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Mariners Looking For Corner Infield Bats; Ownership Willing To Bump Payroll

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The Mariners are currently 41-38 and in possession of the final American League Wild Card spot, putting them in position to add at the deadline. Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports that the club is looking to add an impact bat at a corner infield spot, though he adds that they could also just get the best bat available and worry about the positioning later. An extra leverage arm for the bullpen is another reported target. Kramer also reports that “ownership will green light increased spending” at this year’s deadline.

The note about the payroll is quite relevant. Throughout the offseason, reporting indicated that the club had about $15MM of spending capacity for upgrading the roster. The M’s then spent a combined $11.25MM on signing Jorge Polanco and Donovan Solano. In early May, they claimed Leody Taveras off waivers from the Rangers, taking on the roughly $3.7MM he had left to be paid out on this year’s salary. The M’s later outrighted Taveras to Triple-A.

Given that the M’s had seemingly spent their budget, it would have been fair to wonder about their ability to make deadline additions. While it’s unclear exactly how much increased spending ownership is willing to approve, any extra pocket money should help the front office pursue external additions.

As for the specific targets, they are not surprising, as the M’s have question marks at both infield corners. Ben Williamson has received the lion’s share of playing time at third base this year and has been solid with the glove, but has hit just .255/.291/.311 for a 77 wRC+. At first base, Rowdy Tellez was the regular there before his subpar bat got him bumped off the roster. He was designated for assignment last week and put on release waivers today.

Solano is now getting most of the playing time at first. He’s not having a great season overall but has been heating up after a dreadful start. He was hitting .131/.156/.148 through May 17th but has a massive .420/.463/.640 line since then. That latter line is a small sample of just 54 plate appearances and inflated by an unsustainable .474 batting average on balls in play but there’s no harm in riding the hot hand in the short term. He also slashed .294/.353/.413 for a 112 wRC+ from 2019 to 2024, so he has a track record of strong offense.

Considering that he’s 37 years old and slumped early in the year, it’s understandable that the M’s may not want to be totally reliant on him. A lot of his damage has also come against lefties in recent years, so they could consider a platoon, though he has reverse splits in this year’s small sample of work.

As for specific targets, Kramer relays that the Mariners have considered a reunion with old friend Eugenio Suárez, currently of the Diamondbacks. Suárez played for Seattle in 2022 and 2023, hitting a bunch of home runs but also striking out a lot. The M’s made a concerted effort to reimagine their offense with fewer punchouts and traded him to Arizona ahead of the 2024 season.

With the Snakes, Suárez got out to a rough start but has been one of the best hitters in baseball for about the past year. He had a .216/.302/.366 line and 87 wRC+ in the first half of 2024 but then exploded for a .307/.341/.602 showing and 153 wRC+ in the second half. Here in 2025, he already has 25 home runs, a .251/.323/.569 line and a 141 wRC+. He’s also been striking out less in the process. He struck out more than 30% of the time as a Mariner but dropped that rate to 27.5% last year and is down to 25.7% so far this year.

His defense isn’t as strong as Williamson’s but he would obviously provide a huge boost to the lineup from the third base spot. Suárez is making a notable salary of $15MM this year, which would leave about $5MM left to be paid out as of the deadline. As mentioned, it’s unknown how much wiggle room the M’s will have to take on money.

It’s possible the Diamondbacks would be willing to eat some of the money but it’s also not entirely clear if they want to make Suárez available at all. Despite a rash of injuries, they are currently 41-39 and just three games out of a playoff spot in the National League. If they fall back in the next few weeks, the possibility of a Suárez trade should increase.

There’s also an argument for Arizona to trade Suárez even in a win-now move. They have lost several arms to injury and could flip him for help on the pitching staff, with Jordan Lawlar then taking over at third. However, there is risk in that path. Lawlar is a top prospect and keeps hitting in the minors but hasn’t yet taken advantage of his major league chances.

Kramer also mentions Arizona first baseman Josh Naylor, noting that he had been linked to the M’s prior to being traded from Cleveland to Arizona in the offseason. Naylor, like Suárez, is an impending free agent. He is making $10.9MM this year while slashing .307/.363/.479 for a 132 wRC+.

