Joaquin Benoit traded to Seattle Mariners

The Seattle Mariners have made a trade with the San Diego Padres to acquire 38-year-old reliever Joaquin Benoit for two minor leaguers.

Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com first broke the news that the veteran reliever Joaquin Benoit went from the San Diego Padres to the Seattle Mariners in a two-for-one deal. The Mariners parted ways with prospects righthander Enyl De Los Santos and infielder Nelson Ward, both Single-A players.

Benoit has had a long and successful career as a big league reliever and is still getting it done by inducing a ton of ground balls (46.3% of at-bats) and has still has his health. It seems that the Mariners will use Benoit as their either their closer or possibly their setup man.

Even at 38 years old, Joaquin Benoit should have no problem adjusting from one pitcher-friendly park in Petco to another in Safeco. The Padres are looking to bolster their minor league system after shipping many of their prized prospects of last season (i.e. Craig Kimbrel and Justin Upton deals with the Atlanta Braves). San Diego already has Kimbrel, who they may move as well, but the Padres may have other options for their backend of their bullpen.

Traditionally, relievers thrive pitching in San Diego at Petco Park. Closing games for the Padres is a big deal as Trevor Hoffman did it for years, Huston Street and Heath Bell were All-Stars there, and the best closer in baseball entering 2015 Craig Kimbrel still pitches there. The Padres have many other issues to account for and their bullpen isn’t one of the most pressing.

From the looks of it, getting Joaquin Benoit for a year for two Single-A prospects seems like a mutually beneficial deal struck by these inter-league rivals. Both clubs need to find a way to get back into the postseason. Seattle’s drought is now the longest in baseball, having not made the playoffs since 2001. For San Diego, the organization has only made the postseason five times in its history. Their last appearance was in 2007.