Mariners get RHP Chase De Jong from Dodgers; Mike Freeman DFA’d

It may be spring training, but Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto is still finding time to wheel and deal.

Just before Dipoto sat down on the Cactus League Report on 710 ESPN Seattle, the Mariners announced that they have acquired right-handed pitcher Chase De Jong from the Dodgers for minor leaguers Drew Jackson and Aneurys Zabala.

Seattle added De Jong to its 40-man roster and designated utility man Mike Freeman for assignment to make room.

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The 6-foot-4, 210-pound De Jong was a second-round draft pick of the Toronto Blue Jays in 2012. The 23 year old has yet to make his MLB debut and spent 2016 with Triple-A Oklahoma City and Double-A Tulsa. He had a combined 15-5 record, 2.82 ERA, 1.034 WHIP and 8.1 strikeouts per nine innings.

“We’ve been working on trying to acquire Chase De Jong since last July, so this was just a culmination of many months of work and staying in tune with what the Dodgers were doing and finally we were able to line up,” Dipoto said on the Cactus League Report. “You can’t have much better Double-A season than he had last year, and he just dominated at the minor league levels. He is a four-pitch guy, a premium strike-thrower, kind of like the model we’ve been prone to acquire. A fly ball, strikeouts guy who throws a ton of strikes, commands four pitches.”

Dipoto added that De Jong is expected to begin the season in Triple-A Tacoma’s starting rotation. He adds to Seattle’s considerable depth behind its starting rotation, joining a group that includes Ariel Miranda, Rob Whalen, Chris Heston and Dillon Overton.

Jackson, a 23-year-old shortstop, came to the team as a 2015 fifth-round draft pick out of Stanford. He spent all of 2016 with High-A Bakersfield, hitting .258 with a .332 on-base percentage, six home runs, 47 RBIs and 16 stolen bases.

Zabala, 20, spent the past two seasons in the rookie league. He had a 2.88 ERA over 16 games last year.

Freeman, 29, appeared in 13 games for Seattle after being acquired from Arizona last year, going 5 for 13 with an RBI.

“We do hope that Mike clears waivers and stays in our camp,” Dipoto said. “Mike does things right, he’s always in the right place, and as you saw last year in September, Mike Freeman helps you win games in the big leagues.”

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