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This would've been huge.

The Seattle Mariners made a couple huge splashes before the MLB trade deadline at the end of July.

Turns out, they nearly made another.

The one spot Seattle didn't do a ton of upgrading was its bullpen. Except, they were close.

"The Mariners believed they were on the verge of acquiring Jhoan Duran until the Phillies swooped in and upped their offer to Minnesota."

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Duran is one of the most dominant relief pitchers on the planet. He throws a devastating sinking fastball that can get up to the low-100s.

The Phillies traded quality prospects to get Duran, and his arrival fired up the Philadelphia fanbase.

Duran had a 2.01 ERA with the Twins before getting traded.

In five appearances so far with the Phillies, he's yet to allow a run.

Duran did hurt his foot in his last outing on a comebacker, but it sounds like the Phillies avoided the worst.

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Reports on Sunday indicated Duran is ready to return to pitch.

The Mariners have a quality closer in Andres Munoz, but bullpen depth is something every contender would take more of this time of year.

Josh Naylor has been a great trade deadline pickup. Eugenio Suarez homered on Saturday, which the Mariners hope can help snap him out of his funk.

But if they had a fireballing, new closer, too? That'd be quite intimidating for everyone standing in the Mariners' way.

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Category: Baseball

Mariners nearly traded for one of MLB's most dominant pitchers