Kramer also mentions some other players as possible fits, including Jarren Duran of the Red Sox as well as Ryan O’Hearn, Cedric Mullins and Félix Bautista of the Orioles, though those appear to be more speculative suggestions. He also throws out Isiah Kiner-Falefa of the Pirates and Jesús Sánchez of the Marlins as other possibilities.

Duran and Mullins are outfielders but, as mentioned, the Mariners might just grab the best bat they can and figure out the defense later. Luke Raley is currently spending most of his time in the outfield corners but could perhaps spend more time at first base if the M’s added an outfielder.

O’Hearn and Mullins are both impending free agents on a struggling Baltimore club, so they seem likely to be moved. O’Hearn is having a terrific year, with a .301/.384/.485 line and 149 wRC+. His $8MM salary is not nothing but it’s barely half of what Suárez is making. Mullins was hot to start the year but has gone cold lately. He had a .278/.412/.515 line and 168 wRC+ at the end of April but has since put up a line of .167/.201/.348 for a wRC+ of 50. He is making $8.725MM this year.

Duran is still controllable for three years after this one but the Sox have a crowded long-term outfield mix that also includes Wilyer Abreu, Ceddanne Rafaela, Roman Anthony, Masataka Yoshida and Jhostynxon Garcia. Perhaps the Sox would consider making Duran available as a way to preemptively clear out that logjam while simultaneously adding talent somewhere else. They are currently 40-42 and 2.5 games back of a Wild Card spot.

As for the bullpen, all contenders generally look for upgrades at the deadline. Bautista should be highly attractive if the O’s are willing to make him available but it’s unclear if they would. Unlike Mullins and O’Hearn, he can be retained for two more seasons beyond this one. But given the general volatility of relievers, Baltimore might think about cashing him in during a down year for the club overall.

After missing the 2024 due to Tommy John surgery recovery, Bautista’s control has been a problem, with a 15% walk rate. But he’s still been effective overall, with a 2.60 earned run average and 33.6% strikeout rate. It’s possible he is reining in his command as the season goes along as he has dropped that walk rate to 9.4% in June.

Kiner-Falefa is a glove-first utility guy, hitting .273/.319/.346 this year for the Bucs, which translates to a wRC+ of 85. He is making $7.5MM this season but the Blue Jays are on the hook for part of that as part of the trade that sent him to Pittsburgh at last year’s deadline. Sánchez has generally been a league average hitter for the Marlins. He is in his sixth big league season and has a .240/.309/.425 line and 99 wRC+. He is making $4.5MM this year and can be controlled for two more seasons via arbitration.

There are many possibilities for Seattle, which should make for a very interesting deadline. President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto has a reputation as being one of the most trade-happy executives in the sport and the Mariners have one of the best farm systems. Reportedly, they wanted to deal prospects for big leaguers during the offseason but found few clubs willing to make that kind of pact since so many teams came into the year hoping to contend. As the season goes along and some clubs fall back in the standings, they might be more willing to take some of those prospects off the Mariners’ hands.

Photo courtesy of Joe Nicholson, Imagn Images.

Mariners Place Rowdy Tellez On Release Waivers

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June 26: The Mariners announced Thursday that Tellez is on unconditional release waivers. Assuming he clears, he’ll be free to sign with any team for the prorated league minimum.

June 20: The Mariners have designated first baseman Rowdy Tellez for assignment, per a team announcement. His spot on the roster will go to outfielder/first baseman Luke Raley, who’s been activated from the injured list after missing seven weeks with an oblique strain.

Tellez, 30, is in his eighth big league season and has popped 11 home runs while serving as Seattle’s primary first baseman. Early in the year, he was expected to see more time at designated hitter for skipper Dan Wilson, but the injury to Raley and ongoing injury issues for infielder Jorge Polanco (who was accordingly relegated to DH work) pushed Tellez into the field on a regular basis.

After a disastrous start to his season, Tellez righted the ship in mid-April and has been a serviceable but flawed source of power in the heart of the Mariners’ order. He reached base just once in his first 23 plate appearances but has since swatted 11 homers and slugged .484. That power comes with a low average and bottom-of-the-barrel OBP, however. Tellez rarely walks, is easy to position against defensively due to his extreme-pull approach, and is measured by Statcast as the slowest player in baseball (eliminating virtually any chance of him reaching via infield hit).

