With just 24 hours before the MLB trade deadline, a flurry of deals started to come through today — Ke’Bryan Hayes to the Reds, Tyler Rogers to the Mets, Luis Garcia to the Angels (really), and Willi Castro & Jhoan Duran to #HugWatch.
Of course, Jerry Dipoto didn’t want to miss out on the fun.
The Mariners bolstered their bullpen and added a second lefty to complement Gabe Speier by acquiring Caleb Ferguson from the Pittsburgh Pirates. In return, they sent Jeter Martinez to the Buccos, generally considered
a top-20 prospect in the system.
Ferguson isn’t near the top of the market for relievers, unlike Duran or David Bednar, and the return matches that. But he’s quite a useful player who has improved his peripherals and his numbers this season after signing a one-year deal for $3m this past offseason.
His journey to the big leagues has been circuitous, to say the least; originally a 38th round pick by the Dodgers back in 2014, he hit his stride in 2017 (140 K in 122.1 innings in A+), and after some more success in 2018 he made his MLB debut later that year.
For much of his career, his numbers have been fairly non-descript, coming into 2025 with identical ERAs & FIPs (3.68) and a 10.9 K/9 rate. His profile has changed dramatically this year with his strikeout rate plummeting to 7.1 K/9. However, the results have been splendid. He’s running the second-best WHIP of his career (1.085) and reduced his walk rate, all while finding the success that he enjoyed prior to a messy 2024.
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He enters a bullpen with just one lefty, Gabe Speier, and reduces the need for the M’s to acquire another reliever. It doesn’t mean the Mariners should or will be done — he’s far from a marquee move — but the team has a bit more leverage now if it does try to make a more complex deal.
Ferguson isn’t someone who will put the team over the top. He’s a helpful add, not a game-changing one, and I imagine fans will be massively disappointed if this is the final move for Dipoto & Justin Hollander, especially given the top-heavy depth that the farm system has.
More from lookoutlanding.com:
- 40 in 40: Mike Leake
- Mariners Moose Tracks, 1/1/18: New Year, Edgar Martinez, and J.D. Martinez
- Mariner Moose Tracks, 12/31/17: Edgar Martinez, Barry Bonds, and Sandy Koufax
- Mariners Moose Tracks, 12/30/17: Edgar Martinez, Miguel Sano, and Wade Davis
- Jerry Dipoto doesn’t care about your fan theories
- Sporcle Friday: Most Walks in a Season
- Mariners Moose Tracks, 12/28/17: 4MOM, Jose Altuve, and Michael Fulmer
