The Pirates have traded reliever Cody Bolton to the Mariners for cash considerations, according to an announcement from Pittsburgh.
Bolton, 25, was drafted in the sixth round in 2017 out of Tracy High School in California. By the end of the 2019 season, Bolton had made his way to Double-A as a starter.
However, the 2020 minor league season was wiped out by COVID-19, and Bolton missed all of 2021 due to knee surgery. Fortunately, Bolton recovered and made his MLB debut for the Pirates on April 29th on the road against the Nationals. He spent the season moving up and down from Triple-A. Bolton pitched fairly well at Triple-A, but only managed a 6.33 ERA, 20.6 K%, and 14.0 BB% in the Majors across 21 1/3 innings.
Though still in contention, the Mariners traded closer Paul Sewald to the Diamondbacks at the deadline this year due to the strength of their bullpen. Their projected bullpen for 2024 is currently anchored by Andres Munoz, Matt Brash, Justin Topa, and Gabe Speier. Bolton will vie for a spot with that group and hope some of the team’s success with less than household names carries over to him.
Oh dear lord…. start to another lackluster offseason for the Mariners.
Except he’s a reliever so he’ll develop into a 3.00 ERA pitcher with peripherals to back it up since he’s off to Seattle.
Also, free agency isn’t even open yet. Would you prefer no moves at all if it’s a trade for Soto? lol
Nothing like a negative WAR reliever to ignite the fanbase
What did he cost, cash and not a lot at that I’m sure? BFD.
LOL…that didn’t take long. Complaining about this trade is funny. it was a cash trade. Talk about a quick overreact.
@Dogham That’s a very jaundiced & counter-productive take you have there.
Bolton has some potential as a solid mid-reliever. He allowed eight earned runs in one of his first games, but was pretty decent outside of that one game. He does struggle with command, however.
Just more housekeeping.
Their ultimate intentions will become clearer later on.
A few years from now, this guy will be blowing saves in the World Series after the M’s controversially trade him mid-season to the diamondbacks
I love it!
Knowing Seattle’s track record, that should read “The Pirates have traded future lockdown stud reliever Cody Bolton to the Mariners…”
On an 85 win team, max
Still a winning season. You ain’t gotta be the best just gotta ge lt into the post season
@Bernandez 2 wins less than Texas & Houston. A ball getting thru here; a couple more hits with RISP there…and the Mariners would have been in the playoffs. Talk about a game of inches.
And if my aunt would’ve had balls, she’d be my uncle
An oldie but a goodie
This guy was on the cusp but several other young pitchers passed him.
Finally Seattle going on a spending spree!
Liking the moves so far. Trimming roster space, got something for Bolton. Need to win this off season. If the BUCS have a good off season, playoffs in 2024 should be probable, instead of a joke.
I’m not sure how you glean “probable” but it’s nice to dream. Way too many question marks right now. Two man starting rotation. Is Cruz healthy? If so, can he improve? Who plays first? Can kids like Endy, Davis, Peguero and especially Suwinski provide much needed improvement
But I’m hoping, too
Winning the off season means more wins next year, at least by my definition. 8 to 10 more wins is in the playoffs next year.
Granted, they play in a weak division and we’re arguably already in the same sphere as the Marlins, Cubs or Reds. But if “winning the off-season” means bringing in starters who are complete cast-offs who fail miserably, then it’s going to be a struggle to hit .500
They’ve been lucky with their signings the past few years. Hope that continues
Grump-If they win the offseason I think that they should be expected to have a winning record and at least compete for a playoff spot.
Mariners pick up a reliever, and occasionally they turn an average one into gold. They might mess up a lot, but they get this right.
So here we go with the mariners never do anything. Let’s see, trade prospects (ranking) 1,3,7 for 32 year old soon to be washed up 2nd baseman, the trade picks 2,4 and 5 for a strikeout hitting right fielder. So now our prospects are all gone and you will gripe. Or better yet, let’s act like we’re a top market money making machine (Padres ring a bell) spend 20 million here and 20 million their and when it time to sign out own players cal, Kirby and others we have no money. WE are a mid market team. How many of you forgot the huge contracts we paid J Rod, Castillo and ray. It’s so easy to say trade for or spend more money, then watch your homegrown players leave
How are you gonna worry about money so much when saying they likely profitted $80 or more again in 2023 is a conservative guess?
They likely will have led the league in operating profit again, and may be approaching $180 in profits over the past two seasons.
Spend some money.
Nice arm to add to system.
Probably just minor depth but Seattle had a good track record with relievers
What’s people’s opinion on the team and staffs ability shown at the end of the season? Specifically going 28-26 over the last 54 despite having a pitching staff held together with bailing twine, first, second, short and right being played as if it were an open tryout.
Cody ‘Michael’ Bolton. Sings, “The best part of waking up…”