Dating back to April 11, Tellez has taken 162 turns at the plate and is hitting .229/.265/.484. He’s been shielded almost entirely from left-handed pitching, receiving just 14 plate appearances and reaching base only twice (one single, one hit-by-pitch). He’s hitting .219/.257/.463 against right-handed pitching this year.

With Raley nearing a return, it seemed likely that either Tellez or fellow veteran first base option Donovan Solano could be pushed off the roster. Since both Tellez and Raley hit left-handed, the Mariners opted to move on from the veteran who can keep a platoon intact. Solano has helped his cause by hitting better over the past month, albeit in an excessively limited role. He’s batted .333/.394/.467 since May 20 but done so in only 33 plate appearances (26 of them against lefties).

For the time being, Solano and Raley will presumably platoon at first base. That’s not an ideal setup, as Raley is more comfortable in the outfield than at first and Solano has struggled this season overall. The Mariners will, at the very least, likely explore the trade market for righty-swinging options at first base in the weeks ahead. Dominic Canzone has provided slightly better-than-average offense in right field since being called up earlier this month (.233/.303/.400 in 33 plate appearances), but if he struggles like he has in two prior MLB seasons, the Mariners could move Raley to right field. That would set them up to either give prospect Tyler Locklear a run at first base or explore the trade market for a full-time upgrade either at first base or in right field.

The Mariners will have five days to trade Tellez or place him on waivers. He originally signed a minor league contract with Seattle but locked in a $1.5MM salary when he made the roster after a big spring performance. He’s still owed about $806K of that sum, as of this writing.

Any team that claims Tellez off waivers would assume the entirety of that remaining salary. If the M’s find an interested trade partner, they could include some cash to offset the salary in exchange for what would still likely be a nominal prospect return. Since waivers are a 48-hour process, we’ll know the outcome of Tellez’s DFA within a maximum of one week’s time. In the event that he clears waivers, Tellez has enough service time to elect free agency and retain the remaining money on this year’s salary.

Poll: AL MVP Race Check-In

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While days off and postponements leave clubs around the league without a uniform number of games played, one of the games in this week’s slate will represent the halfway point in the season for every team across MLB. With an MVP set to be crowned in both leagues after the season, that means two players are already halfway through a year that will earn them the sport’s most prestigious individual award. Who are the frontrunners to claim the trophy for themselves this offseason? We’ll be looking at both leagues over the next two days, starting with the American League:

Aaron Judge

Major stars like Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, and Kyle Tucker have migrated to the National League in recent years, but Judge would arguably have entered the season as the odds-on favorite even if he were still competing with them. The slugger already won the MVP award in both 2022 and ’24. Ohtani won back-to-back MVP awards in 2023 and ’24, but those were for two different teams in two different leagues. Judge would be the first player to win back-to-back MVPs in the same league since Miguel Cabrera in 2012 and ’13. Uncommon as the feat may be, Judge seems well positioned to pull it off. His .367/.468/.727 (225 wRC+) slash line is nothing short of comical, and he already has an absurd 6.0 WAR season according to Fangraphs through just 77 games.

That’s a higher total than stars like Jackson Merrill and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. were able to cobble together in a full slate of games last year, and it’s hard to argue with those numbers. Dominant as Judge has been, however, it must be pointed out that he’s currently benefiting from an eye-popping .453 BABIP. That figure is 100 points higher than his career mark, which is already at the high end of the spectrum for sustainable BABIP figures. It would be the highest BABIP by a qualified player since 1871 if he were to maintain it over a full season, and just the second time a player posted a BABIP of even .400 since 2002, joining Yoan Moncada’s 2019 campaign.

Cal Raleigh

If anyone has a chance to challenge Judge for the title, Raleigh likely has the best shot. He’s hit a whopping 31 home runs this season to capture the MLB-wide lead, and his .276/.383/.659 (191 wRC+) slash line is almost as incredible as that of Judge. Raleigh’s 5.1 fWAR is second in the majors to Judge as well, and he’s even managed to chip in on the bases by swiping nine bags in 11 opportunities. Of course, the most impressive thing about Raleigh’s season is that he’s doing all of this while playing the game’s most taxing defensive position. He’s caught 58 of the 75 games he’s appeared in, and if he keeps this up over the full season he’d surpass legendary seasons by Buster Posey in 2012 and Johnny Bench in 1972 to put together the best season behind the plate in MLB history.

