TODAY: The Mariners have released Vosler, in the latest update to his MLB.com page. The circumstances behind the abrupt release aren’t known, though in some similar instances with other players, the move indicates that the player has instead agreed to a guaranteed deal with a team overseas.
JANUARY 25: The Mariners have signed infielder/outfielder Jason Vosler to a minor league contract, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. Volser will presumably receive an invitation to major league Spring Training.
Vosler, 29, has been an up-and-down player with the Giants for the past two years. In 2021, he got into 41 games and hit .178/.256/.356 for a wRC+ of 63. He was much better in 72 Triple-A games, with a line of .295/.385/.529, 125 wRC+. In 2022, that split was bizarrely reversed, as he produced a .242/.311/.433 line in the minors but hit .264/.342/.469 in the big leagues. The former line led to a wRC+ of 82 whereas he had a 127 wRC+ in the majors. Defensively, Vosler has played all over, having lined up at all four infield positions and the outfield corners. Despite that versatility and some positive results at the plate, the Giants non-tendered him at season’s end.
For the Mariners, their infield will likely consist of Eugenio Suárez, J.P. Crawford, Kolten Wong and Ty France from left to right on most nights. Tommy La Stella is sort of in the mix but he’s coming off an injury-plagued year where he hardly took the field. The outfield will have Julio Rodríguez, Teoscar Hernández and AJ Pollock, as well as young players that aren’t yet established like Jarred Kelenic and Taylor Trammell.
Vosler will likely be competing with Dylan Moore and Sam Haggerty to serve in a bench/utility role, with injuries possibly opening a path to get onto the roster as the season rolls along. Vosler hits from the left side and has a noticeable platoon split in his limited big league time so far, 102 wRC+ against righties but a 78 otherwise. He could potentially be used situationally since the club has a bunch of righties set to be in their regular lineup. If Vosler does get selected to the roster, he still has an option year remaining and less than a year of service time, allowing the M’s to cheaply retain him for the foreseeable future if they so choose.
Lol I think JP’s goal is to sign, release or trade every player in MLB except Ohtani and Trout..lol
As a Giant fan who watched Vosler the past to seasons, don’t count this guy out. He’s got pop and seems to handle 3B quite well, especially coming in on the ball.
Good pick up…the kid can rake. Hope he can get it going in the show
Excited to see where Ohtani will be playing next year or later this year if Angels actually made a good baseball decision and traded him rather then letting him walk to Padres, Dodgers, Yankees, or Mets next year.
If the teams were smart, they would stay out of trading for Ohtani. He’s going to the FA market and doubt he would agree to an extension contract with any org unless they over pay market value. So would be a waste of farm players for that caliber of player imo. But what do I know? Lol
Ohtani will be a Dodger
Ohtani will be a Giant…seee anyone can guess. Lol
The Mariners having Sammy Hagar serving in a bench/utility role is very rock n roll.
This signing is just a pot-boiler, keeping the farms fed players,
the way I see it. Any payoff, if any, would be down the road a ways.
First La Stella and now Vosler. Any other players the Mariners would like to take off the Giants?
Is Logan Webb available?
Touché
Maybe, Redwolves3, if any more of those giant toddlers have anything to show . . .
We got tired of the middle reliever pile. Now the M’s are all about the middle infielder pile.
Minor league depth for Mariners although would probably start 140+ games on the Angels roster
Don’t forget we have the middle infield sensation known as Jonathan Villar in the mix as well. I can’t sleep at night trying to figure out all the puzzle pieces.
Villar is a free agent.
Well that narrows the field. I just saw him under the Mariners on Fangraphs ZIPS projections but maybe they had nowhere else to put him. My bad.
ZiPS puts players in their most recent team unless they’ve signed
Put up some impressive numbers in a small sample in 2022. Is the same age Matt Stairs was before his first big year.
Would be cool to find another Austin Nola!
Vosler does enough to stick with teams, The Giants have brought him up a few times. He Vosler has not be able to crack the MLB. he does have some tools he but doesn’t have enough in the tool box.. just the same he can be useful given injuries occurring. I know you’re starting to laugh but Dipoto has done well to supplement the minors.
So long Jason it was like we never knew you. You will be missed though.
Mariners legend.
Easy come, easy go.
This was just a low-level “pot-boiler” from the first, as far as fans and owners are concerned.
But baseball players are people. Players’ lives do matter.
Players at this level are lucky to have Japan and Korea as a possible place to land, which was not always so.
But they have this resource now, and I wish Vosler well if he does go abroad.
Bummer. has one of the prettiest swings from the left side. Panik too :/
Watch for Zaidi to sign Vosler to Minor League deal.
I guess these minor league signings are non binding but then the M’s might have been obliging having not getting in the way of a players opportunities..
Damn these physicals getting harder and harder to pass.