....when I read the line from the Mariner official saying "we don't NEED a SS." Of course we don't. We have Marte AND O'Malley (who was the better of the two last season). It's not like we don't have SS's sitting around.
But all hints, most not-so-subtle, have been that the M's are indeed buyers wandering the aisles of the SS Costco. We just have not yet found the right deal. But we dang near pulled off a Cozart swap last season so I'm pretty sure the Cincy front office isn't fooled much by our claims that we're not really in the SS market. Heck, they probably spit their coffees onto their keyboards when they read that.
It would be refreshing if our guy just said, "Heck yes, we want Cozart! He's a fine player, but we're not breaking our farm piggy bank to trade for his one season*. There are other options out there that still allow us to improve and to let Marte season for a season in Tacoma."
Cryptic is boring, this fall particularly.
*Isn't it two, really....if we QO him after the '17 season?