1:12pm: The Mariners and Red Sox are making progress on a trade that would send Miley to Seattle, Rosenthal now tweets.

11:41am: The Mariners and Red Sox are in trade talks centering around one of Boston’s starters, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link). It’s not clear precisely which player is being targeted, according to Rosenthal, but it’s believed to be either Clay Buchholz or Wade Miley, he adds.

Dipoto is familiar with both pitchers to varying degrees after his recent stint as a senior adviser in the Red Sox front office. However, his ties with Miley date back to his days with the Diamondbacks; Dipoto was Arizona’s interim GM in 2010 and was the club’s director of scouting when Miley was drafted in 2008, so it stands to reason that he sees a good deal of things to like in Miley’s arm.

The Mariners are known to be eyeing rotation upgrades — Dipoto has said as much — but recently lost out on their top target, right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma, who agreed to a three-year deal worth a reported $45MM in guaranteed money. Dipoto has been far and away the most active GM on the trade market this winter, so it’s hardly a surprise to see him further linked to upgrading his roster in that fashion.

Miley, 29, is guaranteed a total of $15.25MM over the next two seasons and has a $12MM club option for the 2018 season on his contract, making him a highly affordable option. Buchholz, too, is reasonably affordable, as he’s owed $13MM for the 2016 campaign. He’s controllable through 2017 via a club option.