UPDATE (Jan. 12, 2:30 p.m. PT): The Los Angeles Dodgers officially announced Joe Wieland was traded to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for Minor League infielder Erick Mejia.
The switch-hitting infielder played at four levels in the Mariners organization last season, with most of his time coming with Low-A Everett. Overall, Mejia, who turned 21 years old in November, hit .282/.346/.339 in 51 games played.
He batted .282/.361/.336 in 36 games with the AquaSox. Of note, the speedy infielder stole 18 bases in Low-A without getting caught. He swiped 20 bags overall and was caught just once.
After signing Scott Kazmir and Kenta Maeda to help round out the starting rotation, Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman acknowledged additional moves related to pitching weren’t likely.
Friedman went on to state he of course wouldn’t rule anything out and the club would evaluate options as they presented themselves.
On Tuesday the Dodgers reportedly agreed to a six-year contract with Cuban righty Yaisel Sierra. The 24 year old was used as a starter and reliever over the past four seasons.
How the Dodgers utilize Sierra and where he will begin the 2016 season is far from settled, but the move was another that added to the organization’s overall pitching depth.
However, Los Angeles appears to have removed one arm from that group as Joe Wieland appears to have been traded to the Seattle Mariners, according to Yahoo! Sports Jeff Passan:
Source: Mariners acquire right-hander Joe Wieland from the Dodgers. Minor leaguers believed to be coming back from Seattle to Los Angeles.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 12, 2016
Wieland and the Dodgers avoided arbitration in December by agreeing to a one-year, $590,000 contract. In trading Wieland, the Dodgers would free up a spot on the 40-man roster that could then be taken by Sierra once his deal is made official.
Wieland was one of two pitchers the Dodgers acquired in December 2014 from the San Diego Padres, along with Yasmani Grandal, in the trade that sent Tim Federowicz and Matt Kemp to San Diego.
The 25 year old spent much of last season with Triple-A Oklahoma City, though made two spot starts for the Dodgers. Wieland went 10-5 with a 4.59 ERA, 1.41 WHIP and had 92 strikeouts to 25 walks in 113.2 innings pitched over 22 games (21 starts) for OKC.
He was 0-1 with an 8.31 ERA, 6.94 FIP and 1.73 WHIP in his two starts with the Dodgers. With Mike Bolsinger, Jharel Cotton, Jose De Leon, Carlos Frias, Frankie Montas and Julio Urias among those expected to factor into OKC’s rotation, Wieland in a sense became expendable.
Including time spent with the Padres in 2012 and 2014, Wieland is a career 1-5 with a 5.85 ERA, 5.59 FIP and 1.49 WHIP in 11 Major League games (nine starts).
