Report: Mariners Acquire Minor League Reliever from Royals

While the Mariners are currently duking it out with the division rival Angels in Tempe, but that hasn’t stopped Jerry Dipoto from making a trade.

It’s good to see you back in the mix, Jer’.

Per Steve Givarz and SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo, the M’ have swung a deal with the Royals for Minor League relief pitcher Ashton Goudeau. Spending most of his time in AA Northwest Arkansas, Goudeau posted a 3.95 xFIP in 57 innings pitched.

The trade itself signifies that Jerry Dipoto is, in fact, still alive. It has been a few months of relative silence from Dipoto. After the unworldly number of roster transactions during his first 2 years as Mariners GM, Dipoto has slowed way down since signing Juan Nicasio in mid-December.

The 6’6″, 220 lb, 25-year-old pitcher was the Royals 27th round pick in the 2012 MLB Draft.

Goudeau had been a starting pitcher his entire professional career, but was moved into a relief role in 2017. He is not an over-powering pitcher, but appears to have the ability to induce ground balls when need be. However, an 11.3% home run per fly ball rate in his limited amount of work is concerning.

AAA Tacoma will probably be Goudeau’s landing spot when he enters the organization. With that in mind, we could eventually see him at some point this year if the Mariners’ injury woes continue.

The trade has yet to be officially reported by either team, and there is still no word on what the Mariners have given up in terms of compensation. At worst, Goudeau will probably only cost a low-level Minor Leaguer.

However, trading for Goudeau is nothing more than minor league depth. He won’t count against the 40 man, and is unlikely to be one of the first handful of guys called up.

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