Tampa Bay Rays Trade Ryan Garton and Mike Marjama to Seattle

The Tampa Bay Rays have matched up once again with their best trading partner the Seattle Mariners when the teams completed a four-player trade of minor leaguers.

The shuttle between the Tampa Bay Rays and Seattle Mariners minor league affiliates is flying today as the Rays and Mariners have done a swap of minor leaguer players. The Rays will send catcher Mike Marjama along with relief pitcher Ryan Garton in exchange for pitcher Anthony Misiewicz and infielder Luis Rengifo plus a player to be named later or cash considerations.

This trade essentially means little right now in terms of player availability at the major league level, it does however add some depth in the minors for the Rays and Mariners but more importantly it creates another spot on the 40-man roster for the Rays.

Provided by the Rays PR Department, by subtracting Garton, the Rays 40-man roster now sits at 38, which will allow the Rays to add both Kevin Kiermaier and Matt Andriese from the 60-day DL when they are eligible to return sometime this month.

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Kiermaier was initially scheduled to return August 9, but back pain halted his rehab assignment this past week so it looks as though it will be another week or two until he returns.

Among the players in the trade, Garton is the only one with major league experience and had been pitching at Triple-A Durham. On the season with Durham, Garton has pitched extremely well as he was 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA, four saves in 24 appearances covering 33 innings, while holding opposing hitters to a .162 average.

Additionally, he had 46 strikeouts and walked just 16, but was 0-1 with a 8.71 ERA and had allowed 10 earned runs on 13 hits with five walks and only nine strikeouts in 10.1 innings with the Rays.

Unfortunately, Garton’s minor league success did not carry over to the majors. In his six minor league seasons, Garton was 26-6 with a 2.64 ERA and 25 saves in 188 games. In seven stints in the last two seasons with the Rays, he went 1-3 with a 5.26 ERA in 49.2 innings pitched (17 games).

The Rays acquired Marjama prior to the 2015 season from the Chicago White Sox for cash considerations. Currently with the Durham Bulls, he was hitting .274/.342/.445 (72-for-263) in 72 games with nine home runs and 51 RBIs in his first year at the Triple-A level. The Sox drafted him in the 23rd round of the 2011 draft.

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Misiewicz is 8-5 with a 4.75 ERA (63-ER/119.1-IP) with 117 strikeouts in 23 appearances (all starts) this season between Class-A Modesto and Double-A Arkansas. Prior to his promotion to Double-A, he ranked seventh in the California League with 85 strikeouts.

Selected in the 18th round of the 2015 June Draft, Misiewicz is 18-17 with a 4.40 ERA (323.1-IP, 158-ER) in 66 appearances (59 starts) over three minor league seasons. He will report to Double-A Montgomery.

Prior to the trade Rengifo, a switch-hitter ranked among the Mariners’ top 30 prospects according to MLB.com, which placed him at No. 27. The Mariners signed him as an international free agent in July 2013 and in 102 games for Class-A Clinton, Rengifo was batting .250/.318/.413 (100-for-400) with 24 doubles, 11 home runs, 44 RBI and 29 stolen bases, which had tied him for second in the Midwest League. He will report to Class-A Bowling Green.

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Over parts of four minor league seasons, he is batting .256/.341/.387 (244-for-953) and has made starts at shortstop (30), second base (24), third base (19), left field (17) and right field (2).