Around Baseball 2025

[L54]

25 minutes ago, BTS said:

Fangraphs did a year in review. Please pray for me. 

Your savant page would be full of red 

[Laika]

43 minutes ago, BTS said:

Fangraphs did a year in review. Please pray for me. 

member's only I guess? 

can't bring myself to pay for Fangraphs not sure why 

they need more sales 

[Jimcanuck]

1 hour ago, BTS said:

Fangraphs did a year in review. Please pray for me. 

It doesn't seem to be helping you, either

[Orgfiller]

15 hours ago, Pendleton said:

Cost controlled back end starter with remaining upside (Oviedo) for a top 80-100ish prospect (Garcia)...I would have to look closer at the other three pieces

Yeah I'm sure the other prospects make a difference here, but on the surface I like it for the Pirates. Oviedo has good stuff, but is already in arbitration, has trouble throwing strikes, and has an injury history, literally just coming back from TJS. He's also under control for just two more seasons. Jhostynxon is a tooled up power/speed backend top 100 prospect with decent upside and a chance to play CF throughout his team control, which he has lots of. He probably won't make enough contact to break the 2 WAR barrier consistently (or at all), but if they can somewhat work around that he could be a good player.

[Terminator]

3 hours ago, BTS said:

Fangraphs did a year in review. Please pray for me. 

F@ck me I just checked mine out and I visited Dillon Tate's player page 16 times this year 🤦‍♂️

 

[BTS]

16 minutes ago, Terminator said:

F@ck me I just checked mine out and I visited Dillon Tate's player page 16 times this year 🤦‍♂️

 

I have 76 Andy Pages views, because I have him in 3 dynasty leagues. I'm clearly not well. 

[Brownie19]

8 minutes ago, BTS said:

I have 76 Andy Pages views, because I have him in 3 dynasty leagues. I'm clearly not well. 

Maybe Fangraphs should offer addiction support...

[L54]

Lmao Boob Nightengale had to edit this tweet to include HOPEFUL 😂 

 

[Pendleton]

7 minutes ago, L54 said:

Lmao Boob Nightengale had to edit this tweet to include HOPEFUL 😂 

 

Bob at it again, the original tweet had the salary (22M) and everything. Edited after Passan shut it down as not close 

[glory]

[Laika]

Wtf Seattle 

[Pendleton]

42 minutes ago, glory said:

 

Hmm, is this a pretty steep price paid for a reliever (albeit a young flamethrowing lefty) or somewhat indicative of Ford having lost some prospect shine, perhaps due to his defense? Or I guess could be a bit of both. 

 

If teams aren't loving his defensive upside, at that point he's a bat first catcher who may not hit for a ton of power. 

[thatoneguy]

54 minutes ago, glory said:

That's a fleecing wtf.

[G-Snarls]

On 12/3/2025 at 7:54 PM, Jays24 said:

Can someone tell me why Mullins got so little?  I really like the guys game. 

More details 

That's a little better for him 

 

[xposbrad]

Mariners traded a top 50 prospect for who?? lol they could have easily signed 10+ relievers without giving that up.

 

[John_Havok]

19 minutes ago, G-Snarls said:

More details 

That's a little better for him 

 

Mutual options are almost never picked up. One side or the other almost always walks. 

[G-Snarls]

7 minutes ago, John_Havok said:

Mutual options are almost never picked up. One side or the other almost always walks. 

Yeah 

If he has a mediocre season Tampa won't give him 10M to try again that's for sure 

And if he has a really good one he could opt out for a much better deal 

[Jimcanuck]

25 minutes ago, xposbrad said:

Mariners traded a top 50 prospect for who?? lol they could have easily signed 10+ relievers without giving that up.

 

Yeah seems strange,  but MLB have a different (higher than laypeople) valuation of relievers with shutdown stuff like Ferrer.  

