The Mariners have been busy this winter and Seattle made another loud move on February 3. Reliever Gregory Santos is reportedly headed to the Mariners, in a move that will see Minor League outfielder Zach DeLoach and flamethrower Prelander Berroa go the other way to the White Sox.
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The Mariners’ Return
- RP Gregory Santos (3.39 ERA, 66 K over 66.1 IP)
The White Sox picked up ex-Giant reliever Gregory Santos for virtually nothing last winter and the flier paid off for Chicago. In what was a rough 2023 for the White Sox, Santos struck out 66 over 66.1 IP and notched five saves for Chicago.
The 24-year-old posted well above-average Chase%, Barrel%, and GB% rates for the Sox last year.
Santos is essentially a two-pitch arm. His sinker can touch triple digits, runs and sinks, and is a pitch that he can pound in the zone or in on righties.
That’ll keep his strikeout totals down but that pitch can still miss bats. Santos’ slider, on the other hand, is a low-90s pitch that netted him a 37.5% Whiff% in 2023.
Santos took over as the team’s primary closer in the summer of 2023 after Liam Hendriks went down due to Tommy John surgery and the trade that sent Kendall Graveman to Houston. The 24-year-old appeared poised to be the Sox’s closer entering 2024 but that’s no longer the case.
The White Sox’s Return
- SP/RP Prelander Berroa (0.00 ERA, 3 K in 1.2 IP (MLB))
- OF Zach DeLoach (.286/.387/.481, 23 HR and 55 XBH in 138 G (AAA))
- 69th pick in 2024 MLB Draft
The big piece in this deal is right-hander Prelander Berroa. The 5’11” Berroa was dealt twice in his career before this deal, most recently in 2022 when Seattle acquired him from the Giants — ironically where the Sox got Santos from — in May 2022 for Donovan Walton.
Berroa was primarily a starter before last season, as he pitched mainly as a reliever in 2023. It’s not hard to see why Seattle made that move, as the 23-year-old can hit triple digits with his fastball in short relief.
He’s also got a changeup and slider, the former of which wasn’t used in his brief time in Seattle. Berroa did use his slider, a mid-to-high 80s pitch that he mainly leaned on in his brief MLB experience.
Two seasons ago when Berroa was a starter, he struck out 150 over 100.2 IP but walked 63. Command may limit him to bullpen work long-term but he could be an option to start for a Sox team that’s in the midst of a rebuild.
The other piece involved is Zach DeLoach. DeLoach is a former second-round pick from the 2020 out of Texas A&M. The 25-year-old did pop a career-high 23 home runs in 2023 but he did so in a hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
Public scouting reports have cast doubt on his power and speed. He does, however, have a career MiLB on-base percentage of .377.
Berroa was rated #15 by MLB.com in the Mariners’ farm system, while DeLoach was rated #25.
Analysis
The Mariners had one of the game’s best bullpens last season. Seattle relievers as a whole owned the fourth-best ERA (3.48) and best SIERA (3.64) in 2023 but Jerry Dipoto has moved several pitchers from that staff since July of last year.
Former closer Paul Sewald was shipped out to Arizona last summer, while Isaiah Campbell and Justin Topa were moved this winter to acquire Luis Urias and Jorge Polanco.
Dipoto replenished those losses with a hard thrower in Santos who’s got a very good slider and sinker. And with five years of control left and on a pre-arbitration deal, it’s a good pickup for a Seattle team looking to win and needed to add without taking on significant salary, even if the M’s already have two flamethrowers in the pen with Andres Munoz and Matt Brash.
As for the White Sox, the loss of Santos does make an already-thin bullpen even thinner. However, the deal did land Chicago a projectable arm in Berroa who throws hard and could be a starter. The command is a major concern but the White Sox are taking a chance on his stuff.
At worst, he could be a bullpen piece long-term.
The White Sox also picked an interesting outfielder in DeLoach, one who’s got likely average pop and did get on base in the Minors but wasn’t a high-end prospect at the time of the trade.