The first major move of the 2016 Major League Baseball offseason is here, with the Seattle Mariners acquiring pitchers Nate Karns and C.J. Riefenhauser and minor league outfielder Boog Powell from the Tampa Bay Rays for first baseman and outfielder Logan Morrison, infielder Brad Miller and pitcher Danny Farquhar on Thursday night.
Mariners acquire Nate Karns from Rays for Brad Miller, others in 6-player trade
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Karns was 7-5 with a 3.67 ERA in 27 games, including 26 starts in his rookie campaign in 2015 for Tampa Bay. The 27-year-old right-hander struck out 145 and walked 56 in 147 innings.
Riefenhauser, 25, pitched 24 games in relief over the last two seasons with the Rays, allowing 15 runs on 21 hits in his 20 major league innings. Powell, 22, hit .295/.385/.392 between Double-A and Triple-A in 2015. He was a 20th-round pick of the Athletics in 2012 and came to the Rays last winter in the Ben Zobrist trade.
This is the first trade for new Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto, who was hired by Seattle on Sept. 28.
“As I said when I was hired, we need to get more flexible, more athletic and build pitching depth,” Dipoto said in a press release. “This trade allows us to do all three. Powell brings speed, defense and on-base percentage to the table, and could be ready to help us as soon as 2016, while Karns and Riefenhauser give us young, but experienced, pitching options.”
The Rays get three major league players in the deal, including the 26-year-old Miller, who hit .258/.329/.402 with 11 home runs and 22 doubles in 144 games for Seattle in 2015. Miller was mostly a shortstop, starting 83 games, but also started games at second base, third base and all three outfield positions.
Morrison, 28, hit .225/.302/.383 with 17 home runs in 146 games in 2015, and has two more years of salary arbitration eligibility before hitting free agency. Farquhar was 1-8 with a 5.12 ERA in 43 games for the Mariners in 2015, but the right-hander struck out 48 and walked 17 in 51 innings.
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