The San Francisco Giants have traded starting pitcher Chris Heston, 28, to the Seattle Mariners for a player to be named later as reported by Jon Morosi and Jon Heyman of MLB Network.
Source: Chris Heston has been traded to #Mariners.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 7, 2016
SFGiants get PTBNL for heston #fairdeal
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 8, 2016
With the signing of closer Mark Melancon on Monday, the Giants were out of room on their 40-man roster, and would have had to designate Heston for assignment when that deal became official on Wednesday evening.
After a stellar rookie campaign in 2015 where Heston posted a 3.95 ERA in 31 starts, an oblique injury put Heston on the shelf for nearly all of last season. The Giants already have their rotation set for next season, with Matt Cain and youngster Ty Blach likely battling for the fifth spot behind lefty Matt Moore.
Heston was moved to the bullpen last season but was quickly sent down to Sacramento after allowing six runs in five innings.
