Mariners send one lefty to Tacoma and another to Atlanta

Back Friday from the Winter Meetings, the Mariners took care of some housekeeping matters on two left-handed pitchers.

Reliever Dean Kiekhefer is heading to Triple-A Tacoma on an outright assignment after clearing waivers, and starter Tyler Pike is going to Atlanta as the player to be named later in a Nov. 28 trade.

The Mariners designated Kiekhefer, 27 for assignment on Dec. 3 to clear space on their 40-man roster after signing two free-agent relievers, lefty Marc Rzepczynski and Casey Fein.

Kiekhefer joined the Mariners through a Nov. 4 waiver claim from St. Louis, where he made his major-league debut last season by compiling a 5.32 ERA in 26 appearances. He limited left-handed batter to a .209 average.

He fared better at Triple-A Memphis, where he was 6-1 with a 2.08 ERA in 29 games. Kiekhefer is 20-16 with a 2.67 ERA in 265 minor-league games over seven seasons.

Pike, 22, was a third-round pick in 2012 but seemed to plateau in spending much of the last three seasons Hi-A. He was 6-5 with 4.01 ERA last season in 25 starts at Bakersfield.

Sending Pike to the Braves completes a deal in which the Mariners acquired right-handers Rob Whalen and Max Povse for outfielder Alex Jackson and a player to be named later.

Bob Dutton: @TNT_Mariners

This story was originally published December 9, 2016 at 2:59 PM with the headline "Mariners send one lefty to Tacoma and another to Atlanta."