THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Waiting for the news, no news, or a move

This is a great job.

Super great, in fact, except for …

One of those rare, rare days/nights when plenty of big news or exciting events are just about to happen — and I have to write before anything gets to the finish line.

Like right now, for instance.

The MLB trade deadline is 3 p.m. today, and obviously, I have to start typing on Monday night.

What will the Mariners do (or not), besides the already completed trade of closer Paul Sewald and the less-meaningful move of AJ Pollock?

Oh, but there’s more news churning around, frustrating me because the timing isn’t quite working out.

So far.

The U.S. women’s soccer team is playing a surprisingly critical World Cup group game against Portugal — at midnight tonight.

Oops, I mean, midnight last night.

Monday night.

See, you already know what happened down in New Zealand by now, but I’m stuck at the laptop just a few hours BEFORE kickoff.

And finally, we have the fate of Pac-12 (or Pac-9), which almost certainly will be decided sometime in the next day or so.

Commissioner George Kliavkoff must deliver a bona fide media rights deal to the remaining schools — along with a solid plan for expansion — or the whole thing could fall apart.

NO ONE has used the word “deadline” for the fate of the Pac-12, a conference with more than a century of history, but there are schools that have made it clear they want an answer.

This week, or else.

Arizona has been rumored to be full-blown itchy to follow Colorado out the door if Kliavkoff can’t come up with a deal, pronto.

I don’t necessarily believe that about UA, but I DO believe that things can’t stay in limbo much longer.

Much more than a few days could be terminal, if you believe sources close to the various university presidents.

I’m still hopeful that the conference I watched for so much of my early life will hang together.

(Maybe I shouldn’t have used the word “hang” in that sentence, eh?)

Seriously, there’s plenty of reason to feel optimistic — as long as something useful happens soon.

Even if expansion comes first (SMU, San Diego State, University of Guam, yada, yada), Kliavkoff may pull this off if he has stitched together a decent media agreement.

Think about it …

Washington and Oregon want to reach the expanded playoffs, and they have a far better chance in the slimmed-down Pac-10 or Pac-12 than they did with USC lurking around — or they would in the expanded Big 12.

The powerhouse Big Ten would be the least tempting of all, if the CFP and a date with Georgia is your dream.

In fact, NOBODY remaining in the Pac-12 has a deep yearning to leave, unless the media rights are a mess.

Here’s where we are, courtesy of a tweet from retired Fox Sports Networks president Bob Thompson …

“If I was looking at the Pac-12 as a buyer, I want to know which schools are in and who is coming in, and when. Then we can talk money.”

One last item, courtesy of a few believable sources.

The Pac-12 WILL consider Gonzaga for expansion, because of the need for a national brand.

Food for thought.

We’ll know a lot of it this week.

NO, WE didn’t find a hard deadline in that look at the conference showdown.

But there’s absolutely a finish line for baseball’s buyers and sellers.

We’ll know how bold the Mariners chose to be by midday — although you can assume that whatever business they considered, it was with the future in mind.

Sure, there’s still a chance to make a miracle run and grab a wild-card spot this year, but the math is terrible.

The biggest problem (assuming the Mariners are capable of playing well) is that they have to leapfrog too many teams.

And those other wild-card candidates not only have been strengthening where they can, they spend a lot of time playing each other.

That might sound good, but …

In fact, it’s frustrating because it cuts down the chances that a FEW teams can go on losing streaks.

MLB Insider Jon Morosi was a guest on Seattle radio last week, and made the point that the Mariners were “playing the long game,” refusing to panic and rip up the organization over one maddening season.

Morosi said you could count on Jerry Dipoto to be thinking of 2024 and beyond at this deadline.

Sure enough, the deal sending Sewald to Arizona was exactly that sort of move.

I’d write off shipping Pollock to the Giants for a player to be named later — but recall, Matt Brash arrived via that route.

SEATTLE’S return on the Sewald deal was interesting and very likely useful.

Outfielder Dominic Cantone is a slightly built kid with surprising power — but even better, he puts the ball in play.

Cantone slapped the winning single against Andres Munoz last Saturday in Arizona’s 4-3 win, the kind of hit the Mariners have been missing all year.

Infielder Ryan Bliss is a rising prospect who played in this year’s Futures Game.

Only utility man Josh Rojas doesn’t seem to have much value.

Oh, and if Dipoto really wants Sewald to help win in the future, he’s a free agent this fall.

I’d call that a very good trade, and now …

I just have to wait to see what happens at the deadline.

Just like everybody else.

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Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”