5:30pm: The M’s have now formally introduced their acquisition of Ferguson. Righty Collin Snider has been designated for project because the corresponding transfer.
4:19pm: Minor league right-hander Jeter Martinez goes to the Pirates within the commerce, experiences Adam Jude of the Seattle Occasions.
4:13pm: The Mariners are buying left-handed reliever Caleb Ferguson from the Pirates, experiences Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. He’s taking part in on a one-year, $3MM contract and is a free agent at season’s finish.
Ferguson, 29, is within the midst of a robust season with Pittsburgh. He’s pitched 43 1/3 innings and logged a 3.74 ERA with a 19.3% strikeout price and eight% stroll price. He’s allowed just one homer on the season and stored slightly below 50% of his opponents’ batted balls on the bottom.
Whereas Ferguson isn’t a flamethrower who misses bats in bunches — he’s averaging 94.1 mph on his four-seamer this season — he avoids exhausting contact higher than every other reliever within the sport. Ferguson’s 83.5 mph common exit velocity is the bottom of any pitcher in Main League Baseball (min. 40 innings). His 25.2% hard-hit price is second, trailing solely Padres standout lefty Adrian Morejon.
Ferguson has pitched in elements of seven main league seasons. He’s totaled a 3.69 earned run common in 305 massive league innings. The southpaw sometimes misses extra bats than he has in 2025 (profession 26.4% strikeout price), however he’s at present sporting his lowest stroll price because the shortened 2020 season and has by no means restricted exhausting contact in addition to he’s managed to this 12 months. Ferguson has been an absolute monster in opposition to left-handed opponents, limiting them to a pitiful .167/.257/.182 slash in 74 plate appearances. He’s additionally been sturdy in opposition to right-handers, nonetheless, holding them to a .250/.327/.354 slash. It’s not fairly dominant, however that is his greatest manufacturing versus righties since 2022.
The Mariners have solely had one dependable left-hander of their bullpen this season: Gabe Speier. They’ve given transient seems to Tayler Saucedo, Blas Castaño and Jhonathan Diaz, however nobody from that group has even pitched 5 innings out of the large league bullpen. Ferguson provides skipper Dan Wilson a second southpaw choice who, like Speier, can deal with each lefties and righties.
Seattle is thought to be looking out for high-impact expertise behind the bullpen. Ferguson isn’t essentially that marquee arm they’ve been searching for, however in all probability he’ll be simply one among a number of relievers acquired. The Mariners are reportedly making a run at Twins nearer Jhoan Duran and have additionally been tied to younger, controllable bullpen arms in Colorado like Seth Halvorsen and Juan Mejia.
As for the Pirates, they’ll spin their low-cost funding in Ferguson into the 19-year-old Martinez. The 6’4″ righty, signed out of Mexico for a $600K bonus throughout the 2022-23 signing interval, has began 16 video games in opposition to older and extra superior competitors with the Mariners’ Low-A affiliate. He’s struggled to a 6.18 ERA due in no small half to a 13.2% stroll price.
Martinez posted sturdy ERAs in prior seasons with the Mariners’ affiliate within the Dominican Summer time League, nonetheless, and he’s proven loads of skill to overlook bats with a mid-90s fastball that may scrape triple digits. Baseball America ranked Martinez twenty second amongst Seattle prospects earlier this month. FanGraphs ranked him fifteenth within the system final month, the place Eric Longenhagen praised that heater and a pair of secondary pitches (slider, changeup) that could possibly be plus pitches. Command is the largest problem, however Martinez continues to be greater than two years away from needing to be added to the 40-man roster, so the Pirates can have awhile to attempt to rein within the free passes and hold him within the rotation. If a transfer to the bullpen finally ends up being vital, it’s simple sufficient to think about Martinez’s already spectacular fastball taking part in up a bit additional.
