THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: M's help in a stunning source

We haven’t tried anything crazy in a while.

So …

It’s about time.

As background, there’s less than a week to go until the MLB trading deadline.

In case you haven’t been marking the days on your calendar, the magic moment is coming up Tuesday at 6 p.m. PDT.

It’s a given that the Mariners will make some type of move.

Maybe more than one.

In fact, Seattle boss Jerry Dipoto’s has a well-earned reputation has a guy who will pull the trigger, and then do it again.

Jerry isn’t afraid of big deals, either.

However …

If you’re thinking the Mariners are in the mix for Washington superstar Juan Soto, I’m sorry, but you’re going to be disappointed.

The Mariners have worked too hard to build a farm system that makes success sustainable, and they’re not going to tear the whole thing apart for one outfielder.

The goal right now is taking the first step to relevance, and that means making the playoffs.

DIPOTO MADE the statement a couple of weeks ago that he suspects the unusual nature of this particular deadline will cause chaos in the final 48 hours.

Why?

Well, first of all, you have those two extra wild-card teams that have been added to the mix — creating hope for more teams in a final dash to October.

So, instead of a roughly equal number of buyers and sellers, you have a handful of teams who are sitting right around .500 and wondering. …

It’s crazy, and as Dipoto suggests, it probably won’t sort itself out until the very end, when teams realize it’s now or never.

The Mariners have hauled themselves right into the middle of the AL wild-card hunt, and in fact, they’d be a playoff team if the season ended today.

They are just starting the most brutal stretch of their schedule — a gauntlet in which nine of their next 12 games are against Houston or the Yankees, by far the league’s two best teams.

Look at this as a playoff preview.

Excitement is going to build the rest of the way, and Dipoto is trying desperately to wake up on the morning of Aug. 3 and say, “We’re in about as solid a position as it’s possible to be without tearing up the farm system.”

It’s no secret that the Mariners have one glaring need — another starting pitcher.

To this point, the current rotation has been terrific.

Robbie Ray, Marco Gonzales, Logan Gilbert, Chris Flexen and George Kirby have been the best — and most reliable — five starters in baseball for more than two months.

None have an ERA over 4.00, which is actually amazing.

THE KEY, though, is Kirby.

He may be a true star before long, but the rookie righthander already has pitched 96 innings (counting his stints in the minors), which is more than the total of his prior two seasons as a pro.

The Mariners don’t want to shut down Kirby.

No, they want to ease his workload so he can be on the mound for meaningful games near the end of the season — and hopefully, the playoffs.

Remember that I said it was time to do something crazy?

OK, it’s almost insane to try guessing exactly which pitcher from the teeming herd that the Mariners will acquire — but I’m going to try it.

Tarik Skubal.

You probably don’t know the name, but Skubal is a lefthander with the Tigers — one of the few teams that are outright sellers.

Skubal is 25 and another big kid (like most of the Mariners starters) at 6-3 and 240, and he attended Seattle University.

He’s just in his third year in the majors, and he’s quietly improved each season.

UNLIKE KIRBY, Skubal has built up his arm through 294 big-league innings and, in fact, leads the AL with 20 starts so far this season.

Skubal’s numbers are decent (3.67 ERA, averaging a strikeout per inning and only 2.4 walks/9), but what I really like is that he learning how to pitch.

Skubal gave up 35 home runs a year ago, and that number has been shaved to nine so far in 2022.

Perhaps the best thing, if you believe in this kid, is that he would be under team control until 2027 — so ready to step right into next year’s rotation, and well beyond that.

Ah, so what would Seattle have to give up to land Tarik Skubal?

Less than if it were Luis Castillo, but enough to hurt.

Surely the Tigers would want one of Seattle’s top young infielders, Noelvi Marte or Edwin Arroyo — and they could logically request Jarred Kelenic.

Ready for that?

Now we’re down to negotiation, though, which is Jerry Dipoto’s ballgame.

In any event, Skubal is my lottery ticket.

Let’s see about a deadline miracle, eh?

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press three times each week. He also writes Zags Tracker, a commentary on Gonzaga basketball which is published monthly during the off season, and weekly beginning in October.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”