The Mariners have claimed right-hander Collin Snider off waivers from the Diamondbacks, per announcements from both clubs. The latter had designated him for assignment last week. The Mariners’ 40-man roster is now full with this move.
Snider, 28, spent his entire career with the Royals until recently. Drafted in 2018, he appeared in 62 major league games over the two most recent seasons. He tossed a combined 54 2/3 innings while allowing 5.93 earned runs per nine. His rate stats weren’t especially impressive, striking out just 13.4% of hitters while giving out walks at an 11.4% clip, though he did get grounders on 51.9% of balls in play.
In the minors, his results have been somewhat similar. He’s thrown 64 1/3 innings at Triple-A over the past two years with a 5.74 ERA, 18.3% strikeout rate, 15.7% walk rate and grounders on more than half of the balls in play.
He was put on waivers in December with the Diamondbacks making a claim, though he was nudged off the roster with the Snakes signed Joc Pederson and needed a roster spot. The Mariners recently freed up a spot on their 40-man roster when they traded Prelander Berroa, Zach DeLoach and a draft pick to the White Sox for Gregory Santos.
They’ll use that open slot to take a flier on Snider, who still has one option and can be stashed in the minors until needed. He has mid-90s velocity on both his four-seamer and sinker, even if he hasn’t yet parlayed those into many strikeouts. He has got plenty of ground balls and he did well at limiting hard contact in the big leagues last year. The Mariners could have him as Triple-A depth to see if he takes a step forward, or perhaps try to pass him through waivers at a future date.
The M’s have Andrés Muñoz, Matt Brash and Santos likely taking their high-leverage bullpen jobs. Trent Thornton, Austin Voth and Mauricio Llovera are each out of options, which could help them in securing jobs to start the season. Beyond that, Snider joins a group of optionable relievers that includes Gabe Speier, Tayler Saucedo, Jackson Kowar, Ty Adcock, Carlos Vargas, Eduard Bazardo and Cody Bolton. Some of those guys may earn jobs out of camp but there will likely be a lot of fluctuation throughout the campaign.
Kids got nice velocity. Expect the Mariners to encourage him to attack the chest area/upper part of the zone. That’s what this coaching staff is all about. Then pull the cutter across the plate off that
Upon further research. The slider appears to be the most enticing pitch
i think it’s the sinker & GB% that they’re after. what makes the slider enticing?
In 2023, the slider averaged 2800 rpm and hitters hit .067 against it. Now that’s arm talent on a pitch!
More spare parts for the bullpen. Too much depth can be a good thing, especially if two or three of the (seemingly) dozens of scrap heap guys they’ve signed can get the job done. It will be interesting to see how it shakes out during the coming weeks.
If nothing else, Snider’s in charge of bringing the pretzels.
Super-Excited that they have left room for the MOTO BAT they they truly need. But, it’s not all about W’s for this franchise…
(And yeah, they could cut someone later. But, who really thinks that is part of their grand plan?)
This makes up for the Suarez trade.
M’s need a lefty starter IMO. Hometown boy Blake Snell? Hmm. I know they’ve plead poverty, but nobody believes that. Sign him, Jerry!
For those who haven’t noticed, there’s a common profile Seattle takes interest in: Sinker (or potential for sinker), plus slider, hard throwing and GB-inducing.
Snider has an odd release, which I don’t know what to make of, but he could be an excellent middle-innings option. We can probably expect to see him throw his slider a lot more with the Mariners.
He probably has the edge for that eighth BP spot right now.
Llovera and vote over Spiers and Saucedo inches BP? Just say no
I’m not sure of the pecking order but I would expect him to be option long before the season starts. Dipoto keeps adding on the pitching this will likely continue. I do wonder if he’s satisfied with the hitting? I would suppose he has one ear listening on those tracks. The way he’s going he seems to be on a mission. He reminds me of the blues brothers.
We always seem to find those pitchers like Flexen, Sewald, Steckenrider and others who contribute to the team in a positive way which is fantastic. Then flip them for some assets which is key as the young arms are ready to call up.
I just think we should have traded Flexen when his value was high. His peripherals were never great and was on borrowed time. Dipoto needs to do a better job of moving players who are over achieving and getting young assets back.
Again, Dipoto has done a good to great job with limited payroll but these type of signings I welcome as flyers. Hopefully they over achieve and get flipped.