Deadline Coverage: Mariners Get a Younger, Better Closer Option

Jeff Zimmerman and I will be covering the fantasy relevant deals this week, highlighting the winners and losers and pointing out the actionable items for you in your leagues.

SEA gets: RH RP Diego Castillo

TBR gets: RH RP JT Chargois, 3B Austin Shenton

Maybe all the handwringing about the Kendall Graveman trade was misplaced after all. GM Jerry DiPoto made it clear that he wasn’t done and has made a pair of deals since dealing Graveman. At this point, your feelings on this probably depend more on how you feel about Abraham Toro and Shenton.

We don’t know for sure if Castillo will assume the closer’s role, but he has a lot more experience there than Paul Sewald so I think there is a good chance he gets the job or at least is the primary guy like he was in Tampa Bay with Sewald mixing in. Castillo has a 2.72 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, and 27% K-BB rate (a career best) on the season in 36.3 IP with 14 SVs in 16 tries. Most importantly for the Mariners, Castillo isn’t a free agent until after the 2024 season so Castillo will likely be their closer coming into next year even if winds up sharing the role with Sewald the rest of this year.

Edit: Thanks to comments for pointing out that Ken Giles exists! He will be their closer once he’s healthy. You shouldn’t really be planning for closers beyond the top 5 or so in keeper leagues anyway, but Giles’ presence is almost certain to prevent Castillo from assuming the job next year.

Chargois has always been a live arm and finally found his first run of success in the majors with the Mariners, posting a 3.00 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, and 20% K-BB rate in 30 IP. Home run suppression is the primary difference between this year (0.6 HR/9) and last (1.7) and will likely be key to him remaining successful with the Rays. Knowing the Rays, don’t be surprised if picks a random save or three the rest of the way, too.

With Castillo gone and Pete Fairbanks hitting the IL with shoulder inflammation, they will be putting us through fantasy closer hell with nothing close to a go-to guy in the ninth. All-Star Andrew Kittredge, Jeffrey Springs, Matt Wisler, and Drew Rasmussen will all be in the mix on a given night. If I’m going for someone on the wire this weekend, it’s going to be Kittredge. The right-hander has been brilliant this year and while he doesn’t amass a ton of strikeouts, it’s hard to argue with his 1.43 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, and 20% K-BB rate in 50.3 IP. They might prefer to have him available for multi-inning stints in the middle innings as 19 of his 38 appearances have exceeded an inning.

Regardless of the lottery ticket you choose to scratch, do so cheaply as Nick Anderson is on a rehab assignment and will at the very least be the primary closer the way Castillo was to this point. Anderson won’t get every save, the Rays just don’t roll like that, but he will get the lion’s share.

Shenton is a pure hit prospect whose best position is probably DH. He tore up High-A (though he is 23 years old) with a 165 wRC+ in 273 PA and was recently promoted to Double-A where he has hit the ground running with a 145 wRC+ in 48 PA. He was 33rd on Seattle’s preseason list and had moved up to 28th on the interactive list by the time of the trade.