The biggest obstacle to Raleigh turning this first-half momentum into an MVP win is, of course, Judge. While Raleigh has the edge in terms of baserunning, defense, home runs, and strikeout rate, Judge is leading in WAR, wRC+, walk rate, all three triple slash categories, and games played. There’s no question about whose season has been more productive when stripping away the context of Raleigh’s position, and Judge might need to cool off significantly in the second half just for their numbers to be comparable when all is said and done.

Bobby Witt Jr.

After finishing second to Judge in 2024 AL MVP voting with a stellar campaign, Witt is back at it this year with another banner year. His elite shortstop glove has made him the second most valuable defender in baseball according to Fangraphs, and he’s already stolen 21 bases after swiping just 31 total last year. With that being said, the power that allowed him to swat 32 homers last year has taken a big step back. The drop off in power has left him with a .286/.343/.490 (123 wRC+) slash line that’s well above average but not quite MVP-caliber, and he would likely need to turn things up a notch in the second half and benefit from steps backward by Judge and Raleigh in order to have a chance at coming home with the trophy.

Jeremy Pena

Perhaps the most surprising entrant into this list, Pena has never so much as made an All-Star appearance in his career but is in the midst of an incredible season. He’s slashed .326/.380/.493 (149 wRC+) in 78 games so far this year with 11 homers and 15 steals in 17 attempts alongside an excellent 16.1% strikeout rate. That wRC+ is seventh-highest among qualified AL hitters, and Pena benefits further from playing a valuable defensive position in shortstop. With that being said, he’s not quite on the level of Witt defensively and his .365 BABIP is elevated well outside the range of his career norms. Like Witt, he’ll likely need a massive slowdown in production from Judge and Raleigh in order to be a serious contender for the award this year.

Other Options

Judge, Raleigh, Witt, and Pena are all more or less in a class of their own at this point in the season, and even Witt and Pena would need a lot to go right in order for them to catch the two front-runners. With that being said, there are some other at least plausible candidates. Tarik Skubal continues to dominate on the mound and his 3.9 fWAR tally matches that of Witt and Pena. Jose Ramirez remains as consistent as ever and could put up another 30-30 season this year. Jonathan Aranda has been one of baseball’s best hitters this year but doesn’t play a premium position. Byron Buxton has flashed all five tools this year with strong defense, elite speed, and a 155 wRC+ but will have trouble garnering much attention with just 60 games played so far.

Who do you think will ultimately come out on top in AL MVP voting? Will Judge reign supreme once again, or could another challenger like Raleigh step up to claim the trophy? Have your say in the poll below:

Mariners Claim Jacob Hurtubise

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The Mariners announced that they have claimed outfielder Jacob Hurtubise off waivers from the Reds. The latter club designated him for assignment a few days ago. The M’s already had a 40-man vacancy. They announced that Hurtubise will report to Triple-A Tacoma, so no corresponding active roster move will be required.

Hurtubise, 27, has seen brief big league work in each of the past two seasons with Cincinnati. He’s totaled 83 major league plate appearances and batted .167/.291/.212 in that tiny sample. He’s been far better in Triple-A, where his speed, plate discipline and hit-over-power approach have been evident in parts of three seasons. Hurtubise has amassed 502 plate appearances with the Reds’ Triple-A affiliate in Louisville, slashing .270/.416/.337 with just three homers but a 30-for-34 showing in stolen base attempts.

That excellent speed has allowed Hurtubise to capably slot into all three outfield positions, despite lacking the prototypical arm strength needed to play right field. He’s a rangy, versatile defender who recorded a 45-steal season in the minors as recently as 2023. Hurtubise is in the second of three minor league option years.

The Mariners actually drafted Hurtubise in the 39th round back in 2019, but he opted to return to school and instead headed back to West Point for his senior year. As Baseball America points out in their scouting report on him, a rule change in 2020 allowed athletes at military academies to delay their service until after their playing careers had been completed. He signed with the Reds as an undrafted free agent — the 2020 draft was shortened to only five rounds — and has now, in rather circuitous fashion, landed with the first team that originally tried to draft him.

