REACTION: Mariners Trade Harry Ford to Nationals | #SeattleSports

REACTION: Mariners Trade Harry Ford to Nationals | #SeattleSports

Saturday morning really right when it all started going down. Yeah, it was got texts from John Marosi and a couple of other folks and trying to figure out you know what what it means what it meant that the Mariners traded Harry Ford for a lefty reliever that most of us were not that familiar with. The numbers are kind of I mean we can kind of divide this into three categories for a topic. The first one is Jose Ferrer. Who is he? Why do they go after him? Is he going to be good? I think the real answer to that is we’ll find out. He’s got some good underlying numbers that you like the erra and some huge ground ball thrower. Right. Right. Yep. Big time. Big power sinker. Elite versus lefties. Yep. The league we learned last year. Jeff Passen talked to us about this and educated us throughout the year of the numbers in the in the leaguewide struggle versus lefties because it wasn’t just the Mariners lineup that couldn’t hit lefties. It was a lot of baseball. It was statistically relevant. So you’ve got a lefty power arm with a guy that can hump it up there what 98 99. I mean consistently that sinker is 98 mph. So and doing it with a sinker too, right? When you get that kind of of velocity with the sinker. Yeah. You’re going to you’re going to get a lot of ground ball outs at that point and he’s murder on lefties and they need a leverage arm and it sounds like they believe he can be that. We’ll find out. I mean like I don’t know. I’m open-minded to that for sure. And you got him under team control for a few years. So four years. Yeah. Four years. there’s there’s some some relevancy to going out and trading for a guy like that. He’s got some value. That’s that’s part one and that’s more of the wait and see. Part two is is that really all you could get for Harry for I think and that’s where I think I landed like initially my first blush reaction before digging into the numbers and as you said the you know it the Mariners project their pitchers really well. They have done that throughout. They did it with guys in double A is they project them to the big leagues. They know what they’re looking for with some of their underlying stuff and and more often than not, kind of like John Schneider with DTackles, he’s pretty darn good and quarterback’s pretty good with that. The Mariners brass been pretty good projecting a lot of their pitchers. So, you look at that and for me, that’s probably where I landed. Like, I’m going to trust their evaluation that this guy’s pretty good, but that’s what you get for Harry Ford. That’s what you get for a three-time future all-star. That’s where you get with an athletic catcher that is at such a need in baseball where catching is just man, hit 225, hit 235 and you could play for the next 10 years and be a really good catcher in major major league baseball. That’s what the value back was for Harry Ford. I think I landed on that as much. And I think that was probably where a lot of Mariners fans landed. And I think the reality is, yeah, that’s what he was worth. and and we shouldn’t be that surprised by it. The Mariners have been kind of looking at I mean, we talked about dealing him last year, but his value was down after mediocre 2024. They didn’t deal him. They we talked a lot about him being dealt at the trade deadline. I was convinced he was going to be gone by August 1st of this year. I was convinced that Harry Ford would not be a Mariner on August 1st. He was. Why? Because the Twins didn’t want him. They chose the package from Philadelphia in exchange for Joan Duran and didn’t want Harry Ford. He was not all that valuable to Minnesota. They chose a guy in the in the Philly system that has a lot of question marks. And if I were here, he’d go off on that whole thing. But that’s what the league thought, in that case, Minnesota thought of Harry Ford. You don’t think the Mariners have been trying to get more for him since then? Of course they have. Ultimately, the Mariners didn’t really see him as a long-term fitted catcher. They have a catcher that is blocking him. They didn’t see the bat as playing well enough elsewhere or maybe the glove playing well enough elsewhere to to make it worthwhile. And the rest of the league agrees. And and Brock, you made the the real estate reference earlier and somebody wrote in, I don’t have it in front of me, but said, “Well, but what about if you had a great appraisal?” The Mariners had a great appraisal from Baseball America who said he was the 40some, you know, prospect. Mhm. Baseball America didn’t get to make that call. Mhm. I mean, they can say it, but ultimately it’s how each team and their scouts and their baseball operations department value a guy. This was the value of Harry Ford. Sorry. Like I I don’t know what else to tell you. Yeah. Yeah. And they and by the way, we have also learned these things aren’t just