THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: These boys will hunt for October

Jerry is rolling the dice.

No more shuffling the deck chairs, just to hunt for a couple more wins.

This time around, the Mariners marched up to the trading deadline like big boys, and …

Ka-boom!

Everyone had assumed that whatever moves Seattle made to beef things up for the final two months of the season, it would be all about ending the drought.

Like, the ultimate goal — simply playing in the postseason for the first time in 21 years.

The thing is, though …

I don’t believe that’s what Jerry Dipoto had in mind when he turned loose four of the franchise’s most prized prospects to land gleaming righthander Luis Castillo.

No, this looks a whole lot more as though the Mariners actually have grander ambitions.

Almost everyone else has a simple view …

The battle to become the American League’s participant in the World Series has come down, in the words of one pundit, to a two-horse race.

And, indeed, the Astros and Yankees not only have records to lap the field, each of those clubs added strength just ahead of the deadline.

HOUSTON grabbed power-hitting Trey Mancini from the Orioles and reliever Will Smith from Atlanta.

The Yankees filled out their rotation with Oakland’s Frankie Montas, and tacked on a bullpen arm, as well.

Wow!

Meanwhile, the Mariners are limping along with four of their best hitters all hurting.

Julio Rodriguez, Ty France, and Mitch Haniger can’t play, and Kyle Lewis is just now finding his timing after missing almost the entire season.

But, I did mention Jerry was rolling the dice, yes?

He’s gambling that his offense will find its rhythm during this run to the finish line, as Julio and Ty come back, as Lewis and Haniger deliver some impact for the first time all year, and the Mariners will seriously start to score.

And if they do …

Ah, now we have an entirely different scenario, with Castillo atop the rotation and the arms of Robbie Ray and Logan Gilbert right behind him.

Remember how they’ve wanted to curb the innings of gifted rookie George Kirby?

OK, now picture Kirby perhaps giving you two or three middle innings in a playoff game.

That massive trade with Cincinnati, painful as it was to lose prospects you’ve developed and imagined playing at T-Mobile Park, puts Castillo in a spot to lead a terrific pitching lineup for ANY playoff series.

In fact, we can see Castillo pitch today, against Gerrit Cole, as the Mariners — still gasping after that 8-6 victory on Tuesday — try for a startling series win in Yankee Stadium.

Yes, the M’s have to keep the pedal on the metal, game after game, and drive through a comparatively easy schedule once this series with the Yanks (and three more back in Seattle) are complete.

Consider: The Mariners' last 20 games are against the Angels, Oakland, Kansas City and Texas.

They have every opportunity to snap the playoff drought, and — trust me — the Mariners would be a truly dangerous wild-card entrant in the AL sweepstakes.

(Yes, they’d have to keep Ray away from the Astros, who have just pounded him twice in a couple of weeks — after almost two months of Robbie being almost untouchable, by ANYONE.)

But if that outlier is all you’re worried about while offering up plenty of sensational pitching — starters led by Castillo, and a healthy bullpen — you can relax and just be a damn tough out in a short series.

ALL THAT hollering about adding an impact bat — like Ian Happ or J.D. Martinez — simply blew out to Puget Sound and far beyond this time around.

And yet, here’s another place where I think you can trust me …

Dipoto wants to stop this postseason dry spell as much as anyone, but at the same time he’s peeking ahead to 2023.

All six starting pitchers will remain under contract.

The only free agent issues will be Haniger (how he plays and feels will decide that one), Adam Frazier, and …

That’s it, except for those right-at-the-wire pickups that you knew Jerry would target.

They were sensible moves, too, considering that the clock was ticking.

Curt Casali (from San Francisco) will be a valuable backup catcher, considering that Cal Raleigh is going to need some rest and Luis Torrens — who hit 14 home runs last year and has NONE this season — is a complete bust.

Casali, 33, is recovering from a right oblique strain and has just about finished a rehab assignment.

AMONG other good vibes, Casali played three seasons with the Reds and caught 27 of Castillo’s starts.

“He fits that veteran backup catcher role,” Dipoto said via video conference. “He works very well with pitchers.

He’s got some know-how.

“He’s played in the postseason. He fits what we do and how we do it.”

Good pickup, and so might be lefty-hitting Jake Lamb (Dodgers), once a bona fide bomber with Arizona.

Lamb hit 29 homers with 91 RBIs in 2016, then made the All-Star Game in ’17 with 35 big flies and 105 driven home — along with 87 walks to prove a discerning eye.

Problems arose in 2018 when Lamb needed season-ending shoulder surgery, and in ’19 he had a problem with a quadriceps muscle.

After that, he traveled more than the Ice Capades, turning out for Oakland, the White Sox, Toronto and then the Dodgers.

Nobody gave him more than a job as a spot starter or occasional DH, but the funny thing is that it looks like he can still hit.

For the Sox last year, he got just 113 at-bats, but managed six homers and drew 17 walks.

Carlos Santana … “The Sequel.”

THEN YOU have Matt Boyd, who has been in The Show for seven years and pitched in 149 games — all but 14 for Detroit.

Boyd has a bizarre history, since he’s been both fabulous and awful, and neither for any stretch of time. There have been several seasons when he’s pitched to contact, and another when he led the AL in strikeouts (but also gave up a whopping 39 home runs).

Still, the Tigers handed him the ball twice on Opening Day, and he once came within a single out of pitching a no-hitter — broken up by Tim Anderson.

Curiously, Boyd was his sharpest last year, posting a 3.89 ERA, until stricken with a flexor tendon injury.

The Giants took a flier on him, offering a one-year deal for $5.2 million (I told you he was well-respected, despite a career ERA of 4.96).

So far, he hasn’t thrown a pitch in 2022, but they think he’s close to going on a rehab tour — so perhaps the Mariners can use his craft out of the bullpen late in the season.

Are these classic Dipoto “last second” moves, or what?

Basically, the haul this year consists of a few interesting pieces (although Casali is truly important) and one of the top five pitchers in baseball.

You surprised?

This year and next are going to be a lot of fun, but since you’re not all that used to pennant races and playoff games …

They’re gonna test your nerves.

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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 offseason, 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.”