The Mariners acquired left-handed reliever Caleb Ferguson from the Pirates for minor league right-hander Jeter Martinez. Righty Collin Snider has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move. Ferguson is playing on a one-year, $3MM contract and is a free agent at season’s end.
Ferguson, 29, is in the midst of a strong season with Pittsburgh. He’s pitched 43 1/3 innings and logged a 3.74 ERA with a 19.3% strikeout rate and 8% walk rate. He’s allowed only one homer on the season and kept just under 50% of his opponents’ batted balls on the ground.
While Ferguson isn’t a flamethrower who misses bats in bunches — he’s averaging 94.1 mph on his four-seamer this season — he avoids hard contact better than any other reliever in the game. Ferguson’s 83.5 mph average exit velocity is the lowest of any pitcher in Major League Baseball (min. 40 innings). His 25.2% hard-hit rate is second, trailing only Padres standout lefty Adrian Morejon.
Ferguson has pitched in parts of seven major league seasons. He’s totaled a 3.69 earned run average in 305 big league innings. The southpaw typically misses more bats than he has in 2025 (career 26.4% strikeout rate), but he’s currently sporting his lowest walk rate since the shortened 2020 season and has never limited hard contact as well as he’s managed to this year. Ferguson has been an absolute monster against left-handed opponents, limiting them to a pitiful .167/.257/.182 slash in 74 plate appearances. He’s also been strong against right-handers, however, holding them to a .250/.327/.354 slash. It’s not quite dominant, but this is his best production versus righties since 2022.
The Mariners have only had one reliable left-hander in their bullpen this season: Gabe Speier. They’ve given brief looks to Tayler Saucedo, Blas Castaño and Jhonathan Diaz, but no one from that group has even pitched five innings out of the big league bullpen. Ferguson gives skipper Dan Wilson a second southpaw option who, like Speier, can handle both lefties and righties.
Seattle is known to be on the lookout for high-impact talent at the back of the bullpen. Ferguson isn’t necessarily that marquee arm they’ve been seeking, but in all likelihood he’ll be just one of multiple relievers acquired. The Mariners are reportedly making a run at Twins closer Jhoan Duran and have also been tied to young, controllable bullpen arms in Colorado like Seth Halvorsen and Juan Mejia.
As for the Pirates, they’ll spin their low-cost investment in Ferguson into the 19-year-old Martinez. The 6’4″ righty, signed out of Mexico for a $600K bonus during the 2022-23 signing period, has started 16 games against older and more advanced competition with the Mariners’ Low-A affiliate. He’s struggled to a 6.18 ERA due in no small part to a 13.2% walk rate.
Martinez posted strong ERAs in prior seasons with the Mariners’ affiliate in the Dominican Summer League, however, and he’s shown plenty of ability to miss bats with a mid-90s fastball that can scrape triple digits. Baseball America ranked Martinez 22nd among Seattle prospects earlier this month. FanGraphs ranked him 15th in the system last month, where Eric Longenhagen praised that heater and a pair of secondary pitches (slider, changeup) that could be plus pitches. Command is the biggest issue, but Martinez is still more than two years away from needing to be added to the 40-man roster, so the Pirates will have awhile to try to rein in the free passes and keep him in the rotation. If a move to the bullpen ends up being necessary, it’s easy enough to imagine Martinez’s already impressive fastball playing up a bit further.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported the Mariners were acquiring Ferguson. Adam Jude of The Seattle Times reported that Martinez was going the other way.
Based on what other relievers are getting back, I would like to think we get something decent back.
Especially with everyone looking for relievers. Pirates should be getting a nice set of prospects by the time this trade deadline ends.
mlb1225, let’s not forget who on the Bucs is organizing the trade
We should have gotten more for Ferguson
Agreed, a 19 yr old righty in low A ball w/ 6+ era is not enough IMO for a low budget 29 yr old lefty who is good.
Cherington sucks.
Martinez is the same projectible type the Pirates take rounds 2 through 4 in every draft. Throwing mid 90s but could be high mid 90s when fully developed. If he can’t strike enough out he has the Priester floor of pounding the sinker. If that doesn’t work a move to the pen which could produce a high 90s fastball and if that doesn’t work then a Jared Hughes type ground ball specialist. Lot of options there. Kids 19. It’s a fair return. A strong return. Mets didn’t give up much more for a way better reliever. Received 2 prospects but with lower ceilings. Nationals traded 2 relievers and got whatever is slightly better than nothing. Pirates did much better than them.
