Jerry Dipoto's latest controversial Mariners trade looks like a dud on all sides

The trade in which the Mariners flipped Harry Ford to the Nationals for Jose A. Ferrer was a weird one. You could see the calculation Jerry Dipoto was making, but something about swapping a top-100 prospect for an anonymous lefty reliever didn't feel right. And now, the whole thing just feels wrong.

Ferrer is 10 appearances into his Mariners tenure, and his 3.52 ERA is…fine. The most honest review anyone can give him is that he's a member in good standing amid a bullpen that has a strong 3.16 ERA. And if all anyone wants from him is to be Gabe Speier's left-handed partner in crime, then there's no reason to complain.

And yet, the Mariners tried to sell fans on Ferrer's upside as a bullpen weapon. So far, he looks like the guy who never really broke out in Washington. He's walked only one of the 36 batters he's faced, but also struck out just seven and allowed 12 hits. Notably, lefty batters are 7-for-16 against him.

The velocity on Ferrer's sinker is down 1.1 mph from last year, but it'll probably repeat last season's pattern of going up over time. Yet that pitch isn't a swing-and-miss weapon, and the slider on which the Mariners hitched their hopes hasn't been missing bats either. Its 33.3 Whiff% is another stat that falls in that "fine" bucket.

Put it this way: If Ferrer was doing what he's doing while Ford was busy breaking out for the Nationals, there'd be Hell to pay.

Thankfully for the Mariners, Harry Ford is not breaking out for the Nationals

Yet in case anyone hasn't been keeping up, Ford's experience in the Nationals organization has been less than smooth.

He began spring training with a seemingly real chance to break camp as their everyday catcher, but that didn't pan out. And through his first 14 games for Triple-A Rochester, he's only batting .173 with no home runs.

The 23-year-old is still showing a sharp approach, drawing nine walks against 15 strikeouts in 63 plate appearances. But the question with him has always more so concerned his contact quality, and it's abysmal so far. He's averaging just 84.9 mph on his batted balls, a drop of nearly 4 mph relative to last season with Tacoma.

Meanwhile, Ford has been successful throwing out runners on just three out of 20 stolen base attempts. That's not exactly him silencing doubts as to whether catcher is the best role for him, especially given his uncommon athleticism for the position.

Ford remains MLB Pipeline's No. 63 overall prospect, and it is only fair to note that he also got off to a slow start last season. He had a .662 OPS and one homer through the end of April, but ultimately finished with an .868 OPS and 16 home runs.

For now, though, it's not exactly bad news for the Mariners that Ford isn't making them rue trading him for a semi-functional lefty reliever. It allows for hope that what is currently a two-sided flop might eventually become tilted in their favor.

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