BOSTON -- The wheeling and dealing Mariners were at it again with less than one hour before Tuesday’s 3 p.m. PT Trade Deadline, acquiring reliever and old friend JT Chargois from the Marlins to fortify a bullpen that the club believes needs reinforcements.

Going back to Miami is Minor League starting pitcher Will Schomberg, an undrafted free agent who signed with the club out of Davidson University last July.

TRADE DETAILS
Mariners receive: RHP JT Chargois
Marlins receive: RHP Will Schomberg

Chargois rejoins the organization nearly three years to the day after he was dealt to Tampa Bay with third-base prospect Austin Shenton for leverage reliever Diego Castillo ahead of the Deadline in 2021. Chargois was then dealt after the ‘22 season to Miami, where he’s been since.

The 33-year-old is earning $1.285 million this season and has one more year of arbitration eligibility before becoming a free agent after 2025.

“He did an awesome job for us,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “We're just trying to get as many arms as we can to bolster up our bullpen a little bit. ... We know him well, obviously, and had a good relationship with him. We loved him when he was here.”

Chargois began the year on the injured list and didn’t debut until June 12. Since then, he’s surrendered just three earned runs in 16 2/3 innings (1.62 ERA), though his strikeout (16.9%) and walk (9.9%) rates are both below his career averages. He’s also inducing grounders at just a 34.6% rate, way below his 52.9% career mark. His fastball velocity has dropped, too, down from 96.3 mph to 94.4 mph this year on the sinker, his primary heater. The veteran relies mostly on a sinker/slider combo, with both pitches accounting for 98% of his usage.

The Mariners are banking on him pitching at the level that he did when he was with the club and working closely with pitching coach Pete Woodworth and director of pitching strategy Trent Blank.

“He became one of our original pivot guys, the guys that we could bring in with guys on base,” Servais said. “He's got a good breaking ball, a good sinker. He's done some different things with different teams he's been on. But overall, he's a guy that's pitched in traffic. You can bring him in in the middle of an inning. He's done a pretty good job in those spots. And there'll be opportunities here for him to contribute in a number of different ways.

Chargois was among the early success stories of unheralded relievers finding their footing in Seattle, having signed a Minors deal ahead of Spring Training in 2021 then blossoming into a reliable arm for a team that wound up being one of the Majors’ biggest surprises that year -- which largely hinged on the shoulders of its bullpen.

The club took a flier on Chargois leading into that spring after he carried a 6.33 ERA in 21 1/3 innings with the Dodgers in 2019, and a 4.58 ERA in 35 1/3 innings while pitching in Japan in ‘20. With the Mariners, he had a 3.00 ERA in 30 innings before being dealt at that year’s Deadline.

Beyond Tuesday’s Deadline being in play, the move came shortly after Seattle optioned reliever Gabe Speier to Triple-A Tacoma and recalled lefty Jhonathan Díaz before Tuesday night’s game at Fenway Park, a transaction that speaks to the state of a taxed bullpen, which became compounded after Logan Gilbert pitched a season-low 2 2/3 innings in Monday’s loss.

Servais was unsure when Chargois would join the team, either for Wednesday’s series finale in Boston or when the club opens a homestand on Friday.

As for Schomberg, the 23-year-old made 15 starts at Single-A Modesto before earning a promotion to High-A Everett on June 30. Between both affiliates, he’s 7-2 with a 2.83 ERA, a 1.21 WHIP, an 11.6% walk rate and a 29.2% strikeout rate.