Yes, and fwiw, Jeter Martinez’s velo is going up. He can touch 98 already, he’s just not consistently there yet.
Yeah, it’s bad. I know the return wasn’t going to be anything super great but they need bats. Not more arms. Just tells me there is no sense of urgency to do anything
You’re missing the most important point in your trade with Seattle. Their ability to spot and Develop young Pitchers is the envy of the League. Our best Pitcher this year (All Star) Bryan Woo was a 6th Rd pick, we have 4 other guys in our current rotation all developed in house- two 1st Rd picks, a 3rd and a 12th rd pick, Logan Evans.
You can’t possibly get an idea of what a 19yr old SP will look at the results of Jeter Martinez from this yr.
Oops! I meant to finish by saying I think you’re underestimating Seattle’s strength- picking and developing young Pitchers
You don’t trade for a worse position player just because they’re a position player. And trading for Martinez doesn’t mean you can’t flip him for a bat eventually. I mean, did you expect to get an MLB-ready bat in return for Ferguson? If you did, I think you need to check your expectations. He was signed to a one year contract for a reason.
@ayrbhoy
Unfortunately, he won’t get to pitch regularly in Seattle, where all pitchers look better than they are.
Ask Paddy Wack for your nick nack, you could have probably traded him for that.
I’m guessing a AA lottery ticket. Maybe 2.
He converted to pitcher from SS as an intl guy a couple years ago and was a big deal as he showed big improvement. Kind of leveled out, but the kind of raw talent that Pittsburgh can maximize. 15ish in the Top 30 rankings.
@cartography- I know Pitt has a great system, but Pipeline had him 13th in the M’s system, which I think is a tick deeper up top (but maybe I’m biased). Pitt’s elite guys (Griffin, Chandler) are a little more elite than ours (Emerson, Montes), but we have 6-8 top 100 guys depending on the source, and I’ve only seen 3 for the Pirates. I think Jeter Martinez slots in right in front of Brannigan at 11 on Pipeline. Awaiting fangraphs to update their rankings.
Just looked. Sounds about right and even higher. Harrington and especially Yorke shouldn’t be in top 10. Too low ceiling. Take Martinez over them at least Yorke nah even Harrington. I want impact though not just filler.
Seems like a 19 year old lottery ticket.
Yeah. But a fun one and a good system for a rental reliever.
Meh, could’ve been worse.
Tbh, I think it’s a good return. Martinez is struggling, sure, but the raw stuff is interesting and he was still thought of highly enough in our elite farm to be ranked in the 12-18 range. For a rental, I think it’s a good return. He’s no lottery ticket; he can be a major leaguer if developed properly.
Yeah, I’m fine with it. Definitley a project, but at least the Pirates have decent pitching development.
Yeah, can’t teach 6’4 with a 95 MPH fastball that touches 98. At 19, something to work with.
good pitching doesn’t score runs and this team needs offensive players not single A pitchers
Well, they’re out of it, and it’s likely no one was offering a better offensive prospect for half a year of a good-but-not-great reliever. You take what you can get. They can always flip Martinez later for offense.
Great point and tbh I’m sure some Pirates fans are forgetting or at least overlooking the fact that the Pirates are only giving up about 20 appearances by Ferguson (good Scottish name) this yr. For a Prospect with 6 yrs control if he makes the Bigs
Yes, and 20 appearances (20ish innings?) on a losing team, nonetheless. And this was a guy they signed late in free agency for a 1 year, $3M deal.
I think this was a win-win trade.
Indeed! Hope he gives us more value than Yimi Garcia did last yr
That name haunts me. Let’s hope he gives us A LOT more value than Yimi Garcia.
You spelled Jhoan Duran wrong.
That’s not Jhoan Duran. I keep hitting refresh to see where he’s going!
