CHICAGO — About 16 hours after completing the biggest trade of the Major League Baseball offseason, the Mariners made a second trade Friday afternoon to bolster their bullpen.
The Mariners have announced the acquisition of veteran reliever Yemi Garcia from the Toronto Blue Jays, who is generally considered the best relief player on the market.
This came one day after the Mariners added the best hitter available on the market, Randy Arozarena, in a trade with Tampa Bay.
Arozarena and Garcia are scheduled to arrive in Chicago Saturday morning and should be in Mariners uniform for their second game of the series against the White Sox on Saturday night.
“They’re both veteran players,” Mariners coach Scott Servais said Friday afternoon. “They’ve been around this league and had a lot of success. So when they get here, hopefully they’ll give us a boost.”
The Mariners have signed rookie midfielder Jonathan Klass, 22, to Toronto as the main trade piece for Garcia.
Class, who was ranked the Mariners’ No. 13 prospect by Baseball America, hit for a .195 batting average with an OPS of .453 in his first 41 major league at-bats this season.
The Mariners are also sending minor leaguer Jacob Sharpe to Toronto to complete the deal.
Garcia, 33, a right-handed pitcher, provides help at the back of a relief bullpen that has become thin in recent weeks.
Considered one of the best arms available in the bullpen, Garcia had a 2.70 ERA with five saves, 42 strikeouts and a 0.80 WHIP in 30 innings with the Blue Jays this season.
Garcia will be a free agent after this season.
Mariners reliever Trent Thornton was Garcia’s relief pitcher in Toronto in 2022 and part of 2023.
“Yemi is one of my best teammates, he’s a special guy, he shows up on the pitch and works hard every day, he’s just amazing,” Thornton said. [on the mound]”Absolutely fantastic arm. Ready to throw every day. Very, very good choice.”
On Wednesday, Gregory Santos, the Mariners’ newest right-hander, left the game in the eighth inning with a knee injury.
Servis gave an encouraging update on Santos’ condition. Servis said the results of an MRI scan on Santos’ knee were “good.”
Santos was scheduled to train with the team on Friday afternoon, and Servis is hopeful that Santos will be available to play on Saturday.
Notes:
– Saturday’s game will be broadcast exclusively on Fox national television (4:15 p.m. PT) with Mariners broadcaster Aaron Goldsmith and former White Sox player AJ Pierzynski on the call.
— It was announced Friday that the Mariners’ Aug. 11 game against the New York Mets (at T-Mobile Park) has been selected for ESPN Sunday Night Baseball, with first pitch moved to 4:10 p.m. PT. It will mark the first Sunday night broadcast in Seattle since June 6, 2004 (vs. the White Sox) and the first Sunday night broadcast of any Mariners game since July 31, 2016, at the Chicago Cubs.
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