Mariners officially part ways with DFA'd reliever in trade with Guardians

The Seattle Mariners made a trade on Tuesday, sending right-handed reliever Cody Bolton to the Cleveland Guardians for cash considerations.

The team announced the move via its official account on X:

It is not surprising that the 26-year-old Bolton is leaving the Mariners organization. He had been designated for assignment on Saturday as a means to clear a roster spot for Jesse Hahn, who now occupies a middle relief role in Seattle's bullpen.

Cody Bolton pitched his way out of the Mariners' plans, resulting in Tuesday's trade to the Guardians

Bolton was part of the Mariners' Opening Day roster for 2024. And as recently as February, it seemed like he would be once again for 2025.

That was when Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times projected the righty to be part of the Mariners' opening bullpen, which hardly felt far-fetched. Matt Brash still needed time to recover from Tommy John surgery, while Troy Taylor was recovering from a lat strain sustained during the offseason. As a result, Seattle's pen was short-handed.

Bolton posted a 4.34 ERA in 17 appearances with the Mariners in 2024, but fared better with Triple-A Tacoma. In 33 appearances, he had a 3.07 ERA with 34 strikeouts against 12 walks in 29.1 innings. He got his fastball up to 96.9 mph, otherwise relying heavily on his sweeper.

Yet Bolton — formerly a sixth-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2017 — did not help his cause in spring training. In four Cactus League appearances, he faced 17 batters and allowed four hits and three walks against just two strikeouts. He was optioned to Tacoma on March 10.

Bolton picked up a save for the Rainiers on March 29, but even that came with two walks in one inning of work. He gave up three runs in one inning his next time out on Thursday, after which the Mariners brass effectively deemed him expendable with the DFA.

That gave the team a week to either trade Bolton or attempt to pass him through waivers. That a trade came to be makes some sense. By way of his youth and recent track record of success at the highest level of the minors, he may yet have something to offer a major league bullpen. In the meantime, he's on Cleveland's 40-man roster and will presumably report to Triple-A Columbus.

With Brash and Taylor on the comeback trail, there's bound to be more turnover in Seattle's relief depth chart in the near future. For now, we would like to wish Bolton well with his time in the Guardians organization.