The Harry Ford dream is dead

[Cory Engelhardt]

Seattle trades Ford to the Nationals for lefty reliever Jose Ferrer. 
 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/12/nationals-to-trade-jose-ferrer-to-mariners-for-harry-ford.html

[Rigby]

• Missed opportunity. Pretty meager return.

[tony&rodney]

I took Harry Ford off a list of guys the Twins should seek after Falvey managed to trade for the former BA HS POY, Alex Jackson. We knew then that Ford was a not the type of player that might appeal to the Twins.

Good trade for both teams. Seattle is a player or two away from being the AL favorite next season. I would say they currently are tied with Toronto and New York.

[jorgenswest]

It would have been nice if they could have turned one of their three relievers they traded at the deadline into Ford. I guess the difference is the age of Ferrar and the number of years on control compared to the Twins trio. He also meets the Mariners need of a lefty which the Twins couldn’t provide. I would bet on Ford over Tait but I get why the Mariners were seeking a younger pre arb lefty as the price for Ford.

I wonder if they could have made a Ford for Prielipp deal this winter without adding to much to the deal. At this point they really need Prielipp also. The Twins surplus is a guy like Rodriguez but that might not fit what the Mariners were seeking.

[Blyleven2011]

Sucking hind tit once again  , could of and should of found a way to get a highly talented catcher in Ford...

Once again we miss out on a quality player and settle for a mediocre player ...

[Mike Sixel]

This is a real disappointment.

[Mike Sixel]

3 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

This is a real disappointment.

Like, they couldn't get him for Duran?

[tony&rodney]

52 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

It would have been nice if they could have turned one of their three relievers they traded at the deadline into Ford. I guess the difference is the age of Ferrar and the number of years on control compared to the Twins trio. He also meets the Mariners need of a lefty which the Twins couldn’t provide. I would bet on Ford over Tait but I get why the Mariners were seeking a younger pre arb lefty as the price for Ford.

I wonder if they could have made a Ford for Prielipp deal this winter without adding to much to the deal. At this point they really need Prielipp also. The Twins surplus is a guy like Rodriguez but that might not fit what the Mariners were seeking.

One thing is certain - we don't know.

My guess is that Harry Ford is too fast and athletic for a catcher in someone's view. Is that even possible. Did the Twins ever target Ford? Kody Funderburk or Connor Prielipp, or others were a reasonable exchange. Do Kendry Rojas and Alan Roden, both fine prospects, outweigh Harry Ford. It seems like the Twins are too reactive as opposed to going forth and asking everyone questions/ being proactive. Then again, I'm just a little frustrated by the Twins lackadaisical approach.

I stated above that I crossed Harry Ford off the list of players to acquire once the Twins traded for Alex Jackson. He is more the Twins type of guy and I hope he is very successful in a Twins uniform.

There are still names to ask about: Tre' Morgan, Jordan Lawler, Leodalis De Vries, Edward Cabrera, and more. I'm sure many people on Twins Daily have some names to throw out. A deal like the WAS-SEA trade just seems like another missed opportunity but not everything falls our way. Just a couple though? 

[Chembry]

The most disappointing aspect of the Harry Ford trade was the price Washington paid to acquire him.  Yes, Seattle got a decent reliever, but it seems like a low price for a catcher that has a decently high floor.  Ford was one reason I was hoping to trade with SEA at the deadline, especially with catching being a need beyond 2026.  

[tony&rodney]

29 minutes ago, Chembry said:

The most disappointing aspect of the Harry Ford trade was the price Washington paid to acquire him.  Yes, Seattle got a decent reliever, but it seems like a low price for a catcher that has a decently high floor.  Ford was one reason I was hoping to trade with SEA at the deadline, especially with catching being a need beyond 2026.  

I was hopeful too. I put out 3 GM Tool teams. I traded for Harry Ford in each one with three different ideas. I had a different one to acquire Ford last July too. Hey, he might be a flop but I liked the athleticism, speed, quickness, patience and good eye at the plate, and his ability to hit. Watched him a few times and he looked good. Seattle wanted to see if he could fit as an outfielder but he doesn't hit for much power now and was projecting more as a catcher than an outfielder. 

Now it is time to hope for some other moves. Hard not to question the front office these days or last several years. Keep on hoping.

[whosafraidofluigirussolo]

12 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Like, they couldn't get him for Duran?

This is a good question and a very natural comparison to make. Since (IIRC) there were Durán-Mariners rumors at the deadline, maybe it was about the second piece? Like, the Twins may have seen Ford > Taít in value (as lots of us lay people seem to do), but Seattle wasn’t willing to offer another player they valued as much as Abel? Speculating of course. 

[bunsen82]

I think this shows you how the rest of MLB valued Ford

[tony&rodney]

2 hours ago, bunsen82 said:

I think this shows you how the rest of MLB valued Ford

Explain please.

[bunsen82]

50 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

Explain please.

That all a top 50 catcher could bring is a reliever that relies on grounders and limiting damage. His peripherals suggest he could be more. So either the mariners really really liked him, or Fords value is much much lower in MLB front offices as no one else was willing to offer a better reliever.  It makes more sense now why Twins took the Phillies offer.  

[tony&rodney]

10 minutes ago, bunsen82 said:

That all a top 50 catcher could bring is a reliever that relies on grounders and limiting damage. His peripherals suggest he could be more. So either the mariners really really liked him, or Fords value is much much lower in MLB front offices as no one else was willing to offer a better reliever.  It makes more sense now why Twins took the Phillies offer.  

