The Seattle Mariners took care of one of their most pressing needs of the offseason by acquiring some high-leverage reliever help Saturday.

The Mariners acquired left-handed pitcher Jose Ferrer in a trade with the Washington Nationals. The deal gives Seattle another potential closer option in a pitch with solid swing-and-miss stuff and a high ground ball rate. Ferrer also gives the M's another southpaw set-up man aside from Gabe Speier.

And Seattle might not be done adding to the bullpen.

A recent article published by AJ Eustace of MLB Trade Rumors explored potential suitors for high-leverage right-handed reliever Luke Weaver, who's a free agent after spending the last two seasons with the New York Yankees.

The Mariners were listed as a potential suitor for Weaver. The article had the following assessment about Weaver's potential fit at T-Mobile Park:

The Mariners’ bullpen was middle-of-the-pack in 2025, with a 3.2 fWAR that tied for 17th in the league and a 3.72 ERA that ranked 9th-best (albeit with half their games in the pitcher-friendly T-Mobile Park). Andrés Muñoz, Gabe Speier, and Matt Brash all posted ERAs under 2.70 with strong peripheral stats, including strikeout rates above 29.0%. Beyond those three and Eduard Bazardo, the unit could use some more depth. Carlos Vargas pitched 77 innings in 2025 but was worth -0.6 fWAR thanks to a meager 16.3% strikeout rate and weak peripherals. Trent Thornton, Collin Snider, and Casey Legumina covered 117 1/3 innings in total, but all three had ERAs over 4.50. Reuniting with Weaver (he pitched 13 1/3 innings for Seattle in 2023) would improve the bullpen’s strikeout ability, while the spacious T-Mobile Park could provide cover for his fly ball tendencies.

The former first-round pick and starting pitcher posted a 3.62 ERA this past season with 72 strikeouts in 64.2 innings pitched across 64 appearances. He had 21 holds and eight saves in 12 opportunities. The year before, he had a 2.89 ERA and fanned 103 batters in 84 innings across 62 outings.

In 2025, Weaver generated a chase rate of 32.8%, a whiff rate of 31% and a strikeout rate of 27.5%, according to Baseball Savant. Those marks placed him in the 91st, 89th and 83rd percentile in baseball, respectively.

Weaver's xERA (2.98) ranked in the 90th percentile of the major leagues.

Weaver boasts a four-pitch mix of a four-seam fastball, changeup, cutter and slider. The only of the four offerings opponents hit better than .219 against was Weaver's cutter (.333 opp. batting average). Weaver threw his cutter just 98 times across all of last season.

Weaver, 32-years-old, has a market value of two years, $19.85 million ($9.9 AAV), according to Spotrac. That projected salary falls within the rumored money Seattle has available to spend this offseason ($11.5-16.5 million).

More Mariners stories

Seattle Mariners Bid Farewell to Harry Ford in Social Media Post

Seattle Mariners Should Focus on Protecting Farm System, According to MLB Insider

Seattle Mariners Deal Harry Ford to Washington Nationals

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

Remember to join our MARINERS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Mariners fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!