Intriguing Former Seattle Mariners Prospect Latches on with Boston Red Sox

Former Seattle Mariners prospect Jorge Benitez has inked a minor league deal with the Boston Red Sox.

The information comes from the Rotowire fantasy baseball portal:

Benitez signed a minor-league contract Friday with the Red Sox.

ANALYSIS
Benitez broke the news himself on Instagram. The 24-year-old right-hander posted an impressive 1.95 ERA with 82 strikeouts over 64.2 innings of relief between the High-A and Double-A affiliates of the Mariners in 2023, though he did issue 44 walks along the way. Command has been an issue throughout his minor-league career.

Those are intriguing numbers for Benitez so it's understandable why the pitching-starved Red Sox are interested. Under new Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow the Red Sox appear determined to fix their pitching woes. They are widely expected to be major players on the free agent market this offseason but are also clearly scouring all corners of the baseball world for talent.

Boston finished last in the American League East last season and missed the playoffs for the second consecutive year.

As for Seattle, Benitez seems expendable. Not because he's not good, but because the Mariners already have one of the best pitching staffs in baseball. There just isn't room for him at the major league level and the team has proven capable of molding minor leaguers into capable big leaguers. They've done that with Matt Festa and Drew Steckenrider and Paul Sewald and Justin Topa, among others, over the last few years.

Seattle finished third in the American League West and missed the playoffs by 1.0 game.

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