ORLANDO, Fla. – All’s quiet here at the MLB Winter Meetings.
For now.
As of Monday evening, no transactions had been completed on the first full day of the league’s annual convention, and everyone – executives, agents, media types – is waiting on the first domino to fall.
“I talked to a bunch of people from other clubs today and everyone said, ‘Wow, it is quiet right now,’” Mariners GM Justin Hollander said late Monday afternoon inside the team’s suite at the Waldorf Astoria Orlando. “I don’t know if this is the calm before the storm for everybody, but I think it’s generally pretty quiet industrywide over the last 48 hours.”
Still seeking more bullpen upgrades
Bump into enough Mariners folks here in the hotel lobbies and hallways and a clear picture begins to emerge about the team’s weekend acquisition of Jose Ferrer.
They are, in a word, giddy.
In Ferrer, the Mariners landed what they say was their preferred trade target to fortify the bullpen, and the 25-year-old lefty will step right into a prominent late-inning role next season.
“We feel like we got the No. 1 trade target on our list,” club president Jerry Dipoto said. “Like, this was the guy that, if we could dream the dream, who would you want to acquire? This was the guy we were looking to acquire.”
This wasn’t the first time the Mariners had tried to pry Ferrer away from the Washington Nationals.
Back at the trade deadline in 2019, when Ferrer was a 19-year-old pitching in rookie ball, the Mariners had asked for him in a deal for veteran right-hander Hunter Strickland. The Nationals balked at Ferrer, and the Mariners settled on another lefty reliever, Aaron Fletcher, in a one-for-one swap of Strickland.
“I actually went back through our notes for almost every year on the offseason survey that we do as a group, and his name [Ferrer] has come up, and this year it was just all over the place,” Hollander said. “It’s just a really good fit for what we needed in the bullpen, which we felt like another high-leverage reliever, ideally from the left side. Just unique stuff [with] the ability to do things that most guys can’t do – sink it at 98 [mph] with a really good changeup and a very good slider.
“I think what stands out for him is usually when you’re talking about that ‘stuff’ skill set, you’re talking about having to rein it in to throw strikes, and he just fills the zone up with strikes, particularly with a sinker. [And he] throttles lefties.”
The Mariners traded Harry Ford, a 22-year-old catching prospect, and minor-league pitcher Isaac Lyon to acquire Ferrer.
Ferrer had 11 saves for the Nationals this year, with a 4.48 ERA in 72 games.
“We think that the surface [statistics] really does a disservice to how good he actually is today and how good he could be in the future,” Hollander said. “And obviously [he’s] just 25 … so getting that kind of stuff set at his age is pretty difficult to acquire, and something we felt like was a potential difference-maker us.”
The Mariners now have a second lefty to complement Gabe Speier in the bullpen, and manager Dan Wilson has another option to turn to late in games, along with Speier, Matt Brash, Eduard Bazardo and, perhaps, Carlos Vargas as a bridge to Andrés Muñoz.
“To have seven, eight and nine (innings lined up) with the guys that you’re talking about and the power that you’re talking about is huge,” Wilson said. “And it does set you up for shortening the game a bit. So I’m really, really excited with the way things have shaped up, and this trade was big for that.”
The Mariners aren’t done adding to their bullpen, either.
Dipoto said the Mariners have had conversations with a handful of veteran free-agent relievers and he expects to close on a deal at some point.
“We will continue to add to our bullpen, in all different ways, like we always have,” Dipoto said.
Ford stunned by trade
Wilson said he called Ford after the young catcher was traded over the weekend.
Wilson was a minor-league catching instructor when the Mariners drafted Ford in the first round in 2021, and the two developed a close relationship.
In Ford, Wilson sees a bit of himself.
In November 1993, the Cincinnati Reds – who had drafted him in the first round in 1990 – traded Wilson to Seattle, where he would get a chance to catch every day and eventually blossom.
Wilson hopes the same for Ford with the Nationals.
“We all love the kid,” Wilson said. “I talked to him on the phone, and he’s getting traded at a very similar time in his career that it was when I was traded in my career. … And I think for him, there is a great opportunity for him … and I’m excited for him.”
Ford said he was shocked by the trade.
“It hit me pretty hard,” Ford told Nationals media members on a Zoom call Monday morning from Oxford, England. “They called me, and I was OK. Then I was with my mom, and I was pretty sad just about all I’ve known as the Mariners and the relationships and the people that have been around there. It definitely hit hard knowing I’m not going to see them anymore, or consistently.”
Ford was home in Georgia when he got the call alerting him of the trade. He then traveled to England to visit family.
With the Nationals, Ford is expected to get a chance to have a regular role, an opportunity he wasn’t going to get in Seattle with Cal Raleigh entrenched.
“I love that I’m going to get a chance to fight for a spot on the team,” Ford said. “I know the other catchers, [Keibert] Ruiz and [Riley] Adams, and so I’m really glad and excited to get to work with them as well. But I am thankful for the chance to be, I guess, a little more in the conversation than in Seattle.”
M’s in market for backup catcher
After the Ford trade, the Mariners are in the market for a reserve catcher, and club sources say they would be open to bringing back Mitch Garver to serve as Raleigh’s backup.
Raleigh is the only catcher currently on the Mariners’ 40-man roster, and Hollander said the backup catcher will be an “external” addition. The Mariners could also explore a small trade for a backup catcher.
“It’ll definitely be a priority for us as we go forward here,” Wilson said. “Obviously, Garv did such a great job for us last year, and the two of those guys (Raleigh and Garver) work together very well. …
“The way Cal developed last year, the amount that he caught, it’s a role that is going to be pretty unique [for a backup], but I’m excited to see where we land with it.”
Garver, who turns 35 in January, is one of the more proven catchers available on the free-agent market.
Garver had signed a two-year, $24 million deal with the Mariners before the 2024 season with the idea that he would be the regular designated hitter.
He struggled at the plate in ’24 and was primarily used as the Mariners’ backup catcher this year. He appeared in 87 games this season and has been lauded for his work with the pitching staff.