Jerry Dipoto has finally stepped out of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber to do what he does best: make trades. And his first trade of the 2019-20 offseason is with a familiar partner, the New York Yankees. For an undisclosed amount of international slot money, the Mariners have acquired recently DFA’d left-handed pitcher Nestor Cortes Jr. from Brian Cashman and company.
Cortes has seen some success at the minor league level, but has struggled in limited MLB action. Through his 71.1 innings of work dating back to 2018, Cortes posted a 5.84 ERA (5.14 xFIP) with a 9.