[John_Havok]

4 minutes ago, G-Snarls said:

Yeah 

If he has a mediocre season Tampa won't give him 10M to try again that's for sure 

And if he has a really good one he could opt out for a much better deal 

Or even more likely... if he's doing well prior to the the deadline, he gets traded so a) they don't have to pay his buyout, and b) actually recoup something for him rather than most likely nothing. 

one of those low risk, potentially good rewards kind of a play. 

[Spanky__99]

5 minutes ago, Jimcanuck said:

Yeah seems strange,  but MLB have a different (higher than laypeople) valuation of relievers with shutdown stuff like Ferrer.  

Fleeced, is the proper word.

[Pendleton]

5 minutes ago, Jimcanuck said:

Yeah seems strange,  but MLB have a different (higher than laypeople) valuation of relievers with shutdown stuff like Ferrer.  

 

Four years of team control as well 

[Pendleton]

Just now, Spanky__99 said:

Fleeced, is the proper word.

 

Like I said in my previous post, maybe it speaks to Ford being less valuable around the league than he is perceived by scouting services. Surely they've been shopping him around since he's completely blocked by Raleigh

[Spanky__99]

7 minutes ago, Pendleton said:

 

Like I said in my previous post, maybe it speaks to Ford being less valuable around the league than he is perceived by scouting services. Surely they've been shopping him around since he's completely blocked by Raleigh

It's possible, but man, he has a cannon gets on base and pop, that's a fleecing imo, I like Ferrer he's on one of my Dynasty teams. 😋

[mphenhef]

8 hours ago, G-Snarls said:

More details 

That's a little better for him 

 

Only by 500K.  Mutual options are practically never picked up.

[mphenhef]

8 hours ago, xposbrad said:

Mariners traded a top 50 prospect for who?? lol they could have easily signed 10+ relievers without giving that up.

 

I wonder if now is a good time or a bad time to explore selling my /10 auto of him.

[Jimcanuck]

From BA today.  From the words sounds like Ford's potential has backed up some.  Basically OBP and not a whole lot else:

He is still only 22-years-old, so there’s further time for him to develop but he’s viewed as a below-average defender who needs to improve his framing. He has improved his blocking and he did show above-average pop times in Triple-A. As a hitter, Ford has always posted excellent on-base percentages. He does not chase pitches out of the strike zone and he has solid contact skills. While he can post above-average exit velocities, his swing is not geared for power. He struggles to pull the ball in the air. Ford has always run extremely well for a catcher, but he did slow down in 2025. He posted average to fringe-average run times.

[Spanky__99]

1 hour ago, Jimcanuck said:

From BA today.  From the words sounds like Ford's potential has backed up some.  Basically OBP and not a whole lot else:

He is still only 22-years-old, so there’s further time for him to develop but he’s viewed as a below-average defender who needs to improve his framing. He has improved his blocking and he did show above-average pop times in Triple-A. As a hitter, Ford has always posted excellent on-base percentages. He does not chase pitches out of the strike zone and he has solid contact skills. While he can post above-average exit velocities, his swing is not geared for power. He struggles to pull the ball in the air. Ford has always run extremely well for a catcher, but he did slow down in 2025. He posted average to fringe-average run times.

On the home page Jimmyc?

[Jimcanuck]

1 hour ago, Spanky__99 said:

On the home page Jimmyc?

Just select News, it should be at the top

[Spanky__99]

46 minutes ago, Jimcanuck said:

Just select News, it should be at the top

ArticleNews

Mariners Trade Harry Ford To Nationals

December 6, 2025December 6, 2025Jesús Cano2 Comments

 

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Image credit: Harry Ford (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

Harry Ford’s path to an everyday role in Seattle had been clogged for some time, making it feel almost inevitable that the young catcher’s long-term future would ultimately take shape elsewhere.

On Saturday evening, that turning point finally arrived. The Mariners traded Ford—their 2021 first-round pick—to the Washington Nationals, along with righthander Isaac Lyon, in exchange for reliever José Ferrer.

With Cal Raleigh firmly entrenched as the Mariners catcher of the present and future, Ford’s best hope in Seattle was to serve as a backup. Raleigh’s breakout, capped by one of the best seasons by a catcher in recent memory, cemented his status as Seattle’s long-term cornerstone, a reality made official when he signed an extension before the season began.

