Chicago Cubs catcher Welington Castillo
Welington Castillo, who has been traded to the Seattle Mariners, smiles after hitting a two-run homer for the Cubs against the Cincinnati Reds during a game in Chicago. Reuters/Kamil Krzaczynski/USA Today Sports

After six years with the Chicago Cubs, Welington Castillo will be moving to the Seattle Mariners after a trade finalized Tuesday. In exchange for the catcher, the Cubs will acquire reliever Yoervis Medina. MLB columnist for Yahoo Sports Jeff Passan confirmed the exchange on Twitter.

''With the number of catchers that go down in a season, if anything were to happen to [Seattle catcher Mike] Zunino and he went down, I'm not sure we would have had the depth to take his place,'' Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said to Yahoo Sports about the acquisition of Castillo, who was dealt by the Cubs because they already have catchers Miguel Montero and David Ross on their roster.

McClendon also stated that Castillo’s playing time would depend on Zunino’s performance as a starter. The Cubs’ Twitter account also made the trade official:

A 28-year-old catcher from the Dominican Republic, Castillo began his professional career in 2006 in the minors before being called up by the Cubs in 2010 and played with the team until the current MLB season.

Meanwhile, Medina, from Venezuela, is a 26-year-old relief pitcher with 3.00 ERA and 1 save in 12 games for the Mariners this year. He has a career 2.82 ERA in 141 relief appearances the last three years with Seattle.

The Cubs are currently in second place in the Central Division of the National League with 21 wins against 17 losses while the Mariners are third in the West Division of the American League with 17 wins against 21 losses.

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