Seattle Mariners: Zach Duke and Adam Warren Acquired to Bolster Bullpen

Seattle Mariners General Manager Jerry Dipoto is not one to shy away from making moves that he feels will improve the team.  Today, he made two moves to acquire two relievers that will help the team compete for a spot in the postseason.

First, according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, the Seattle Mariners have acquired left-handed reliever Zach Duke from the Minnesota Twins.

Second, according to Ken Rosenthal and Emily Waldon of The Athletic, the Mariners have also acquired right-handed reliever Adam Warren from the New York Yankees.

The Mariners are currently 62-43 on the season.  Although this record has them 4.0 games back of the Houston Astros, they are 2.0 games ahead of the Oakland Athletics for the second Wild Card spot.

According to FanGraphs team statistics, the Mariners rank 7th in the MLB in bullpen WAR at 12.2.  They also rank 7th in bullpen FIP at 3.91.  As the M’s already have a solid bullpen, these two additions will further strengthen their late inning late inning options.

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Duke holds a 3.62 ERA, a 2.68 FIP, and a 1.580 WHIP through 37.1 innings pitched for the Twins.  In order to acquire him, the Mariners sent out right-hander Chase De Jong and corner infielder Ryan Costello.  Feinsand also reported that the Twins sent over $75,000 to cover some of the remaining $683,000 the left-handed reliever is due for the rest of the season.

Warren holds a 2.70 ERA, a 3.30 FIP, and a 1.267 WHIP through 30.0 innings pitched for the Yankees.  The Mariners sent out $1.25 million of international bonus pool money to New York to acquire the right-handed reliever.

According to Jack Curry of the YES Network, the Yankees recently sent out left-handed reliever Caleb Frare to the Chicago White Sox to acquire $1.5 million in international bonus pool money.  This was shortly after they acquired $1.1 million in int’l bonus pool money from the St. Louis Cardinals for Chasen Shreve and Giovanny Gallegos.  They then used a portion of this money to sign a top int’l pitching prospect, Osiel Rodriguez.

Although Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman traded Adam Warren to a potential Wild Card game opponent, they seem to have bigger moves in mind for the team’s future through the international market.  The Bronx Bombers also have a very solid reliever in Tommy Kahnle that can be called up to replace Warren.

As the Mariners have their sights set on reaching the playoffs for the first time since 2001, these two acquisitions could help keep them above the Oakland Athletics in the WIld Card race.