Seattle’s outfield depth has been stretched thin by injuries to Victor Robles and Luke Raley. Hurtubise is the latest in a growing line of outfield alternatives the M’s have explored since those injuries. Dominic Canzone is currently getting a look, but the Mariners have also tried Leody Taveras, Rhylan Thomas, Miles Mastrobuoni and others as they look to hold things down until either Raley/Robles can return or until additional reinforcements can be acquired (likely closer to the trade deadline).

Mariners Select Zach Pop

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The Mariners announced they’ve selected righty reliever Zach Pop onto the big league roster. Rookie starter Logan Evans was optioned back to Triple-A Tacoma to create an active roster spot. Seattle had two openings on the 40-man roster.

Pop will make his team debut whenever he gets into a game. He joined Seattle in mid-April on a minor league deal. That came after he was released by the Blue Jays. Pop was battling elbow inflammation at the time, but he got back on the mound by the middle of May. He made two rehab appearances in the complex league before reporting to Tacoma. Pop has made 11 appearances and tossed 9 2/3 innings, allowing seven runs (though only three were earned). He has fanned nine against five walks.

The 28-year-old Pop has pitched in parts of four MLB seasons. He threw 48 1/3 frames for the Jays last season, working to a 5.59 ERA with a well below-average 15.8% strikeout percentage. Pop doesn’t have huge swing-and-miss stuff, but he sits around 96 MPH with his sinker and has posted a gaudy 55% ground-ball rate in his career. He’ll add a grounder specialist to Dan Wilson’s middle relief corps for the time being. He’s out of minor league options, though, so the M’s would need to designate him for assignment to take him off the big league roster.

Seattle can operate with an extra reliever for this weekend’s series against the Guardians. Luis Castillo, George Kirby and Emerson Hancock are lined up to start those games. Adam Jude of The Seattle Times writes that Logan Gilbert is expected to return from the injured list during next week’s series against the Red Sox, at which point Seattle will go back to five starters and an eight-man bullpen. Gilbert has been down since late April with a flexor strain. He has made a trio of rehab starts with Tacoma, combining for 9 2/3 innings of three-run ball.

Mariners Outright Leody Taveras

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The Mariners announced that outfielder Leody Taveras has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Tacoma. He had been bumped off the 40-man roster when the Mariners designated him for assignment earlier this week.

Taveras has the right to elect free agency but will likely forgo that right. Players with at least three years of service time have the right to reject an outright assignment and head to the open market. However, if they have less than five years of service, they have to forfeit any remaining salary commitments in order to exercise that right. Taveras is between three and five years of service and is making $4.75MM this year, so it seems fair to presume he’ll report to Tacoma in order to keep the remainder that money coming to him.

That money has been an undercurrent to all things related to Taveras in the past year or so. He had a down season in 2024 and was arguably a non-tender candidate coming into 2025. With the Rangers attempting to stay under the competitive balance tax, they could have cut Taveras and given center field to Evan Carter.

The Rangers did tender Taveras a contract but there were trade rumors surrounding him in January. Though the club had a tight budget, it’s possible that concerns around Carter’s back surgery may have motivated them to stick with Taveras. But his production fell even further from his 2024 levels while Carter was getting into game shape. They decided to move on and put Taveras on waivers.

The Mariners made a somewhat surprising claim, given their own financial constraints. Reports throughout the winter suggested they only had about $15MM to spend on upgrading their roster for the 2025 season. They signed Jorge Polanco and Donovan Solano to one-year deals worth a combined $11.25MM, leaving them with a bit of wiggle room for in-season moves.

At the time they claimed Taveras, he still had about $3.7MM of his salary to be paid out, a notable sum for a fringe roster player. Perhaps not coincidentally, that money and the Polanco/Solano contracts add up to almost exactly $15MM.

Presumably, the M’s felt they could get the 2022-23 version of Taveras. In those seasons, he had slashed .264/.311/.400 for a 97 wRC+ while stealing 25 bases and providing strong outfield defense. They also had lost Víctor Robles and Luke Raley to the injured list, perhaps motivating them to take a gamble.

As mentioned, Taveras had seen his production drop lately. He put up a line of .229/.289/.352 last year, leading to an 82 wRC+. This year, his line was at .241/.259/.342 when Texas bumped him off the roster. While the M’s hoped for a bounceback, he actually got worse after coming to Seattle, with a .174/.198/.272 line in 28 games. They decided to pull the plug and it seems no other club was willing to take on the roughly $2.7MM of his salary still to be paid out.

