On November 20, 2017, the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners agreed to a minor trade that probably didn’t even register on the radar of your average fan. The Mariners acquired a former 2013 seventh round pick in Nick Rumbelow for a couple of minor league pitchers, right-hander Juan Then, and left-hander JP Sears. The Yankees flipped Then in exchange for Edwin Encarnacion a couple seasons later, but they’ve held onto the unheralded Sears.
Sears was a starter for his entire collegiate career at the University of Citadel. His first two seasons were solid yet unimpressive, but during his third campaign, Spears really broke out, to the tune of a 2.