The Seattle Mariners bullpen has the potential to be something special in 2026.

The Mariners have two-time All-Star closer Andres Munoz returning to the fold as well as high-leverage arms Matt Brash, Gabe Speier and Eduard Bazardo.

Seattle further added to its bullpen by adding high-leverage left-hander Jose Ferrer in a trade with the Washington Nationals last weekend. The Mariners sent a top 100 prospect, catcher Harry Ford, to the Nationals in return for Ferrer.

The deal gives Seattle another southpaw set-up man, which will take pressure off Speier and allow the Mariners to exploit matchup advantages more, but the deal was met with a mixed reaction from fans.

Ford was a first-round pick of Seattle in 2021 and made his major league debut this past season. He would have been the primary backup to starter Cal Raleigh in 2026 but wouldn't have received everyday opportunities unless he became the club's go-to designated hitter.

In a recent episode of the "Refuse to Lose" podcast, hosted by Roundtable Sports' Brady Farkas, ESPN insider Buster Olney shared his belief that the Mariners traded Ford at the perfect time.

"In terms of what they gave up, I feel like they traded Harry Ford at exactly the right time," Olney said on the podcast. "I made some calls on this, talked to some different people. We weren't gonna have the situation with the Mariners that we way we do with, just for example, the Atlanta Braves where they have Sean Murphy and they have Drake Baldwin and they're very happy to have those two guys basically catch 81 games apiece and split some time at (designated hitter). That was never going to be the case for Harry Ford. He is considered to be more of an offensive player than a defensive player. He was not going to get better catching 40 games in the big leagues. Cal Raleigh is still going to be the primary guy, is going to get the bulk of the games, the Mariners are a better team when he's catching. I know in their internal conversations the Mariners were like 'You know what? Harry Ford's not going to have an opportunity to get better at the thing he needs to get better at. So we might as well take advantage of his value now rather than see that further away.' So they wind up getting a really, potentially, high-impact, left-handed set-up guy."

The full conversation between Farkas and Olney can be found here:

ESPN MLB Insider Buster Olney On If We Should Be Worried About Polanco + Trading Harry Ford Refuse to Lose - a Seattle Mariners Podcast · Episode

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