The Blue Jays have claimed lefty reliever Sam Moll off waivers from the Mariners; both teams’ PR accounts have announced the move.
It’s been a busy year for the 26-year-old Moll, who began last season with the Rockies, end it with the Athletics, and has since been the object of a waiver hot-potato game between Pirates, Mariners and now the Blue Jays. Seattle GM Jerry DiPoto had spoken back in September of plans to convert Moll back to a starter even though he hasn’t pitched in that capacity since his professional debut in 2013. Instead, he’ll join his fourth team of the winter and hope he can earn a shot in Toronto, presumably in the bullpen.
The Athletics gave Moll his first taste of MLB action last season in the form of a September call-up. He make 11 appearances with the club, although he recorded one or no outs in six of them. Moll ended the season having allowed eight earned runs in 6 2/3 innings, though he did manage to strike out seven hitters. There’s some upside for Moll. He throws a fastball in the mid-nineties, which he mixes with a slider.
After being selected in the third round of the 2013 draft by the Rockies, Moll rose steadily through the minor league ranks. He managed to exceed a 50% ground ball rate in two consecutive seasons with Colorado’s Triple-A affiliate before the Athletics acquired him in August of 2017 for cash considerations.
Good landing spot
Only other taxi guys on the roster are Dermody and Mayza (If you see Biagini, Guerrieri and Borucki as starters)
and I would imagine Moll probably rates ahead of both of them, based on potential.
Mayza is the better pitcher. He will probably be the 2nd lefty behind Loup if they go with 2 lefties
Solid pickup. Wonder why he was released?
It appears from the above piece that the player was waived, not released. Perhaps the hope was that he would clear waivers and could then be sent to Seattle’s AAA team.
Our (Mariners) BP is one of the best in the AL, we’re loaded w power-arms (Diaz, Nicasio, Altavilla, Phelps, etc) and we have two solid left handed relievers already. Jerry signed him to be a BP swing-man or ‘depth’ SP- using 40 different pitchers in one season (2017) will do that to you! We have a couple other young pitchers currently pitching better than him
Lol the Mariners pen is not close to being among the elite in the AL. New York/Cleveland/Boston all have significantly better pitchers in their respective bullpens.
I’m not so sure about that.
Perfect example of a multi-million dollar arm and a 10 cent head. Roflmfao.
Sam Moll told me you are a perfect example of a never was. Roflmfao!
Did Dipoto change the capitalization in his name?
This move baffles me because the Jays are likely to keep both Clippard & Axford. Both of those guys need to be added to the 40-man roster. Claiming Moll, takes a spot away. Now, they’ll need to designate an additional player because of this claim.
they are probably just gonna dfa him to squeeze him in the minors for depth. That’s all anyone was trying to do. He’s not gonna be on the 25 man roster.