7:12pm: Quentin can opt out on May 12 if he has not been called up, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets.
6:43pm: The Mariners have agreed to a minor league deal with outfielder Carlos Quentin, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune reports. Quentin was released by the Braves recently, shortly after he was acquired as part of the Craig Kimbrel deal — with his large salary functioning to offset salary.
Seattle added Quentin in order to bolster its right-handed power, says Dutton. The veteran big leaguer will head to Triple-A, but may have a chance to move onto the big league roster in short order. He may see time at first base in a platoon alongside Logan Morrison.
The Mariners run no risk in taking on Quentin, whose substantial payroll hit will be charged to the Padres. And there is reason to think that he is worth a flier, given the long run of success that led San Diego to give him a three-year, $27MM deal in the first place.
Between the time that he established himself as a regular in 2008 and the end of 2013, Quentin slashed .260/.356/.503 (good for a 129 OPS+) and swatted 136 home runs. Of course, he only managed half seasons in the last two years of that stretch and was again bothered by injuries last year, when he saw just 155 plate appearances and put up a meager .177/.284/.315 line.
Low risk, low reward signing.
I thought the Braves were responsible for Quentin’s salary since no money changed hands in the Kimbrel deal. Why are the Padres on the hook?
I believe you’re right, I assume it was a typo/misstatement.
If the Padres are on the hook for Quentin’s salary, why would they have agreed to take on Melvin Upton’s albatross contract? I hope and think you are correct.
I’m pretty sure the Braves are paying the 8 million for this season, minus whatever pro-rated salary Quentin makes in the majors with Seattle.
A team issuing the release of a player under contract is liable for the rest of his contract… all the contract. The player becomes a free agent and any new contract he signs has no effect on what happened before.
Yeah, Cot’s shows it on the Braves books for 2015.
Well, Seattle wasn’t the first team that came to mind for me when he became a FA but now that it’s happened, it makes sense I suppose considering how low risk it is.
Hey! I’m not complaining! Tacoma is STACKED. Kinda figures that on a down year [thus far] for Mariners pitching the FO would stack up on offensive potential. I’ll take it.
Why don’t they just call up Jesus Montero (.350 at AAA) and bench LoMo?
Because Morrison can actually play first base and has had good PA’s. He’s been BABIP’d to death, but Mac knows that’s not going to last.
More likely Montero get’s called up due to injury.
Mariners should have signed Braun from the Brewers when they had the chance last winter.
Ryan Braun? I don’t think that’s correct. Braun is signed through 2020
Ryan Braun was never available to be signed in this off-season or the last, nor is he an entirely desirable commodity.
Seattle also missed out on signing Mike Trout and Clayton Kershaw over the winter. What were they thinking?They’d have had the World Series locked up!