The Mariners announced that right-hander Hagen Danner has been designated for assignment. That opens a 40-man spot for Luis F. Castillo. It was reported yesterday that Castillo would be coming up to start today’s game, making for an odd bit of trivia as the other Luis Castillo started the prior game for the M’s. An active roster spot was already opened by optioning left-hander Jhonathan Díaz yesterday.
Danner, 26, hasn’t been with the Mariners for long. He was claimed off waivers from the Blue Jays in January. He then tossed 3 1/3 innings in the Cactus League, allowing five earned runs. He was then sent to Triple-A Tacoma and started his season with 2 2/3 scoreless innings there.
His overall track record as a pitcher isn’t terribly long. The Jays drafted him as a catcher and tried him at that spot for a few years, but his bat didn’t pan out and they moved him to the mound. He has since put up some decent numbers on a rate basis but with occasional injury absences. Due to those health issues, he still hasn’t thrown 40 innings in any one season.
He has one third of an inning in the majors, which was back in 2023, and then 116 2/3 minor league innings from 2021 to the present. In that minor league work, he has a 2.93 earned run average, 28.3% strikeout rate and 8.7% walk rate.
The M’s will now have a week of DFA limbo to figure out what’s next. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so any trade interest would have to be gauged in the next five days. Danner still has an option, so he could be stashed in the minors by any club willing to give him a 40-man spot. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, the Mariners could hold onto him as some non-roster depth.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
If you only replace a few letters in his name he becomes Havin Dinner.
And you becomes G-Mommy
This post gave me cravings for a very particular brand of ice cream…
Seattle is Seattle the best city in America? Best politics, diversity, things to do
Best wishes, Hagen. If he never makes it back to the bigs, he’ll always have his one major league out.
Great name for a pro golfer.
With a Major League career like that he could tend bar. Cheers!
Seattle say, you done! No Hagen for Dinner! Can’t eat dessert until you’ve had your vegetables
Scoop, there it is…………scoop, there it was!!
Danner didn’t even get to finish his cup of coffee
Feels like a bit of a mistake. Danner doesn’t pitch much, but when he does, he’s tough to hit. Instead of cutting him, a smart team could use him for just a few games at a time—say, 10-15 innings—then rest him, and keep doing that. He’d stay healthy and still help win. They could grab guys like him, who are cheap and good in small bursts, and swap them in and out all season.
They did not cut.him they designated him for assignment. This year is now an option year for him so they can swap him in and out.
@Tigers3232
You’re correct that Danner was DFA’d, not outright cut, and that he has an option remaining.
I’m aware I’m correct, that’s why I stated it. I did so because u suggested that they should ve done what they actually did.
@Tigers3232
My point was more philosophical: that teams could build a whole bullpen strategy around guys like Danner, not just react to roster crunches. Most clubs (and fans like yourself) don’t think that way—but maybe they should.
Clubs do regularly send players in an active option year up and down. That is one of the luxuries of option years.
You can try making it something grander and yearning for reinventing the wheel. In reality this is and has been done for as long as Minor League affiliated team have been around.
MLB has also expanded minimum IL TO 15 days to discourage roster manipulation for pitchers.
Why in the world do you not walk Adames in the 11th . Dumb Wilson bonehead non call!