SEATTLE -- The Mariners on Tuesday added some depth to the group that will be vying for a bullpen spot in Spring Training, acquiring right-hander Alex Hoppe from the Red Sox.
Going back to Boston is Minor League catcher Luke Heyman, who is unranked among their Top 30 prospects by MLB Pipeline, and to clear a 40-man roster spot for Hoppe, left-handed reliever Tayler Saucedo was designated for assignment.
TRADE DETAILS
Mariners acquire: RHP Alex Hoppe
Red Sox acquire: C Luke Heyman (Minors)
Hoppe, 26, finished the 2025 season with Triple-A Worcester, going 0-2 with a 4.76 ERA (24 ER, 45 1/3 IP) with a 27.6% strikeout rate and 11.8% walk rate. It was the highest he’d climbed in Boston’s Minor League ranks, having begun the year at Double-A Portland.
The 6-foot-1, 200-pound righty has appeared in parts of three Minors seasons in the Red Sox organization (2023-2025), after being selected by the club in the sixth round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of UNC Greensboro. There, he was a fifth-year senior who caught attention for hitting up to 97 mph, which only climbed during a dominant pro debut season in 2023, when he was reportedly approaching 100 mph. Hoppe has developed more of a fastball/cutter profile as he enters his age-27 season.
His challenges have been consistently throwing strikes, but he’ll be an intriguing piece for the Mariners’ pitching braintrust come spring, especially given that he has all three Minor League options and could be an up-and-down option during the regular season.
Heyman, 22, was selected by the Mariners in the 14th round of the 2025 MLB Draft out of the University of Florida and has yet to make his professional debut, as he was still recovering from a season-ending broken forearm he suffered with the Gators.
As for Saucedo, if not for Tuesday’s transaction, he likely would’ve been non-tendered by Friday’s deadline to do so. He’s coming off a year in which he had a 7.43 ERA in 13 1/3 innings, with six walks and 12 strikeouts while pitching in just 10 games in the Majors.
Saucedo was entering his second year of arbitration-eligibility, and was slated to earn at least the $937,500 figure from last year -- a number that he reached for being once a key lefty piece to the Mariners’ bullpen, most notably in 2023. However, Saucedo spent most of 2025 with Triple-A Tacoma.