The Seattle Mariners and Tampa Bay Rays struck a deal on Friday that should help both teams areas of need at the major-league level. Tampa Bay traded long reliever Erasmo Ramirez to Seattle for reliever Steve Cishek. MLB.com's Jon Morosi first reported news of Ramirez being dealt to Seattle, while colleague Mark Feinsand reported the full deal.
Cishek lands in Tampa Bay coming off a strong first half for the Mariners. The 31-year-old, set-up reliever returned from an early injury this season to give the Mariners some quality, late innings when called out of the bullpen. Across 20 innings pitched since he came off the DL on May 15, Cishek posted a 3.15 ERA and 83.3 percent left-on-base rate. Of the 13 runners Cishek inherited when he entered the game this season, nine remained stranded.
The righty does come with some concerns. He holds a 4.80 FIP this season and his 10 percent K-BB rate shows some evidence of issues with his command and an inability to miss bats frequently. Cishek's also frequently lucky for a pitcher that allowed opposing hitters to make contact on 80.6 percent of his pitches with a .185 batting average on balls in play.
Tampa Bay will use Cishek in a high-leverage, set-up role for the rest of the season. With the addition of left-handed reliever Dan Jennings yesterday, Cishek will more often face right-handed hitters to take advantage of his .192/.263/.275 slash line and .241 wOBA. Cishek will be a free agent at the end of the season.
Ramirez's arrival in Seattle makes for a nice reunion. The 27-year-old returns to the organization where it all began and he spent the first seven years of his baseball career. He last pitched for the Mariners in 2014, though he struggled to the tune of a 5.26 ERA and 5.38 FIP across 75 1/3 innings.
The righty will offer Seattle important depth in both the bullpen and starting rotation. This season for the Rays, Ramirez made eight starts and came out of the bullpen on 18 occasions. When Tampa Bay sent down Blake Snell to the minors, Ramirez filled in very nicely as a starter and posted a 4.62 FIP and an 11.9 percent K-BB rate.
His best usage is likely out of the bullpen, where he can give a team two-plus innings when a day gets really crazy or their other arms are tired and need someone to help carry some of the load that day. With a .189 batting average allowed to opposing hitters out of the bullpen, Ramirez shows his ability to keep the damage to a minimum consistently.
He may not find himself in Seattle's rotation, but he ends up as a strong addition that gives Scott Servais multiple options and a versatile pitcher to work with.
Overall, this trade should work out well for both sides and fills both teams needs nicely.