The trade doesn't necessarily diminish Ford in my opinion. We shall find out next season if he is ready for MLB. Washington plans to make him their #1 catcher, which is very uncommon for any MLB team, a rookie catcher.

Seattle has a pretty complete team, with their bullpen being an area where they wanted a solid player. They weren't  likely to accept Royce Lewis for Ford because they feel pretty confident in their infield prospects and would only trade to acquire an All Star like Ketel Marte.

This trade was almost surely made because it seems the Mariners had a specific player in mind and went after him. You will remember that Seattle targeted Jorge Polanco for two years and was ecstatic to acquire him at such a low cost, which is what the Mariner GM stated at that time. Now Polanco didn't come back successfully from his knee problems until last summer so that trade wasn't such a big win as Seattle felt it was at the time. It does explain to some extent that Jerry DiPoto has specific thoughts and plans and is proactive.

We know the Twins preferred Tait over Miller, but it could be that Seattle wasn't as keen on Duran as we felt they should be. I guess there is more than plenty that I have no  idea about. I'm impressed that the Mariners don't sit on their team/roster year after year but are aggressive towards acquiring those players that fit into their plans. I'm still hoping the Twins make some changes.

[chpettit19]

This is a pretty surprising return for Ford. I'd bet there's more than a couple front office heads out there wondering why Ford isn't in their organization now because they felt they had a better offer than that. Feels like a deal that Seattle initiated with Ferrer specifically in mind. Can't imagine they were openly shopping Ford and just looking for the best deal possible and ended up on this before the winter meetings. 

[bunsen82]

7 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

This is a pretty surprising return for Ford. I'd bet there's more than a couple front office heads out there wondering why Ford isn't in their organization now because they felt they had a better offer than that. Feels like a deal that Seattle initiated with Ferrer specifically in mind. Can't imagine they were openly shopping Ford and just looking for the best deal possible and ended up on this before the winter meetings. 

I think it’s pretty clear they like Ferrer.  100+ fastball and good slider and a lefty.  After that, has walk issues seems to pitch to contact because of lack of strikeout ability and tries to get grounders.  Jerry is willing to overpay on the surface, but he does know the value of his prospects. I don’t think he trade $1 for .50 cents.  In my opinion it’s probably like .75 for .65.  
 

As to Washington you are talking about an organization that made Ruiz a big part of their return in Sherzer deal, gave him $50 million contract and have whiffed. So yes they have a whole to fill but their talent eye hasn’t been great either.  

[Riverbrian]

Strictly guessing of course. Scarcity. 

It tells me that the Mariners wanted a power left handed reliever to go with Munoz and Brash. They must have locked in on Ferrer and the Nationals most likely didn't want to give him up so they had to be enticed. 

The Nats are building... Ferrer has years of control so the Nats wouldn't want to move him. Unless someone was willing to come along and be locked in on a specific player. 

Congrats to Paul Toboni. He's new to the job and that's a pretty good deal. 

[chpettit19]

1 hour ago, bunsen82 said:

I think it’s pretty clear they like Ferrer.  100+ fastball and good slider and a lefty.  After that, has walk issues seems to pitch to contact because of lack of strikeout ability and tries to get grounders.  Jerry is willing to overpay on the surface, but he does know the value of his prospects. I don’t think he trade $1 for .50 cents.  In my opinion it’s probably like .75 for .65.  
 

As to Washington you are talking about an organization that made Ruiz a big part of their return in Sherzer deal, gave him $50 million contract and have whiffed. So yes they have a whole to fill but their talent eye hasn’t been great either.  

The Nats have a new FO so comparing older trades to what Paul Toboni does isn't very telling. And picking out just that one trade isn't very useful either. CJ Abrams, James Wood, MacKenzie Gore, and Jarlin Susana all coming back in 1 trade pretty easily cancels out the Ruiz deal. Not to mention that Ruiz was actually pretty good before his concussion problems. 

[tony&rodney]

18 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

Feels like a deal that Seattle initiated with Ferrer specifically in mind.

This is what came to my mind. Related - the Twins need to initiate conversations on a number of players. There are possibilities out there and i think that the WAS-SEa trade is a good example. Can the Twins front office actually bring people to their table or are they just mingling?

i was mystified why Falvey would issue any statement on trades or holding players. The current roster is not bristling with talent that screams World Series title. I mean the Dodgers say we are only looking at a few areas and feel good about only needing a few pieces. They don't say, we are set.

[harmony55]

16 hours ago, bunsen82 said:

I think it’s pretty clear they like Ferrer.  100+ fastball and good slider and a lefty.  After that, has walk issues seems to pitch to contact because of lack of strikeout ability and tries to get grounders.  Jerry is willing to overpay on the surface, but he does know the value of his prospects. I don’t think he trade $1 for .50 cents.  In my opinion it’s probably like .75 for .65.  

The Mariners reportedly had coveted Jose A. Ferrer since the left-hander was 19 years old in 2019:

https://www.mlb.com/news/jose-a-ferrer-was-longtime-mariners-trade-target

Quote

“We feel like we got the No. 1 trade target on our list,” Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said on Monday at the Winter Meetings. “Like, this was the guy that, if we could dream the dream, who would you want to acquire? This was the guy we were looking to acquire.”

Seattle is in a win-now mode and hopes Ferrer will contribute more to the 2026 club than Ford would have.