Two lethal lefties should give the Mariners' bullpen a major edge in 2026
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As the Mariners became entangled in the free agent frenzy of this offseason, the club also made a trade that could have a significant impact on their potential success in 2026. However, at the time, it seemed to draw more attention to who the M's gave away rather than who they acquired. For now, that makes sense. But by summertime, Seattle should see plenty of success out of the swap,
On December 6, the Mariners acquired left-handed relief pitcher Jose Ferrer from the Washington Nationals in exchange for catcher Harry Ford and pitcher Isaac Lyon. The transaction raised a few eyebrows in the Seattle fan base, as Ford was a fairly popular prospect who many envisioned as the team's backup and a potential long-term replacement for Mariners' mega star Cal Raleigh.
Mariners GM Justin Hollander on the difficult decision to trade MLB’s No. 42 prospect Harry Ford for Jose Ferrer:
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) December 12, 2025
“Harry's path for development in the Big Leagues was going to be tougher and we love Jose Ferrer.”
MLB Network + @SageUSAmerica pic.twitter.com/QKZVDUS4pp
Unfortunately for Ford, the team lost faith in his abilities to develop at the big-league level, and it made him expendable. Instead, they moved on and looked for a short-term solution by signing Andrew Knizner to a one-year deal.
For the M's, Ferrer is a better fit when it comes to mapping out their upcoming season. The 25-year-old southpaw has a career record of 8-4 with a 4.36 ERA and 121 strikeouts in 142.1 innings pitched. He's a fireballer, with a fastball that has previously been clocked at 98 mph. And he will have a perfect partner in the 'pen with fellow port-sider Gabe Speier,
Speier and Ferrer will be a formative pair
Last season, Mariners manager Dan Wilson had to juggle how and when he used Speier in 2024, particularly in the postseason. And he stuck to that strategy as closely as possible, due to Speier's proven ability in pressure situations. The 30-year-old veteran had stellar stats last season; he went 4-3 with a 2.61 ERA and 82 strikeouts in 76 appearances.
Matching him with the Mariners' newest reliever gives the skipper a lot more options heading into 2026, a season where the franchise looks to repeat as division champions and improve on their 90-win total of a year ago. Mariners GM Justin Hollander believes the duo could be dominant, and he discussed Ferrer's value to the club when the trade was made.
Jose Ferrer after 7/1 last season had the lowest xFIP (1.59) vs LHH in MLB (min. 10 IP).
— The Couch GM (@The_Couch_GM) December 20, 2025
The Mariners will head into 2026 with 2 of MLB's top 8 LHP RP via 2025 xFIP (min. 50 IP) in Gabe Speier (3rd with 2.83) & Jose Ferrer (8th with 3.09).
The Mariners needed another lefty RP,… pic.twitter.com/WHN6xkQHDj
“What stands out for him,” Hollander said, “is usually when you're talking about that stuff set, you're talking about having to rein it in to throw strikes -- and he just fills the zone up with strikes, particularly the sinker."
"He throttles lefties. We think that the sort of surface stuff really does a disservice to how good he actually is today and how good he could be in the future.”