It’s a less than ideal use of resources for the Mariners, especially given how little they had to work with. That is something which could impact their moves in the rest of the season. Unless ownership greenlit some extra spending, this move used up a few million bucks that could have been used to acquire a more surefire upgrade at the deadline.

There’s still some time to flip the narrative. Perhaps Taveras can get back on track with Tacoma and earn his way back onto the roster. However, that may get tougher in time. Raley is now on a rehab assignment and should be back on the roster in the next few weeks. Robles is further away but could rejoin the club later in the year. Presumably, adding another outfielder or two at the deadline will be a possibility.

If Taveras doesn’t get called back up to the majors, he will be able to elect minor league free agency at season’s end. That’s the case for all players with at least three years of big league service time who are outrighted during the course of a season.

Photo courtesy of Kirby Lee, Imagn Images

MLBTR Podcast: White Sox Ownership, Roman Anthony, And The Diamondbacks’ Rotation

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Do the Mariners need a left-hander in the rotation? (40:45)
  • What will the Braves do with the rest of the season and would they trade Chris Sale? (45:30)
  • With the Mets seemingly having too many young infielders, who stays and who goes? (53:35)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski, Imagn Images

Casey Lawrence Elects Free Agency

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Right-hander Casey Lawrence has elected free agency after being outrighted to Triple-A Tacoma by the Mariners, according to the transactions log on his MLB.com profile page.

Lawrence, 37, was DFA’d over the weekend in what has become an extremely familiar pattern for him and the Mariners. He’s been shuttled between Tacoma and Seattle all throughout the 2025 campaign so far with multiple trips to the waiver wire in between stints, utilized effectively as a 41st member of the 40-man roster who can be called upon when the Mariners need an extra arm before being cut loose and placed on waivers once he’s provided some length out of the bullpen.

It’s an unusual role, but he’s done fairly well in it this year. Lawrence has a 4.08 ERA and 4.09 FIP across 17 2/3 innings of work, almost all of which came as a member of the Mariners save one short stint with the Blue Jays where he allowed three runs on six hits in 2 2/3 innings of long relief work. The arrangement has allowed Lawrence to find his first big league opportunities since 2023, when he struggled to a 6.59 ERA in 27 innings of work for the Cardinals out of the bullpen.

That was the only time in his career he donned a major league uniform other than those of the Blue Jays and Mariners, but his 96 2/3 innings in the majors prior to that time in St. Louis were largely more of the same as he pitched to a 6.80 ERA and 5.31 FIP in 44 appearances between 2017 and 2022. A stint with Nippon Professional Baseball’s Hiroshima Carp in 2019 wasn’t especially fruitful either, as he allowed six runs in five innings during his lone Central League appearance and mostly posted middling numbers for the Carp’s Western League team, the NPB equivalent of a minor league club.

While Lawrence’s results have improved substantially this year, it’s anyone’s guess whether that league average production is sustainable for the right-hander. His 8.8% strikeout rate is nothing short of microscopic, but he’s walked just 1.3% of his opponents and has a fairly solid 40.8% ground ball rate. If anything Lawrence’s .348 BABIP and 51.6% strand rate suggest he may be getting slightly unlucky when it comes to batted ball luck and sequencing, although an 8.0% home run to fly ball ratio seems unlikely to be sustainable. Lawrence’s 4.54 SIERA paints him as an average to slightly below average pitcher overall this year, and given Lawrence’s status as the team’s extra arm over the first few months of the season the Mariners are likely to be quite satisfied with that level of production.

Lawrence is now a free agent and able to sign with any of the league’s 30 clubs, though it wouldn’t be a surprise if he finds himself re-signing with the Mariners on a fresh minor league deal within the next few days to restart the cycle between Triple-A and the majors Seattle brass seem content to continue pushing him through. It’s an unequivocal win for Lawrence, who collects big league service time and salary even when he’s in DFA limbo or on the waiver wire. That means this process has allowed him to collect a healthy portion of the league minimum salary to this point in the season and more than a month of big league service time.

