{"id":334589,"date":"2025-12-07T07:01:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T07:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/334589\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T07:01:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T07:01:14","slug":"nationals-to-trade-jose-ferrer-to-mariners-for-harry-ford","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/334589\/","title":{"rendered":"Nationals To Trade Jose Ferrer To Mariners For Harry Ford"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Nationals are sending reliever Jose A. Ferrer<\/a> to the Mariners for catcher Harry Ford<\/a>, reports Robert Murray of FanSided<\/a>. Andrew Golden of the Washington Post was first to report<\/a> that the two sides were nearing a Ferrer trade. Golden also reported pitcher Isaac Lyon<\/a> is heading to Washington in the deal. Both teams have announced the trade.<\/p>\n

Seattle adds a flamethrower from the left side to complement Andres Munoz<\/a> and Matt Brash<\/a> in the backend of the bullpen. The price is somewhat steep, as Ford ranks 42nd in MLB.com\u2019s top 100 prospect rankings<\/a>.\u00a0Lyon was taken in the 10th round of the 2025 draft. He made a handful of appearances at Single-A this past season.<\/p>\n

Ferrer emerged as Washington\u2019s closer after Kyle Finnegan<\/a> was shipped to Detroit at the trade deadline. He picked up 11 saves over the final two months of the season. The 25-year-old\u2019s 21.9% strikeout rate and mid-4.00s ERA don\u2019t scream shutdown closer, but he had an excellent 2.85 SIERA and an elite 4.9% walk rate on the year. Ferrer put together a stretch of 14 straight scoreless appearances shortly after taking over as closer, though he did falter over his final few appearances.<\/p>\n

Ferrer has made 142 appearances out of the Nationals\u2019 bullpen since his debut in 2023. He has a career 4.36 ERA, but his xERA and xFIP are both below 3.50. While he hasn\u2019t piled up strikeouts, Ferrer\u2019s upper-90s sinker has helped him rank among the best relievers in ground ball rate. Ferrer is under team control through 2029. He won\u2019t reach arbitration until the 2027 campaign.<\/p>\n

Ford has been a top 5 prospect in Seattle\u2019s system since getting taken in the first round of the 2021 draft. The 12th overall pick slotted in at fifth among the Mariners\u2019 prospects in 2022, per MLB.com<\/a>. He reached the top spot in 2023, and most recently slotted in at fourth<\/a>. Ford has hit at every minor league stop, while also providing significant contributions as a base stealer.<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old Ford slashed .283\/.408\/.460 with 16 home runs and seven steals at Triple-A this past year. He struck out less than 20% of the time while posting a massive 16.2% walk rate. Ford briefly debuted with the big-league club, mostly operating as a pinch hitter and defensive replacement. He went 1-for-6 in eight appearances.<\/p>\n

The 16 home runs with Tacoma were a career high for Ford, though the seven steals were a disappointing total after he swiped 35 bags at Double-A in 2024. Ford\u2019s elite walk rate has allowed him to consistently put up huge on-base numbers. Outside of a .377 OBP in 2024, he\u2019s been at or above .400 in each season of his minor league tenure. Ford\u2019s power outlook is more gap-to-gap than over-the-fence, but his combination of speed and on-base skills gives him a unique offensive profile, particularly for a catcher.<\/p>\n

With Cal Raleigh<\/a> landing a six-year extension before the 2025 campaign, Ford was going to be blocked in Seattle for the foreseeable future. He\u2019ll head to Washington to join a catching group that struggled with injuries and production last season. Recurring concussion issues limited Keibert Ruiz<\/a> to 68 games in 2025. He briefly returned to the team in early July, then went right back on the IL and never made it back to the big-league squad. Riley Adams<\/a> handled the majority of the reps behind the plate, along with brief cameos from Drew Millas<\/a> and Jorge Alfaro<\/a>. Washington\u2019s backstops ranked 29th in OPS. Adams is back on a one-year split deal, while Alfaro is a free agent.<\/p>\n

Lyon made four starts with Modesto this past year. The 21-year-old righty will head to Fredericksburg to continue honing his craft. Lyon is the son of former pitcher Brandon Lyon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of Rafael Suanes, Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Nationals are sending reliever Jose A. Ferrer to the Mariners for catcher Harry Ford, reports Robert Murray…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":334590,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[153015,169037,169038,363,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-334589","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-harry-ford","9":"tag-isaac-lyon","10":"tag-jose-a-ferrer","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=334589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/334590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}