A little over a month after ending the Blue Jays' 2022 season, the Mariners reportedly have acquired one of Toronto's better players.
According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, the Jays are sending outfielder Teoscar Hernández to the Mariners, marking the first noteworthy transaction of the Major League Baseball offseason. In exchange for Hernández, Seattle is shipping relief pitcher Erik Swanson and left-handed pitching prospect Adam Macko north of the border, per the Seattle Times' Ryan Divish. The Blue Jays confirmed the trade shortly after the reports from Passan and Divish.
Hernández is coming off a season in which he hit .267 with 25 home runs and 77 RBIs across 131 games with Toronto. The 30-year-old put together a career season the year prior, posting a .296 average with 32 long balls and 116 RBIs. Hernández is set to join a Mariners outfield alongside Julio Rodríguez, who was named an All-Star, won a Silver Slugger Award and claimed American League Rookie of the Year honors in his first season with Seattle.
The Mariners halted their postseason drought at 20 seasons this year by earning one of the three AL Wild Card spots. Seattle swept Toronto in the Wild Card round before suffering a sweep of its own at the hands of the World Series champion Houston Astros. As of Wednesday morning, the Mariners have the ninth-shortest odds at DraftKings Sportsbook to win the 2023 World Series.