Mariners’ Bryce Miller Out Four To Six Weeks With Elbow Inflammation

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8:03pm: Booth relays this evening that, according to Mariners GM Justin Hollander, Miller met with elbow specialist Dr. Keith Meister today and received a platelet-rich plasma injection in his ailing elbow. Miller won’t throw for the next two weeks, and Booth suggests that Miller could return to the Mariners in four-to-six weeks.

11:50am: The moves have now been formally announced by the team. Miller has been placed on the 15-day IL, retroactive to June 7, with elbow inflammation. Evans has been recalled from Tacoma and will indeed start tonight’s game.

9:00am: The Mariners are placing righty Bryce Miller back on the 15-day injured list, reports Tim Booth of the Seattle Times. Fellow right-hander Logan Evans will be summoned back from Triple-A Tacoma to make tonight’s start against the D-backs in his place.

Miller was out for most of May due to inflammation in his right elbow. The Mariners hoped a cortisone injection would calm down the pain and allow Miller to reclaim his spot in the rotation, but that clearly didn’t pan out. The 26-year-old Miller made two starts between IL stints and was rocked for eight runs on 11 hits and a pair of walks with only four strikeouts in nine innings. Between that pair of dismal outings and a another pair of clunkers that preceded his original IL stint, Miller has yielded 19 runs over his past 18 frames.

In some respects, Miller has seemed off all season. He posted a solid 3.52 ERA and 24% strikeout rate in his first six starts of the season but did so while walking nearly 15% of his opponents. That’s a huge departure from Miller’s excellent 5.7% walk rate in 2023-24, the first two seasons of his big league career. His average fastball has also dipped this year, falling from 95.2 mph in 2024 to 94.5 mph in 2025. He’s also allowing hard contact and line drives at the highest rates of his career.

From 2023-24, Miller posted a 3.52 ERA, 23.4% strikeout rate and 5.7% walk rate in 311 2/3 innings, cementing himself among Seattle’s long-term rotation plans in the process. Prior to this year, he’d been as durable as one can hope from a starter in today’s game. Miller skipped a couple starts in 2023 due to a series of blisters on his pitching hand, but this pair of IL placements due to elbow inflammation are the first two IL stints for actual arm injuries in either the big leagues or the minors. He started 31 games in 2024, 29 in 2023 (25 in MLB, four in Triple-A) and 26 in 2022.

There’s no immediate timetable on Miller’s absence. Given the rocky results and the inefficacy of the most recent cortisone injection, it seems fair to expect he could be sidelined for longer than the 19 days he missed on his last IL stint. The team will presumably have more information in the near future — if not when the IL placement is formalized today then in the days ahead.

In the meantime, the 24-year-old Evans will get another look in the big leagues. It’s well earned. A 12th-round senior sign out of Pittsburgh who commanded just a $100K draft bonus in 2023, Evans has quickly proven to be one of the more notable late-round steals in recent memory. He skyrocketed through the Mariners’ system last year and pitched so well that there was talk of a potential call to the big leagues just a year after he was drafted.

That didn’t come to pass, but Evans entered the year considered among the top 10 prospects in an absolutely stacked Mariners farm system and received his first call to the big leagues in late April. He’s since made six starts in the majors and posted a 2.83 ERA in 35 innings. His 17.4% strikeout rate is well below average, but his 6.9% walk rate is strong and his deep six-pitch arsenal gives opposing hitters a variety of average or slightly better offerings to keep in mind while facing him. Both Baseball America and MLB.com tout him as a high-probability fourth starter and note that his 6’4″ frame is that of a prototypical innings eater.

Evans will join Bryan Woo, Luis Castillo, George Kirby and Emerson Hancock in the Seattle rotation for the time being. Woo and Castillo have both been excellent this season. Kirby missed the first eight weeks of the year with shoulder inflammation and stumbled out of the gate but has looked sensational over his past two starts, logging a flat 3.00 ERA with a 17-to-1 K/BB ratio in 12 innings. Hancock has made nine very good starts (combined 3.26 ERA in 49 2/3 innings) and two terrible starts (combined 13 runs in 5 2/3 innings), balancing out to a lackluster 5.04 ERA.

Logan Gilbert, arguably the Mariners’ top starter, has been on the shelf since late April due to a flexor strain but is expected back soon. He’s made two rehab appearances already and is scheduled to make a third — and, per Booth, perhaps final — rehab start for Tacoma tonight.

