Mariners Trade Important Reliever Prior To Red Sox Series

Last time the Red Sox were on the West Coast, the Oakland Athletics traded a reliever in Shintaro Fujinami after playing Boston.

On this coast-to-coast trip, the Seattle Mariners made a deal with a reliever before the series with the Red Sox.

The Arizona Diamondbacks acquired closer Paul Sewald from the Mariners on Monday, per multiple reports.

The right-hander has been solid at the back-end of Seattle’s bullpen, going 3-1 with a 2.93 ERA in 45 appearances with 21 saves.

The move comes at an interesting time as the Mariners sit just 4 1/2 games out of a wild card spot and have the potential to make up ground against the Red Sox, one of the teams in front of Seattle, in the upcoming series. Despite having plenty of baseball left to make a run, the Mariners now part with an important piece of their bullpen entering a series with serious implications in the wild card race.

Boston had experienced success against the right-hander, who had an ERA north of 11.00 in nine career appearances against the Red Sox.

The Mariners made another move to sell after the Sewald deal. In another match with a National League West team, trading outfielder A.J. Pollock to the San Francisco Giants.

Despite his lack of production against Boston, the Red Sox not seeing the reliever makes the end of games interesting in Seattle this week. The trade means the Red Sox now face one less quality leverage arm in the important three-game series in Seattle.