The Seattle Mariners are poised to be buyers at the MLB trade deadline, hoping to land pieces to upgrade the lineup in the middle of a playoff hunt. For that to happen, many MLB executives believe one of Seattle’s top prospects will be traded.
Jim Bowden of The Athletic polled executives around the league about which top MLB prospects are likeliest to be moved this summer at the MLB trade deadline. Mariners prospect Harry Ford was voted the second likeliest to be dealt.
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“Ford was mentioned second-most by a considerable margin. Most of those execs believed that, because of the Cal Raleigh’s long-term contract, Ford is the most valuable and expendable prospect in Seattle’s strong farm system. The Mariners are looking for a corner infield power bat, and it would make sense to dangle Ford, who was the No. 12 pick in the 2021 MLB Draft. He is batting .307/.421/.473 with nine homers and 46 RBIs this season in Triple A.”
Jim Bowden on the Seattle mariners potentially trading Henry Ford
Ford, age 22, was the 12th overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft. He’s currently rated by MLB.com as the fifth-best prospect in the Mariners’ farm system and the 56th-best prospect in all of baseball.
The 5-foot-10 catcher is performing very well at the plate this season with Triple-A Tacoma. Through his first 233 at-bats, Ford boasts an .877 OPS with a .305/.418/.477 triple-slash line, collecting 43 RBIs and 71 hits in 65 games.
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However, Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh is under team control through 2033 and is providing All-Star production at the plate with Gold Glove-caliber defense behind it. There’s no viable spot for Ford, making him expendable for Seattle.
He could certainly be of interest to teams like the Colorado Rockies, Washington Nationals, Cleveland Guardians, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Oakland Athletics. The Mariners are known to be targeting a power-hitting corner infielder, and Ford’s potential availability could net them a middle-of-the-order bat under team control for multiple seasons.
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