Mariners Designate Leody Taveras For Assignment, Outright Casey Lawrence

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The Mariners announced that they have recalled outfielder Dominic Canzone from Triple-A Tacoma. In a corresponding move, fellow outfielder Leody Taveras has been designated for assignment. The M’s also announced that right-hander Casey Lawrence, who was designated for assignment a couple of days ago, has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A.

Seattle somewhat surprisingly claimed Taveras off waivers earlier this year, despite him being owed about $3.73MM at the time of that move. Seattle had been hamstrung financially throughout the offseason, with ownership providing the front office a reported $15-16MM to try to add as many as three bats to the lineup. Presumably, ownership was emboldened by a hot start to the season and gave the green light to a buy-low opportunity on Taveras while both Victor Robles and Luke Raley were on the injured list.

Simply put, it hasn’t worked. At the time of his DFA in Texas, Taveras was hitting just .241/.259/.342 with a career-worst 28% strikeout rate and exit velocity and hard-hit numbers. The switch-hitter’s batted-ball metrics have improved, but the bottom-line results have only gotten worse.

In 98 plate appearances with the M’s, Taveras has posted an anemic .174/.198/.272 batting line with a 27.6% strikeout rate. He’s cut down on his chase rate and been more aggressive within the strike zone, but the Mariners, who’ve dropped 10 of their past 14 games and fallen 2.5 games back of the Astros in the AL West, apparently don’t feel they have the luxury of waiting to see if the improved approach and stronger contact eventually manifest in better production.

Taveras will be placed on waivers or traded within the next five days. If he clears waivers, he’ll surely accept an outright assignment to Tacoma, as he doesn’t have enough service time to reject an outright and retain the remainder of his salary. As of this writing, he’s still owed about $2.86MM of this year’s $4.75MM salary. Any team that claims Taveras would be responsible for that sum, but they’d also gain control over the switch-hitting speedster through the 2027 season.

Taveras gave the Rangers two solid years from 2022-23, slashing a combined .264/.311/.400 with plus defense and the flexibility to play any of the three outfield positions. Even in a down year in 2024, when he batted .229/.289/.352, he provided value on the basepaths and with the glove. Perhaps that track record, plus the encouraging trends in his plate discipline and batted-ball quality, would be enough to get him a look elsewhere. The Royals reportedly had interest in claiming Taveras last time he was on waivers but balked at the $3.73MM he had left to be paid out. By the time he hits waivers, the remaining commitment to him will be nearly $1MM less than the first time he was on waivers.

In place of Taveras, Canzone will get another opportunity to prove he can be a piece of the puzzle at T-Mobile Park. He hit just .196/.271/.381 in 188 plate appearances with the Mariners last year and went hitless in three plate appearances earlier this season. The 27-year-old is having a big year in Triple-A, however, mashing at a .296/.360/.564 clip with 13 home runs, a 9.1% walk rate and a 21.3% strikeout rate. He’s batting .382/.488/.529 with as many walks as strikeouts across his past nine games.

As for Lawrence, this is just the latest trip around the Seattle-Tacoma DFA carousel for the journeyman right-hander. He’s now had five different stints with the Mariners in 2025 alone. The soft-tossing 37-year-old has pitched 15 innings with a flat 3.00 ERA for the Mariners this year, plus one lone 2 2/3-inning appearance for the Blue Jays, wherein he allowed three runs.

Overall, Lawrence has 17 2/3 MLB frames with a 4.08 earned run average on the season. His 8.8% strikeout rate is as low as you’ll find, but he’s walked only 1.3% of opponents. The Mariners are effectively utilizing Lawrence and fellow journeyman Jesse Hahn as 41st and 42nd members of their 40-man roster, selecting them to the majors when they need an extra arm for some length and then designating them for assignment and passing them through waivers to bring back an optionable arm as needed.

It’s a tumultuous way to earn a living in some respects, but the team has been upfront with the righty about his role and Lawrence is clearly amenable to the setup. He’s picked up 34 days of major league service time this year — players accrue MLB pay and service while in DFA limbo and/or on outright waivers — and thus banked at least $142K in major league salary alone (which doesn’t even include his minor league pay).

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