Cincinnati Reds shortstop Zack Cozart was nearly dealt to the Seattle Mariners prior to MLB’s August 1st non-waiver trade deadline for two minor league prospects, but the two sides just simply ran out of time to complete the deal.

The trade was largely unable to be completed because the Reds were busy drawing up additional medical paperwork that was needed to trade right fielder Jay Bruce to the Mets. The off-season of course negates the ‘running out of time’ possibility when a trade is not done.

That’s why the two sides are expected to revisit trade talks this off-season, per Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune:

All signs point to a renewal of talks with Cincinnati regarding Zack Cozart, whom the Mariners nearly acquired just prior to the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline. If a deal again stalls, the Mariners are likely to expand their search.

Seattle’s 5th best prospect per MLB Pipeline in left-handed pitcher Luiz Gohara would’ve been in the trade originally, so that gives us an idea of the price of Cozart on the open market right now. The 31-year-old Cozart is only under contract for the 2017 season before headed to free agency.

It has also been reported that the Mariners believe that 22-year-old shortstop Ketel Marte would be better off in a bench role for the 2017 season, which means that Marte still has a great chance to be the Mariners’ shortstop of the future even if the Cozart trade goes down. Seattle has used a similar process with James Paxton and Mike Zunino to help them flourish eventually.

Cozart batted .252/.308/.425 with 16 homers and 50 RBIs in 121 games for the Reds this season. He is a career .246/.289./.385 hitter.

[twitter-follow screen_name='tony_montalto' show_count='yes']