June 26: The Mariners announced Thursday that Tellez is on unconditional release waivers. Assuming he clears, he’ll be free to sign with any team for the prorated league minimum.
June 20: The Mariners have designated first baseman Rowdy Tellez for assignment, per a team announcement. His spot on the roster will go to outfielder/first baseman Luke Raley, who’s been activated from the injured list after missing seven weeks with an oblique strain.
Tellez, 30, is in his eighth big league season and has popped 11 home runs while serving as Seattle’s primary first baseman. Early in the year, he was expected to see more time at designated hitter for skipper Dan Wilson, but the injury to Raley and ongoing injury issues for infielder Jorge Polanco (who was accordingly relegated to DH work) pushed Tellez into the field on a regular basis.
After a disastrous start to his season, Tellez righted the ship in mid-April and has been a serviceable but flawed source of power in the heart of the Mariners’ order. He reached base just once in his first 23 plate appearances but has since swatted 11 homers and slugged .484. That power comes with a low average and bottom-of-the-barrel OBP, however. Tellez rarely walks, is easy to position against defensively due to his extreme-pull approach, and is measured by Statcast as the slowest player in baseball (eliminating virtually any chance of him reaching via infield hit).
Dating back to April 11, Tellez has taken 162 turns at the plate and is hitting .229/.265/.484. He’s been shielded almost entirely from left-handed pitching, receiving just 14 plate appearances and reaching base only twice (one single, one hit-by-pitch). He’s hitting .219/.257/.463 against right-handed pitching this year.
With Raley nearing a return, it seemed likely that either Tellez or fellow veteran first base option Donovan Solano could be pushed off the roster. Since both Tellez and Raley hit left-handed, the Mariners opted to move on from the veteran who can keep a platoon intact. Solano has helped his cause by hitting better over the past month, albeit in an excessively limited role. He’s batted .333/.394/.467 since May 20 but done so in only 33 plate appearances (26 of them against lefties).
For the time being, Solano and Raley will presumably platoon at first base. That’s not an ideal setup, as Raley is more comfortable in the outfield than at first and Solano has struggled this season overall. The Mariners will, at the very least, likely explore the trade market for righty-swinging options at first base in the weeks ahead. Dominic Canzone has provided slightly better-than-average offense in right field since being called up earlier this month (.233/.303/.400 in 33 plate appearances), but if he struggles like he has in two prior MLB seasons, the Mariners could move Raley to right field. That would set them up to either give prospect Tyler Locklear a run at first base or explore the trade market for a full-time upgrade either at first base or in right field.
The Mariners will have five days to trade Tellez or place him on waivers. He originally signed a minor league contract with Seattle but locked in a $1.5MM salary when he made the roster after a big spring performance. He’s still owed about $806K of that sum, as of this writing.
Any team that claims Tellez off waivers would assume the entirety of that remaining salary. If the M’s find an interested trade partner, they could include some cash to offset the salary in exchange for what would still likely be a nominal prospect return. Since waivers are a 48-hour process, we’ll know the outcome of Tellez’s DFA within a maximum of one week’s time. In the event that he clears waivers, Tellez has enough service time to elect free agency and retain the remaining money on this year’s salary.
Even to this day rowdy has and Always will stink.
How are you going to DFA Rowdy when Solano is sitting right there?
Because Raley will take his spot in the platoon.
That and Solano gives you positional flexibility
Kinda. Solano gives positional flexibility in a pinch, but we’ve shown major apprehensiveness to play him anywhere but 1B.
Solano’s best position is in the box.
I’m guessing because Raley is going to play 1B and with no available DH spot to use two LH hitting First Basemen on the roster is redundant. Solano’s days are likely numbered as well Tyler Locklear and Samad Taylor are having solid seasons at AAA and might represent better options at this point
I hate Solano as much as anyone, but he has like a 125 OPS+ since May 16. Ill take that over Rowdy + Raley is a LHH
because Rowdy takes up two seats on the plane
Go look at what Solano has done this month and consider his role.
