the Little League Softball World Series.