Mariners trade rumors involve both Taylor Ward and Willson Contreras

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The Seattle Mariners would love to find another talented right-handed hitter to add to what is already a pretty strong lineup.

And as the trade deadline approaches, the AL East Division might be the one that provides some options.

In a new article on Thursday, ESPN's Jeff Passan names some trade possibilities for each team.

For the Mariners, he names Orioles outfielder Taylor Ward as the "best match" and Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras as the "dream match."

Ward, formerly of the Angels, has been a solid player for a Baltimore team that is still performing below expectations.

"Ward is the best of the likely accessible bunch, and he is a completely different player than the 36-homer slugger last year. Only Mike Trout, Nick Kurtz and James Wood have higher walk rates than Ward's 16.5%," Passan writes. "With Rob Refsnyder's failure to serve as the right side of a platoon and neither Victor Robles nor Buddy Kennedy the answer, Ward's on-base ability and relative lack of strikeouts would be an improvement."

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Contreras is having a career year at the plate, but the fact that he wouldn't help in the outfield could limit the way Seattle could benefit from him.

"The most meaningful upgrade would come from Contreras, who has been one of the 10 best hitters in baseball this season," Passan writes. "At the same time, the Mariners taking an already-crowded first-base/DH situation and adding Contreras would put pressure aplenty on manager Dan Wilson to navigate playing time and egos. Compound that with Contreras' ability to block any trade and this is the sort of dream that will be tricky to manifest in reality."

Seattle was nearly to its first-ever World Series last season before coming up a tiny bit short.

For the Mariners to get over that hump this season, an upgrade is definitely warranted. They'll have to spend the next month or so making that happen.