With Raleigh, Ford’s opportunity for a full-time role simply never materialized.

Now, he’ll get the chance to carve out that future in Washington. For the Mariners, they added an experienced but still quite young reliever who won’t even reach arbitration until after this upcoming season. He won’t be a free agent until 2030.

Nationals Acquire

Harry Ford, C

Age: 22

Ford has long been lauded for his on-base and contact skills and his excellent athleticism for a catcher. But he’s also faced plenty of concerns about whether he can develop into an average defender behind the plate.

Ford was slated to rank sixth on the Mariners’ Top 10 Prospects list (and he will appear as such in the print edition). He is still only 22-years-old, so there’s further time for him to develop but he’s viewed as a below-average defender who needs to improve his framing. He has improved his blocking and he did show above-average pop times in Triple-A. As a hitter, Ford has always posted excellent on-base percentages. He does not chase pitches out of the strike zone and he has solid contact skills. While he can post above-average exit velocities, his swing is not geared for power. He struggles to pull the ball in the air. Ford has always run extremely well for a catcher, but he did slow down in 2025. He posted average to fringe-average run times.

Ford made his MLB debut in August season. He was with the team during their playoff run, getting one pinch-hit at-bat. This is a trade that fits both for Ford and the Nationals. With Keibert Ruiz’s struggles, the Nationals have an opening for a long-term catcher. Ford goes from a team where he was stuck behind a star to a team where he should have an opportunity to prove he can be a big league regular. 

Isaac Lyon, RHP

Age: 21

Lyon, the Mariners’ 10th-round pick in 2025 out of Grand Canyon, is a fastball-slider righthander who works east and west relying on his very low three-quarters arm slot to give hitters an unusual look. Everything he throws is aimed to be low in the zone. He is the son of Brandon Lyon, who spent parts of 12 years as a big league reliever who racked up 79 saves. At GCU, Isaac went 3-4, 4.19 with a 22.4% strikeout rate to 5.9% walk rate in 86 innings as a start. He’s a fastball-sweeper righthander who relies on excellent run on his sinker and who will likely need to find some more velocity as a pro. He sits 90-91 mph right now with a low-80s sweeper and changeup.

Mariners Acquire

Jose A. Ferrer, LHP

Age: 25

The Mariners rode one of the league’s strongest bullpens in 2025 to help drive their deep postseason run. But as the offseason began, the unit had been thinned to just one lefthanded reliever. The addition of Ferrer gives Seattle much-needed lefthanded depth, adding a pitcher who has been steady and dependable across his three seasons with Washington. Ferrer also brings four years of club control, a valuable asset for a team intent on keeping its bullpen both effective and cost-efficient. The 25-year-old relies on a three-pitch mix featuring a sinker, slider, and changeup. In 2025, he produced a 21.9% strikeout rate while walking just 4.9% of the hitters he faced, finishing the season with a 4.48 ERA over 76.1 innings. Ferrer throws hard (96-98 mph) and he avoids barrels, mainly because he does an excellent job of spotting his changeup and slider on the edges of the zone.

[Brownie19]

19 hours ago, Jimcanuck said:

From BA today.  From the words sounds like Ford's potential has backed up some.  Basically OBP and not a whole lot else:

He is still only 22-years-old, so there’s further time for him to develop but he’s viewed as a below-average defender who needs to improve his framing. He has improved his blocking and he did show above-average pop times in Triple-A. As a hitter, Ford has always posted excellent on-base percentages. He does not chase pitches out of the strike zone and he has solid contact skills. While he can post above-average exit velocities, his swing is not geared for power. He struggles to pull the ball in the air. Ford has always run extremely well for a catcher, but he did slow down in 2025. He posted average to fringe-average run times.

It sounds like Seattle has been unable to unlock his potential to me.  Framing can be taught and it sounds like the power is there - he just isn't getting to it consistently.