I’m as happy as anyone about Solano’s play lately, but let’s not overreact to a SSS. If he keeps this up (not even at this level, just plays well in general) through July, then awesome, his place is safe. The overall numbers are still quite poor, though, and given that Dan has made it very obvious he doesn’t trust DS anywhere except 1B–perhaps unless they’re in a massive pinch, which we haven’t seen yet–I don’t think his spot on the team is all that firm.
I think some people are looking at it wrong.
It’s not two bad months and one good one. It’s years of consistency with a couple of bad months. Worth noting, he’s had a few slow Aprils before warming up.
It’s not just his ability to play second or third in a pinch and first vs. LHPs, it’s also his knowledge and ability to mentor younger players.
I think his position is fairly safe for now.
I don’t think he’s on the hot seat or anything; an .860 OPS over the last month is damn good. Just noting that his April was so bad, that it was near historically bad in various statistics (I know one was the highest negative WAR in fewest innings played but can’t think of the other), and if he craters again, I don’t think they can wait out a whole nother month of that.
This wouldn’t even be a concern of mine if the potential that Father Time is catching up to him wasn’t there. I’m a bit weary of him staying consistent at this point in his career, though.
We’ve also seen a player’s positive influence/mentorship be completely ignored by this FO in the past, although maybe the negative clubhouse reaction to that will make them think twice this time around.
He was used in a platoon for the first time, had very few PAs (49) and ran a BABIP of .206 in April (and March).
And they continue to use him sparingly.
If he was needed for a regular role, I would be concerned about his ability to hold up. But facing mostly LHPs, playing once or twice a week?
I’m more worried about Williamson and Young holding regular roles and being able to adjust as opponent pitching gets updated reports than I am Solano. .
That said, it’s the bullpen that has and continues to concern me the most.
Makes sense. Hopefully Raley can produce a little more consistently and at an above average clip, at least.
At least Rowdy got his stolen base the other night.
At 75 lbs heavier he’s tied with Jackson Merrill for sb on the season 👀
Stealing a base off the Red Sox isn’t hard. Cecil Fielder could easily double his career stolen base numbers against them right now
That slide made me hurt.
Slide is a generous way to frame it lol—really a barrel roll. What the hell made them think the slowest guy in the league could get to third, but it was the most painful thing I may have ever seen on the basepaths.
Either way, it looked painful
Every Rowdy AB is like a comic strip from the Sunday newspaper. Funny faces, horrible swings, helmet falling off, and somehow he always ends up on the ground
It’s fun when he gets a fastball on the plate. When he doesn’t get that it’s quite hard to watch.
Im one of the only people that hope we can keep him in Tacoma and maybe call him up later again
Rowdy’s at bats are the power of Barry bonds but everything else is bartolo colon
“Serviceable but flawed” is the perfect description for Tellez. You just know someone is gonna claim him, and if that someone is Craig Breslow, about 30k BOS fans will be waiting for him in the parking lot during the next home stand.
I highly doubt it. He will be in the minors until his contract expires and he will then be looking for another sucker to sign him. He’s terrible despite the power.
Well i would not have objected to having the mlb career he’s had rather than none at all. He got to play. All i get to do is watch.
Rowdy was kind of fun to have at 1B as every time he came to the plate there was the chance he would crush a ball BUT, he did not put the ball in play a lot as he was “All or Nothing..” Raley is versatile, as he can play 1b and all three OF positions, puts the ball in play and can run, unlike Rowdy. Canzone looks better at the plate, and I wonder how many options to the minors he has left and overall if you are going to really attempt to make this team better and if they end up being available, you have to go out and try and get Naylor or O”Hearn at 1b.
Canzone has 2 options left.
