After the Seattle Mariners signed Josh Naylor to a five-year, $92.5 million contract in November, the team's remaining needs were clear: second base, third base and bullpen help.

The Mariners took care of one of those needs Saturday.

Seattle acquired left-handed reliever Jose Ferrer in a trade with the Washington Nationals in return for top 100 catching prospect Harry Ford and right-handed pitcher and 2025 draft pick Isaac Lyon.

Andrew Golden of the Washington Post was the first to break the news.

This past season with the Nationals, Ferrer posted a 4.48 ERA with 71 strikeouts in 76.1 innings pitched across 72 appearances. It was Ferrer's first season with more than 39 outings after making his major league debut in 2023. He had 21 holds and 11 saves in 15 opportunities.

Ferrer's xERA (expected ERA) was far below what he finished with. He had an xERA of 3.61, which ranked in the 69th percentile of baseball, according to Baseball Savant.

A big reason for the discrepancy between Ferrer's xERA and actual ERA is his ground ball rate. Ferrer generated a ground ball rate of 64.3%, which ranked in the 99th percentile of baseball. Ferrer also has an average fastball velo of 97.7 mph (94th percentile) and walk-rate of 4.9% (95th percentile).

Ferrer balances his high-velocity fastball with two solid secondary offerings. Opponents averaged just .221 against his changeup and .105 against his slider, respectively. Ferrer had a whiff rate of 47% and a put-away rate of 25.4% with his changeup; and a whiff rate of 52.5% and a put-away rate of 26.7% with his slider.

Ferrer gives the M's another high-leverage left-handed option out of the bullpen and will take some pressure off fellow southpaw Gabe Speier. 

Ferrer's acquisition comes at the expense of one of the most beloved prospects within the Mariners organization.

Ford was selected in the first round of the 2021 MLB Draft out of high school. He made his major league debut this season, but was blocked from consistent playing time due to American League MVP finalist Cal Raleigh and backup Mitch Garver both being on the roster.

In eight games in the majors this season, Ford scored one run and had an RBI. He slashed .167/.250/.167 with a .417 OPS in six at-bats.

This past year with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers, Ford scored 68 times in 97 games and hit 18 doubles and 16 homers with 74 RBIs and slashed .283/.408/.460 with an .868 OPS.

With Garver being a free agent, the expectation for Ford was that he'd be the team's backup catcher in '26 with the opportunity to earn more at-bats at designated hitter.

Lyon was a 10th-round pick by Seattle in this past year's draft out of Grand Canyon. He made four appearances (all starts) with the Single-A Modesto Nuts and posted a 7.30 ERA. He fanned 15 batters in 12.1 innings pitched.

Ferrer is still in pre-arbitration and is estimated to earn $820,000 according to Spotrac. Ford was estimated to earn the same amount, which leaves the Mariners roughly $11.5-$16.5 million to address the remaining needs at second and third base.

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