like, oh, let me just start this conversation yesterday. These are year like I think Howdy tweeted that I mean this has been years in the making that you have tried to find the best value right because ultimately Cal blocks him at the big league level right I mean Cal is here and oh by the way you also drafted a catcher really did you not did you also not draft catcher in the high second round I’m not convinced it has anything to do with Cal really I I shouldn’t say that anything sure maybe some you’ve you’ve mentioned the blocking part a couple times I I don’t think that’s a huge part of it. I don’t think they see him as an everyday catcher. I just don’t I don’t think the I don’t think the defensive catching skills are where the from what I’ve heard. Look, I’m not judging him myself from what I’ve been hearing and not just, you know, since Saturday for like a year plus is that they’re just not convinced necessarily that he’s an everyday catcher. So, if he’s not an everyday catcher, it doesn’t really matter whether Cal is like there just he’s kind of doesn’t have the right position and the bat’s good, but if it’s not great, then there’s just not that much value there. Mhm. Okay. So, now fast forward, if you get that deal done, and by all accounts, this thing’s going to be pretty active, has already been active. I think Buster only tweeted that Friday or Saturday like wow there is a lot of conversation with a lot of teams with a lot of different players. Did I see MLB trade rumors? I don’t want to be sentelled here. Well, I did, but I did a little extra research on that. So, I’m I’m I I I did get a little chuckle out of this. So, MLB trade rumors, you’re right, Brock, had a Pirates and the Mariners. Yes. As being interested in Catel Marte and I tend to agree. I think the Mariners are and should be interested in Catel Marte. He’s a really, really good fit for them. But then I clicked on the links and kind of went through it. And ultimately it was because of a John Haymon tweet. And when I looked closely at the John Haymon tweet, he doesn’t say that the Mariners have interest or that the Pirates have interest. He says that they fit. Well, yeah, of course they fit. Mhm. But yeah, the Mariners do. It was basically the Red Sox have interest. The Mariners and Pirates were among a group of teams that fit for Catel Marte. Gotcha. So interest, I think it’s there, but it’s not because it was in MLB trade rumors and not because John Heymon said it. Uh I have some John Haymon fun later this week. I don’t know if you got a chance to watch the sound that I sent you of him and and who was that? Salakata, whoever it was. It just just Well, the good news the good news and and again I’ll point back to Howdy a little bit on this who was very reactionary over the weekend. I think he was a big Harry Ford guy. He was him and who was the old third base Vin Vinc. Vinnie Katrick big Harry Ford big Vinc guy. He did say something fairly astute and that is guess what the Mariners having done deals for both Suarez and Naylor with the organization down there in Phoenix. They know each other’s valuations very well. Very well. They’ve talked through everybody. They talk through everybody. So, if there is a deal to be made, it won’t be because wow, we just couldn’t get the, you know, that the term sheet like they they know, I think, on both ends. And certainly Arizona knows the Mariners’s farm system very very well. And is there a deal to be had? It won’t be because of they don’t know. It won’t be because of they didn’t do their homework. They’ve done a lot of homework for the last year on a lot of different players and uh that one will uh I’m sure be part of the conversation this week at the win. Al Brock, it means Mitch Garver is coming back to be your backup catcher. Don’t know if that’s true or not, but I think we got to get to I think I think it probably You think so? Really? I think there’s a good chance. I mean, it’s not like there’s like a million great backup catchers out there. He was making what 12 million a year and he’s a good catcher and he bring him back for 2 million a year. Sure. I mean, you going to say no to that? Not really, right? Like, hey, 2 million a year for Mitch Garver to be your backup catcher. Sure. And if he contributes with the bat the way he did last year, he’d be a steal at that price. Now, it’s hard because of the sunk cost of the 24 million you wasted. But hey, what’s 2 million after 24?

Brock Huard & Mike Salk (Brock & Salk) break down the Mariners trade of catcher Harry Ford to the Washington Nationals.

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0:00 – Who is Jose Ferrer?
2:05 – Was it an overpay?
5:40 – Pirates in on Marte?

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Listen to The Brock & Salk Show weekdays from 6 a.m. – 10 a.m. live on Seattle Sports 710 AM and the Seattle Sports App, or on-demand wherever you listen to podcasts.
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