Phillies gave up 2 Top Prospects – their top Catching and 2nd best Pitching (M Abel) prospects. They held on to Painter
I wonder if my Mariners were in the discussion for J Duran, I wonder if H Ford and R Sloan is an “overpay” compared to the PHI package. I’ve seen Mick Abel but don’t know much about that PHI Catcher
Still a lot of RPers available for Seattle. I’d be over the moon if we could pry SF’s Randy Rodriguez. Happy with C Doval or Griffin Jax too
The Twins got two good minor league players but their closer has a couple years of control and is very good.
Tait is several years away so it behooves Abel to pitch very well.
The Pittsburgh Pirates……. Perpetual sellers.
they were buyers last year
I guess you weren’t paying attention attention
The man 3:
IKF & BDL?
Buyers?
Padre- We’re talking the Pirates here.
Even a tiny bit of buying is still not selling.
And iKF has been a good player for them.
Hey, two years away from being two years away. Get it straight
We needed another lefty reliever
Astros legend!
Pirates, Astros, Yankees, and Dodgers fans…. is he good?
Has an up & down career but pitching well this season.
Capable middle relief arm, can match him up against LHB
Good. Soft contact better than average ground ball rate solid walk rate. Usually great but occasionally trouble. Should be pleased with him. Perfect 6th 7th inning guy vs lefty part of lineup.
Pirates do NOT fit in that group of teams
I’ve always like him, he’s good. Big, strong guy with pretty good stuff. Meat and potatoes reliever – solid and reliable. What I like most about him – 9 playoff appearances and no earned runs allowed, so seems to be able to handle the big moments.
I’m cool with this. Not a world beater but a solid arm to fill the middle innings/match up vs. lefties with 2 outs. I’m thinking he’s on the lighter prospect return side, as well.
He’s a righty though. Haven’t looked at his splits. Are they opposite of normal RHP splits?
@Ron
If you mean Ferguson he is a lefty.
My bad. Was thinking he was a righty.
hes a lefty
maybe that’s why Darling isn’t in the Hall
Ferguson is a southpaw
As others have pointed out, Ferguson is a lefty my man. His splits aren’t drastically different, as he’s been pretty consistent throughout his career against all hitting, but lefties in particular struggle to reach base or hit for power against him.
They didn’t give up Martinez to have him face 1 lefty bat. He will start innings and is more than capable. But sure he could get that 1 lefty out when needed.
Ferguson 89 ERA-, 78 FIP-, 101 xFIP-
Projected for about a 3.5 r/9 the rest of the season.
Ok reliever. Nothing special.
Former Dodger
BTV rates Ferguson as $1;.1 million and Jeter Martinez as $2.8 million.
His K% is way down in 2025
26.4% for his career, 19.3 % in 2025. 25.9% was his lowest previous to 2025.
The 2.7% HR/FB rate seems unsustainable.
The .262 BABIP is low
There is some definite caution around this guy
Maybe, but he is in the 100th percentile of exit velocity, hard hit rate, and the 97th percentile of barrel rate. He should be expected to put up a low BABIP and HR/FB ratio.
Those things say what HAS happened
They may not say what WILL happen
Does anyone have any information on the sample sizes for those numbers and how the past predicts the future? I have no idea.
Gosh maybe you should click the link to Ferguson’s B-Ref page. It’s right there!
You’ve not understood.
The numbers are right there
The meaningfuless, or lack thereof, is not there.
Do you know how meaningful those numbers are? How well they predict the future?
I doubt it.
I do
Do share
BABIP and HR:FB ratio on their own also only tell you what has happened. BABIP tells you how many non-home run batted balls fell for hits, and HR:FB ratio only tells you how many flyballs became home runs. However, he does not have a high number in either because he is the best pitcher this year at limiting hard and quality contact.
His career HR/FB: 12.4%. This year 2.7%
His career BABIP: .308. This year .262
What changed? Is there any reason to believe this is anything more than sample size luck?
What sample size for hard contact is meaningful? Do you know? I don’t.
The sample sizes for HR/FB and BABIP are not meaningful, therefor, I do not expect them to continue.
2018-2024: 88 MPH exit velo, 36.1% hard hit rate, 5.2% barrel rate
2025: 83.5 MPH exit velo, 25.2% hard hit rate, 3.3% barrel rate
That’s what changed. Will he sustain that? Possibly. I think he could for the rest of this season, which he is only under conrtol for.
