ORLANDO, Fla. -- Jose A. Ferrer had been coveted by the Mariners for far longer than most might imagine, before the club eventually landed the leverage lefty reliever in a trade with the Nationals on Saturday.
Seattle actually tried to pry him away from Washington way back at the 2019 Trade Deadline, when he was just 19 years old at the time and pitching at its Rookie-level affiliate. In that context, Ferrer’s acquisition -- in exchange for catcher Harry Ford (their No. 4 prospect by MLB Pipeline) and Minor League right-hander Isaac Lyon (unranked) -- has some full-circle feel to it.
“We feel like we got the No. 1 trade target on our list,” Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said on Monday at the Winter Meetings. “Like, this was the guy that, if we could dream the dream, who would you want to acquire? This was the guy we were looking to acquire.”
Seattle’s first attempt to land him was during the first year of its rebuild, when the Mariners sent Hunter Strickland and Roenis Elias to that year’s eventual World Series champions in exchange for Elvis Alvarado, Aaron Fletcher and Taylor Guilbeau.
The Nationals are in a similar spot now that the Mariners were in back then, albeit amid a rebuild lasting longer than most envisioned. But their competitive standing should give Ford the runway to more playing time, especially given that the logjam he faced in Seattle -- behind Cal Raleigh -- was arguably the most glaring in the sport at his position.
“A chance to play is what every player wants,” said Mariners manager Dan Wilson, who was one of Ford’s mentors in his previous role as a special assignment coach on the Minor League side. “I think Harry in Washington will be able to get that opportunity.”
Ford was the Mariners’ first-round selection in the 2021 MLB Draft, at No. 12 overall, and one of their headlining prospects as they emerged from that rebuild. But by the time he made his MLB debut as a September callup in '25, he only played in eight games and was No. 3 on the depth chart behind Raleigh and Mitch Garver, with virtually no room for playing time given the stakes of Seattle’s playoff push.
“It hit me pretty hard,” Ford told reporters of the trade, including MLB.com’s Jessica Camerato. “They called me, and I was OK. Then I was with my mom, and I was pretty sad just about all I've known as the Mariners and the relationships and the people that have been around there. It definitely hit hard knowing I’m not going to see them anymore, or consistently.”
When Saturday’s trade broke, the immediate external reaction was surprise. Ford had been one of the posterboys of a farm system ranked No. 3 by MLB Pipeline, but believed to be one of the Mariners’ biggest chips this offseason. That the Mariners also had to include Lyon spoke to the state of the trade market for relievers and the lofty costs to acquire them.
That said, Ferrer immediately addressed a top Mariners priority -- for a power arm that could supplement fellow lefty Gabe Speier.
“What stands out for him,” Mariners general manager Justin 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.”
Ferrer, who became Washington’s full-time closer for the final two months of 2025, racked up 11 saves and a 4.48 ERA (92 ERA+, where league average is 100). But a more analytical lens illustrates much potential, as Ferrer ranked in the 94th percentile in fastball velocity (97.7 mph average), 95th percentile in walk rate (4.9%), 93rd percentile in barrel rate (4.8%) and 99th percentile in ground-ball rate (64.3%).
Even with Ferrer in the fold, the Mariners are still in the market for more bullpen depth. And they also must address their backup catcher role now that Raleigh is the only backstop on the 40-man roster.
"It'll be external right now, and we would probably have to add multiple catchers to the organization,” Hollander said.