Mariners Add Yimi Garcia For Jonatan Clase, Jacob Sharp

Image credit: Yimi Garcia (Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images)

After acquiring Randy Arozarena from the Rays in the wee hours of the morning, the Mariners made another swing through the American League East to bolster their bullpen on Friday.

Seattle has agreed to a trade for Blue Jays reliever Yimi Garcia. The return for Toronto, which had been seen by many as a team primed to sell off at the deadline, will be a pair of minor leaguers in outfielder Jonatan Clase and catcher Jacob Sharp.

MARINERS RECEIVE

Yimi Garcia, RHP
Age: 33

Garcia, who turns 34 in three weeks, has been a reliable late-inning option for Toronto for the better part of the last three seasons. He’s in the midst of perhaps his most effective campaign yet, albeit one where he missed roughly a month due to right elbow ulnar neuritis. He owns a 2.70 ERA with a 36.5% strikeout rate compared to just a 7% walk rate in 30 innings while notching five saves. He has a deeper pitch mix, anchored by a 96-mph fastball, a mid-80s curveball and an upper-80s changeup that is particularly troublesome for lefthanded hitters. He now figures to team up with another hard-throwing righty who just returned from injury, RHP Gregory Santos, as a late-inning bridge to star closer Andres Munoz.

BLUE JAYS RECEIVE

Jonatan Clase, OF
Age: 22

In our most recent update of Seattle’s Top 30 Prospects, Clase checked in at No. 13. The speedy outfielder made his big league debut on April 15 and has gone 8-for-41 in his time with Seattle. He has 70-grade speed on the 20-to-80 scouting scale and plus raw power, though he rarely gets to that thump in games because of an elevated chase rate and an inability to find the barrel at an ideal rate. His speed helps him both on the basepaths and in the outfield, though he could stand to apply further polish in both areas.

Jacob Sharp, C
Age: 22

Sharp was the Mariners’ 17th-round pick in 2023, out of UNLV. He joins Aidan Smith and Brody Hopkins as members of Low-A Modesto traded this deadline. The catcher had showed excellent bat-to-ball skills in his first full pro season, though his exit velocities were fairly pedestrian. He’d also controlled the running game well, having caught runners at a roughly 21% clip.