Mariners Acquire Mike Kickham From Cubs

The Seattle Mariners have traded 21-year old right-handed pitcher Lars Huijer to the Chicago Cubs for 26-year old left-handed pitcher Mike Kickham.

The Cubs picked Kickham off waivers from the San Francisco Giants on Dec. 23 and was designated for assignment by the Cubs when they finalized the signing of Chris Denorfia.

Kickham has 14 appearances in the past two seasons with the Giants – including three starts – and has a record of 0-2 with an ERA of 10.98.

Kickham is an average pitcher in his minor league career (31-35, 3.97 ERA in 5 seasons). This move is more than likely a depth move more than anything else.

It is however, an interesting twist of fate as Mike Salk of ESPN 710 in Seattle pointed out via Twitter.

Spelling error aside (Denirfia?) it is an interesting series of moves that led to the Mariners acquiring Kickham.

Huijer burst onto the scene at Class A (Short) Everett in 2013 with an 8-2 record and 3.03 ERA. But the Dutch-born Huijer struggled in 2014 between Class A Clinton and Class A+ High Desert, posting an ERA of 5.08 with a 6-9 record.

Huijer allowed eight homers in 12 games at High Desert, after having only allowed seven homers in 56 previous minor league appearances.

Seems to be a pretty solid move by the Mariners as they look to build additional depth in Triple-A Tacoma.