OAKLAND -- Continuing to jettison highly paid veterans and focus on their future, the Mariners traded slugger Edwin Encarnacion to the Yankees on Saturday.

The move, which put the American League’s home run leader in pinstripes, reaffirmed that Seattle, which occupies last place in the AL West, has committed itself to an extensive roster overhaul.

“We’ll look at a lot of different guys as we continue to move down the road and do this rebuild thing,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said after Seattle’s 11-2 loss to Oakland. “You see every night, even tonight, some really exciting players out there. It’s just the consistency of it all. But you have to give guys opportunities. They have to get the experiences out there, and then through the whole process, you evaluate who’s going to be able to make the grade going forward and who isn’t.“

Seattle will receive 19-year-old right-hander Juan Then, ranked the Yankees' No. 27 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, in return for Encarnacion, who’s batting .241 with 21 homers and 49 RBIs in 65 games, and cash considerations.

“We get a young prospect, a player that we’re familiar with that had been in our organization," Servais said. “Juan’s a great kid. His stuff has really jumped. Velocity and breaking ball, we really like it. It’s a guy who has a chance to start. He’s a young pitcher that fits kind of in the mix of guys that we just drafted. It’s a nice arm to bring back.”

Also, MLB.com's Mark Feinsand reported that the Mariners will pay half of Encarnacion’s remaining salary. Encarnacion, 36, is earning $20 million in the final season of a three-year, $60 million contract, which includes a $20 million club option for 2021 that comes with a $5 million buyout.

“Edwin did great things here for us,” Servais said. “I really think a lot of him, how he went about his business here, knowing that this could probably happen. It’s hard to go out and produce the way he did. He did everything we could ask of him.”

Then was traded from the Mariners with fellow pitching prospect JP Sears to the Yankees for right-hander Nick Rumbelow on Nov. 18, 2017. The Mariners released Rumbelow on Wednesday after he endured subpar stints with Seattle and Triple-A Tacoma.

Seattle’s personnel moves suggest that second baseman Dee Gordon, who’s earning $13 million this season, $13.5 million next year and $14 million in 2021, also could be on the trading block. The same goes for much-traveled right-hander Mike Leake, who has played for four teams since 2015. Leake is due $16 million this year and $15 million next season.

Seattle began the in-season portion of its sell-off on June 2 when it sent outfielder Jay Bruce to Philadelphia. The Mariners were so intent on trading Bruce that they reportedly agreed to send the Phillies more than $18.5 million to help them pay Bruce.

That resumed the facelift that the Mariners only briefly discontinued. Since last November, they also traded a pair of 2018 All-Stars -- shortstop Jean Segura and right-hander Edwin Diaz, who joined the Phillies and Mets, respectively. In June of 2017, Segura signed a five-year, $70 million contract extension.

Other Mariners veterans that the club has traded since last November include pitchers James Paxton and Alex Colome, second baseman Robinson Cano, catcher Mike Zunino and outfielder Ben Gamel. Seattle also made no serious attempt to retain free-agent designated hitter Nelson Cruz.