SeaTown Sports Mailbag - Storm’s Missing Piece, M’s Trade Plans & More
Answering your questions about the Seattle Storm’s roster needs, Mariners trade deadline outlook, Huskies recruiting strategy, and the best stadium food in Seattle.
Welcome to the SeaTown Sports mailbag!
Thanks to all who submitted questions. Have a question for our next mailbag? Drop us a comment here, send us a tweet on X @SeaTownKev, @seatownels, @MarinerMuse or on Instagram @seatownsports_official.
As always, we’ve lightly edited questions for clarity and length. Let’s dive in.
Feels like the Storm is 1 piece away from being in the top tier of the W. If you had a magic wand, what player and position does the team need? -
Elsner: The Storm absolutely need an upgrade at the wing position. Even with the trade of Li Yueru, Seattle is stacked at the 4 and 5 with Nneka Ogwumike, Ezi Magbegor and Dominique Malonga. Skylar Diggins is holding down the point guard spot with Erica Wheeler and Gabby Williams bringing the ball up when Diggins is not in the game.
What the Storm lack is another Gabby Williams. They need a wing who can guard multiple positions, help them on the glass and hit an open shot. How easy are those to get in the WNBA? Not easy at all sadly.
The Storm have no cap room available with Jordon Horston, Nika Muhl and Katie Lou Samuelson all out for the season. The WNBA has a hard cap so unless the Storm can find someone to take Samuelson’s $90,000 as a dead hit, they can’t do much.
They should just play Malonga more.
Hey Kevin, how do you feel about #GivensToTheDub? - @dawg_fan16
Cacabelos: Well, it turned out to be #GivensToTexasA&M as Givens committed last weekend to the Aggies. For those that may not know, Tristian Givens is a five-star recruit from Georgia, who made a surprise visit to Washington on June 6. Since his visit, Huskies fans on social media started a campaign to get him to commit to the Huskies. Ultimately, Givens chose Texas A&M over both Washington and Tennessee.
Givens wasn’t the only heralded recruit to make a surprise visit to Washington this summer. Before Givens’ visit, five-star athlete Brandon Arrington took an official visit to Washington the previous weekend. Arrington, like Givens, ultimately committed to Texas A&M.
One might ask, is it worth it for Washington to spend energy on these high-profile recruits, knowing that there is a slim chance that they will choose your school? My answer is an unequivocal yes. Recruiting is a numbers game. It is worth it to go after high-profile recruits and arguably, Washington should be battling for these types of recruits anyways. By getting guys like Arrington and Givens to visit Washington, Fisch is attempting to send the message that Washington should be seen as a serious contender for high-profile talent. So, even if the Huskies weren’t able to land one of these five-star recruits, Washington should be on the agenda for future five-star recruits as a potential destination. Being in the conversation is a big step forward.
What do you think the M’s will do at the trading deadline? At what point do the Mariners become sellers? - @trevormuellersi
Leary: Starting with the second question, it doesn’t really make sense for the Mariners to become sellers. Despite their struggles over the past month, they remain in the muddled mix of mid that is the AL Wild Card race. On top of that, there isn’t a “step back” in their future, so trading valuable pieces under contract through at least 2026 such as J.P. Crawford, Randy Arozarena or Andrés Muñoz doesn’t make as much sense as merely having Crawford, Arozarena and Muñoz next year.
If they truly fell apart, they could sell players like Dylan Moore, Jorge Polanco or even try to get someone to take the rest of Mitch Garver’s money, but none of that would generate much of a return to bolster future seasons.
At the deadline, I expect the Mariners to “soft” buy. Last season, with a flawed lineup and bullpen, they invested prospects Jonatan Clase, Aidan Smith, Brody Hopkins, RJ Schreck, Jacob Sharp and Will Schomberg to add two bats, including Arozarena, and two bullpen arms. I don’t expect that level of investment this time around, as they’re stuck in the muddled middle and burned a significant portion of what they still had in their post-offseason budget on a -1.0 WAR month of Leody Taveras.
One thing I definitely expect them to do is acquire a first baseman, most likely one of the left-handed-hitting variety. There is a breadth of available veteran 1B bats available on seller-minded teams, including Nathaniel Lowe of the Nationals, Josh Naylor of the Diamondbacks, Ryan O’Hearn of the Orioles (who’s likely to start the All-Star Game at DH for the AL), Rhys Hoskins of the Brewers and possibly even old friend Carlos Santana, depending on how the Guardians fare. I’d say I’m 80 percent sure the Mariners will acquire one of those five. They’ll likely also add a veteran reliever. I don’t expect them to part with any of their Top 10-12 prospects, with the possible exception of toolsy young OF Tai Peete.
How bad are the Sounders going to do in the Club World Cup? It feels some of the investments to do better in this tournament are not panning out in the MLS and feels like this could be an embarrassment. -
1Elsner: The Sounders style of play and determination will allow them to be competitive in the Club World Cup. Of course, we saw this already with the Botofogo match, but I would expect similar results against Atletico and PSG. Will the Sounders get out group play? Absolutely not, but they won’t be embarrassed.
The second part of the question is more interesting to dive into. Jesus Ferreira has for sure been a disappointment. With only one goal on the season and 1.5 expected goals, Ferreira is simply not doing enough. However, Leo Chu’s 210 total minutes on a poor FC Dallas team doesn’t make me regret the transaction. Ryan Kent and Pedro de la Vega are good players who help the team have better quality overall on the offensive end. This team has the ability to go on a deep run in the MLS playoffs, especially if Jordan Morris can come back healthy.
What’s the best stadium food you’ve had at a Seattle sporting event? -
Leary: The Mariners have an impressive commitment to bringing the best of tasty local restaurants to concession stands. As commodified as ballpark food can be, their food program always manages to stand out compared to any stadium experience I’ve encountered elsewhere. The plate meals at Marination near the right field corner are probably my most consistent favorite, but earlier this season, I had a Japanese curry meal at the new Japanese stand that replaced Din Tai Fung on the third baseline that I couldn’t believe was so good.
Editor’s Note: This answer was written before the Sounders’ Club World Cup “run” ended this week.