McClendon not worried about A's trade

CHICAGO -- While the A's made a big move to improve a team already leading the American League West on Friday night with the acquisition of pitchers Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel from the Cubs, Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said his club needs to continue on its own path in what quickly has turned into one of the toughest divisions in baseball.

"Obviously those are two fine young pitchers and they did a nice job of pulling that one off," McClendon said prior to Saturday's 3-2 win over the White Sox. "They're a good team. Their record indicates that and they've gotten better. I don't think that really changes anything as far as we're concerned. We just have to continue going about our business and doing what we do."

The Mariners have been one of baseball's biggest surprises with their 48-39 start, and they were 5 1/2 games back of the A's in third place in the AL West before Oakland's game Saturday. The Angels (49-36) and Mariners currently are in position as the two Wild Card teams with nearly half a season to go.

"We're playing good baseball and we've got a chance to do something, and we'll see how it works out," McClendon said.

With the July 31 non-waiver Trade Deadline looming, there will be plenty of speculation and some actual deals that take place in the coming weeks. The Mariners certainly would be interested in acquiring a right-handed bat to help their lineup, with White Sox left fielder Dayan Viciedo one possibility being mentioned already in the rumor mill.

McClendon said he and general manager Jack Zduriencik are always discussing possibilities, but he knows it's not an easy process.

"Jack and I talk every day about ways to improve our club," McClendon said. "But you have to understand, it takes two to tango. It has to make sense. This organization has a bright future. We have a tremendous Minor League organization with a lot of good prospects. And I don't think Jack or upper management is ready to sell the farm, so to speak, for rental players. And I don't blame them. I wouldn't do that either.

"It has to be the type of trades that make sense for this organization and continue to move us in the right direction. Do we have challenges? Yeah. Are we trying to fix them? Yeah. But we'll just see."

McClendon said the number of teams still feeling they're in contention makes for a tight trade market.

"The problem we have now is the second Wild Card," he said. "There are so many teams still involved and nobody is willing to make those trades. So it makes it very difficult because teams consider themselves still in it, and probably rightfully so. We have to be very intelligent about what we do and how we go about our business."