Joaquin Benoit to Mariners: Latest Trade Details, Comments and Reaction

The Seattle Mariners announced Thursday they acquired relief pitcher Joaquin Benoit from the San Diego Padres.

In return, the Padres obtained a pair of minor leaguers: right-handed pitcher Enyel De Los Santos and infielder Nelson Ward.

The 38-year-old Benoit spent the past two seasons with the Padres in one of the most successful stretches of his career, posting a 1.96 ERA in 119.2 innings.

In the Mariners' announcement, executive vice president and general manager Jerry Dipoto spoke of his new acquisition: "Joaquin is a proven late-game presence who brings both stability and impact to the back end of our bullpen. We value his experience, track record of durability and consistently high-end performance."

Benoit's presence will be a welcome sight for the Mariners, whose bullpen ERA ballooned from 2.59 in 2014 to 4.15; that ranked 25th in the league, according to ESPN.com.

Seattle will part ways with De Los Santos, who went 6-0 with a 3.47 ERA in the Northwest and Arizona leagues, and Ward, who batted .278 in multiple levels of A-ball in 2015.

The Mariners are the first team to take advantage of what looks to be a busy offseason for the Padres. San Diego has already been linked to Atlanta Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons, per Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Gaining a veteran bullpen arm in Benoit to help close out games can only help the Mariners, who blew 24 saves this past season, per ESPN.

Minor league stats courtesy of MiLB.com.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.