Career numbers are irrelevant. That’s why they have pitching coaches and fancy equipment. Players make adjustments tinker. When you allow soft contact and ground contact babip hrs should be low. If its hard contact then it is luck. You need to factor in many things. Each pitch what it’s doing and usage. The ballpark vs yours. Have at it. Too many trades and this one is too minor to look into deep. That soft of contact though babip hr shouldn’t be anything to be concerned about. I did look into why Priester is better with Brewers than Pirates if that interest you.
“If its hard contact then it is luck.”
Soft contact can also be luck. I threw enough bad pitches that guys missed to know that.
I’ve also seen enough bad pitches that guys missed to know that.
“I did look into why Priester is better with Brewers than Pirates if that interest you.”
Uh…sure
Soft contact would be the other direction though.
13.6 percent of time Pirates had Priester throw 4 seam fastball. Batters hit it at a .409 average.
With Brewers he no longer has a 4 seam fastball.
Sounds like it is a Ferguson for a # 13 prospect going to Pittsburgh
Seems like a reasonable trade, a good, but not great RP rental for a team’s #13 prospect. Pirates supposedly asking for a top 5 prospect for Bednar.
From which Top 100 list?
That’s what you mean? One team’s Top Five would not place any of them in another organization’s top 10.
As they should
This is a guy the Cubs supposedly were after.
Hoyer can do better and should…
baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/caleb-ferguso…
This is a quality move. LHRP with a low k rate, but does not give up hard contact. Mariners pride themselves on defense in a big park with the magical marine layer. Not splashy… not the big name being thrown around, but feel it’s fairly solid.
So much for Cherington’s claim that the trades would make the team better for next year
They did
Mariners fan here, big fan of Jeter Martinez the prospect..but this makes sense. He’s a lottery ticket Pittsburgh can dream on that the Mariners can expend to augment the big club today.
This guy would look good setting up Andres Munoz and Jhoan Duran
Could the reds not thrown in a lottery ticket to get Ferguson with Hayes?
Seems crazy, since pirates received a durable lefty Tyler Rogers from the reds, pirates will trade Rogers soon
Martinez more than a lotto ticket but it’s a prospect one could spare or find similar value to spare.
If you are going all out trading a no doubt SS for bad back not bat Hayes what’s one more prospect to get reliever.
Mets gave up 3 guys who have a chance to contribute at the ML level for the submariner who lost it for the Giants last night and pirates get another teen ager ??? Thats two trades today with minimal major league impact
Contribute. That’s the key word.
Rogers is elite and unique and durable.
Great trade for the Mets.
He got rocked last night don’t know what his control is but that’s a lot for him.
Nutting’s Wallet will win the trade deadline. Be sure of that.
I wouldn’t give up a guy called Jeter for Turd Ferguson.
Who is, Andre the Giant?
A Pittsburgh. Young projectible arm to work with. Biggest issue is control. Fix that they have a starter. If not there’s a good reliever floor there. Strong return.
C Seattle. Just paying the market price. Turds game is soft contact and limiting walks. He usually comes through for you.
Gonna miss him. He’s been a great arm for us this year and the bringer of many great Norm MacDonald gifs. Farewell Turd.
First off, do you even watch games with a comment like that? Second, even if bullpen wasn’t the biggest need, a trade isn’t bad just because it doesn’t fit another spot
No saving his job. It’s already been determined by now. Well with Nutting I guess you never know but selling players off shouldn’t move the needle. It’s the easiest thing a gm has to do.
Great trade by Seattle , good upside for both teams
Don’t need relievers if you can’t score runs!! Get Steven Kwan
Don’t need hitters if your pitching can’t stop the other team from endlessly scoring. BTW the Pirates won again today thanks to their pitching.
And playing a team like them without many good hitters.
You don’t lose games where the other team doesn’t score. There are multiple routes to winning games.
I agree with Doc Ellis, “Good pitching beats good hitting and vice versa.”
Good trade for both teams, I’m predicting. M’s really needed a solid lefty to supplement Speier and Saucedo wasn’t really getting it done. Legurmina and Thornton have to be next on the train to Tacoma as they trade for Doval, Rogers, or some other high end guy.
Can’t wait until 2031. I’m fired up.
Jeter=Pedro