Major League Baseball's trade deadline is scheduled for next Thursday (July 31), meaning that teams have less than a week to get their midsummer shopping done. The Mariners made the first notable transaction of the mad season on Thursday night,

A potential Red Sox trade target was swiped off the board Thursday, and by one of the teams neck and neck with Boston in the wild card hunt.

The pair was always intended to be a stopgap solution but, as Alex Cora said: "You put them both in the blender, it’s a good first baseman.”