Mariners swing trade with division rival and DFA recent acquisition for roster space
The Seattle Mariners made another move to shore up their bullpen this offseason, this time in a trade with an American League West rival.
After signing hard-throwing right-hander Shintaro Fujinami last week, the Mariners on Tuesday acquired right-hander Will Klein from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for international bonus pool money. The 25-year-old Klein, who was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the fifth round of the 2020 MLB Draft, got his first taste of the Majors with Kansas City last season before being flipped to Oakland at the deadline in the trade that sent Lucas Erceg to the Royals.
In five appearances with the Royals last season, Klein pitched to a 6.35 ERA with six strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings. And if you think those numbers are rather uninspiring, just wait until you hear what happened once Klein got to Oakland.
Mariners trade for Athletics pitcher Will Klein and DFA recent acquisition Tyler Jay for roster space
Klein appeared in three games for the Athletics in 2024, giving up five runs and striking out one batter over 1 2/3 innings pitched. In case you don’t have time to do the math, that’s good for a 27.00 ERA, which brings Klein’s career ERA to 11.05 over eight Major League appearances between Kansas City and Oakland. Yikes.
The Mariners are known for their development of pitchers, but this looks like one doozy of a reclamation project. Fortunately for Seattle, Klein still has a couple of Minor League options remaining, so the M’s can use him as bullpen depth while he continues to work on his stuff in Triple-A Tacoma.
In a corresponding move to make room for Klein on the 40-man roster, Seattle designated 30-year-old left-hander Tyler Jay for assignment after just having claimed him off waivers from the Milwaukee Brewers earlier this month. Jay, the No. 6 overall pick in the 2015 MLB Draft, has had a career derailed by injuries and most recently allowed four earned runs over 7 2/3 innings between the Brewers and the New York Mets in 2024.
