The Mariners have agreed to a deal with left-hander Wei-Yin Chen, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (via Twitter). Seattle will owe Chen a Major League minimum salary ($563.5K) if he makes their big league roster, and that minimum salary will be subtracted from the $22MM the Marlins owe Chen for the 2020 season, the final guaranteed year of the southpaw’s original five-year, $80MM contract with Miami.
That deal ended up being a significant misfire for the Marlins, as Chen battled injuries and struggled over the length of his time in South Florida. Chen posted a 5.10 ERA over 358 innings as a Marlin, including a 6.59 ERA over 68 1/3 frames in 2019, working exclusively as a reliever.
Seattle is likely to see what Chen can do as either a starter or a reliever in camp, while gauging if the 34-year-old still has anything left in the tank following his rough stint in Miami. Chen will at least get opportunity on a Mariners club that is open to all contributions at both the back of the rotation or in the bullpen. Seattle is particularly thin on left-handed relief options, so that stands out as perhaps Chen’s best shot at making the Opening Day roster.
GM Jerry Dipoto said last week that the M’s were close to adding some new arms, and Seattle has since brought Nick Margevicius, Yoshihisa Hirano, and now Chen into the fold. Marco Gonzales, Yusei Kikuchi, and Justus Sheffield project as the top three starters in the Mariners’ rotation, though the last two spots are still up in the air, with Margevicius, Chen, Kendall Graveman, Nestor Cortes, Phillips Valdez, and top prospect Justin Dunn all in the mix as potential rotation members.
Dealing Dipoto is back.
Wait a minute…DiPoto doesn’t sign free agents!!. Something has gone terribly wrong in Seattle.
Late to the party but it’s been going terribly wrong in Seattle for 20 years
From Marlins to Mariners, what a catch.
Second time with the Mariners
Chen has only pitched for the Orioles and Marlins.
Lmao. At least Seattle is an Asian player hotspot…..
No downside to this move
Him pitching is the downside.
Not like the Mariners have many better options. If he can regain even half his form he had in Baltimore, this is a good signing at league minimum.
He won’t.
You clearly didn’t see him pitch last year, looks lost/broken
In five minutes, we’re getting a Kyle Seager trade. Jerry’s slumber has ended.
I dont think Seager is getting traded this offseason. We don’t have an in-house replacement and we need the veteran presence with sooo many young guys on the roster.
Maybe we trade him at the deadline along with Haniger.
This wasn’t a trade so your joke or sarcasm whatever is wrong and fails.
That’s a weird way to spell ‘Taijuan Walker.’
Lol, best comment winner
Thinking the same thing!
Makes me think Walker wants too much for the Mariners either per year, number of years or both.
It has to be his asking price because he fits with a lot of teams but still remains unsigned.
Cool signing. Maybe he can show something in spring training and win the 5th spot. I don’t love the idea of Justin Dunn opening in Seattle and would rather have him start in AAA.
Hopefully we can get another SP milb signing before the end of spring training to go along with this.
I’d want Justin Dunn over Chen, any day of the week.
He actually used to be a decent pitcher, but then he was complete trash with Miami.
More people should Wei-Yin on this move.
What the hell do you think you’re doing?
Haha
Low-Risk/Low-reward move.
Dude was good in Baltimore and quite possibly struggled because of the dysfunction under Loria, then a continued losing environment. Not a rag on Miami because I think things are headed in the right direction, but Chen rebounding somewhat wouldn’t shock me. Low risk/medium reward.
Agreed. Chen was mega consistent in throwing bp Fb’s down the middle day in and day out. Consistency increased when moved to the bullpen.
Chen’s strugles in Miami had nothing to do with the environment. They were contending the first year he was with the Marlins, but two unexpected things changed things in a hurry.
1) Chen hurt his arm. Rather than have TJS again, he opted to work through it without surgery for a second time in his career – which usually ends a pitcher’s career. He has not been the same. This is the reason why he’s struggled.
2) The environment completely changed when Jose Fernandez died. That was after Chen’s arm fell off. Both together changed the Marlins situation.
In short, the environment did not cause Chen’s problems. His injury caused him problems and was one of the big contributors to the change in the Marlins situation when they signed him.
If Chen bounces back, it’s more a product of his arm finally healing. However, the odds of that at his age are very slim. He was once a good, solid pitcher, but all indicators show that his arm is done.
Keep adding the arms. 10 SPs and you can have a double SP each day. Starter goes 5, second goes 4. Keep your relief for close games. Next time in the rotation they swap rolls.
What kind of rolls will they be swapping? I prefer Hawaiian and Potato.
So a guy with 40 really bad major league innings is their #3 and a guy with 1 full, really bad season is their #2. Gonna be a long season in Seattle.
King Felix will be better than all the Mariners starters except Gonzalez this year.
Lol no chance, considering he was easily the worst starter the M’s ran out last season. Dude wasn’t even better than Wade LeBlanc. You could count on falling behind early and nearing 100 pitches in the 4th inning.
Thanks re: Felix, I needed a good laugh today.
dipdip leads the team to 5th place in the west!
Yeah, that’s kind of expected in a rebuild. Don’t angel fans have anything better to do than wait for a Mariners post to troll on?
They could discuss their inevitable 81 win season and cycle of continued mediocrity, while we can wait out a couple bad seasons with promising prospects on the way.
But remember its a reimagined roster haha what a joke
How many pitchers in the last 20 years “peaked” with Baltimore before going elsewhere. Here’s one.
Erik Bedard for sure
Eff that guy. He ruined the Mariners and so did the guys that got traded away…three future all stars.
Mariners are in a world of trouble next couple years
Its gonna be really bad hes trying to tank and make the fans suffer even more
Mariners to sign Asia.
I don’t know, I thought it was funny lol
Holy backloaded five-year deal, Batman!!
Robin would say something like that.
Chen could rebound in Seattle. With Kikuchi and Hirano on the roster and Ichiro hanging around it may be a better environment for him than Miami.
He had Ichiro in Miami.
Yeah but why is that worth remembering?
Easily worth a shot. He can chew up some innings and is bound to be relaxed with his money in the bank from Miami. He’ll be a surprising pickup.
His numbers in his first season in Miami were on par with his average numbers in Baltimore before he got hurt. His second season was mostly lost to injury. The last two seasons he had issues with having a “dead arm” and the being moved to the bullpen, which was a role he seemingly did not embrace. No reason to think that a change of scenery and a chance to start again wont weild better results.
Salary-wise this is one of the best fliers EVER, Chen is set to make 22 mil this season and M’s get him for league minimum if he makes the roster! All comes down to health, when healthy this guy was solid and consistent, but I’m afraid I got a hunch the arm troubles will follow him…Hope I’m wrong!
Its a minor league signing. They should be doing more signings like this. No reason to criticize this move. If he isnt healthy or sucks, he doesnt have to ever see the ML roster.