If we pay Harry Ford for 2+ months of Naylor or O’Hearn Ima die. Not against trading him at all, but it better be part of a package for someone who can help us longer than that…
I would not want to see us trade for Harry Ford for either player as well. No way does O’Hearn cost much in return. They are both true rentals though, if we are fortunate to get either and they play well, and fit into the clubhouse, ante up and go get your 1st basemen for the next two-three years.
Someone’s going to overpay for O’Hearn big time and I really hope it’s not the Mariners. He’s the perfect candidate to come to Seattle and forget how to hit.
That’s something we’ve never seen from Dipoto. He hasn’t given up that kind of talent for a rental
When I saw that proposal from Jim Bowden I about fell out of my chair
I didn’t know that was an actual proposal from Bowden!
Yeah, that’s highly unlikely.
Bowden is an idiot. There’s a reason he wasn’t a GM for long.
Freddy Peralta?
One reason Tellez was the odd man out is because they need to see if Raley can handle first. They don’t necessarily need to get Naylor, or O’Hearn, who isn’t having a great June. They may need to get another corner outfielder. All eyes are on Canzone and Raley now. Who’s actually available may dictate what Seattle does as well.
Here ye Here ye, The Newest White Sox player has emerged and will play every day from now on
Guess the Cards prefer dbags like the look at me Willson Contreras at 1b
Willson actually likes the team he is on
He’s a good guy I’ll give him that for sure here
Tellez has an attitude and quite frankly needs to learn to shorten up with two strikes. Doesn’t hustle at all going to first when he does make contact either. Going find himself out of the league simply because of that
He was awful with the Pirates last year in April and May but great in June and July but then tapered off.
He seems like a good guy but is lazy.Doh!He has talent but wastes it by being 50 pounds overweight.
Several times he hit a long fly ball but jogged to first base before he realized that it was not a home run.Shelton was too stupid to reprimand him.
He would have never been a HOFer but if platooned could have been a fairly good ML player with a long career.
He will be lucky to find a ML job.
If you’re such an expert Stubby, why aren’t you a hitting coach on professional baseball?
If he ran hard to first, the friction from his thighs rubbing together could spark flames which would be a danger to fans in the stands.
But oh!!! The Farts!!!
Are they also trying to be cheap by DFAing Rowdy?
He’s making 1.5 million. This was about making the team better.
But I thought any team that cuts Rowdy no matter how poorly he is playing is just trying to save money! At least that’s what people said last year when the Pirates cut him.
He will get entire amount of the contract based off service time. So they’re not saving any money. They only save money if another team claims him which is not likely.
Yes….and they were incredibly stupid for thinking that. He was stealing a paycheck in Pittsburgh and did the same to you. He can’t play in the field anymore and he doesn’t hit well enough to help consistently. His lack of ability to run would hurt any team he would join.
In your reply to me, you say “They were incredibly stupid for thinking that?” What is THAT? All I said is they won’t save money. Either you hit the reply button to the wrong person or you got some concrete reading issues.
What are “concrete” reading issues?
Do you know how to use Google? I’m actually pretty sure I used it in the wrong sense here, but his reply doesn’t even pertain to anything I said. He replied that the Mariners were incredibly stupid for thinking that. I’m wondering what he is referring to since I never said they were thinking anything. All I said is they won’t be saving any money.
LFG-What happened in Pittsburgh was that he was cut a few days before he had enough at bats to get a bonus.I think that it was a couple hundred thousand dollars.
He was the first to admit that it was not a big deal to him as he did not earn it.
It is a shame about Rowdy as he does have talent but squandered it in several different ways.
@Mendoza Line 215 I know! And people accused the Pirates of cutting him specifically to get out of having to pay that bonus even though his stats say they cut him late, rather than early.
Hey Boston we found someone to cover 1st
LITERALLLLLLLY.
The Red Sox should be all over this. Rowdy is a lot happier looking than Raffy plus he earns a whole lot less.
He doesn’t really “earn” any of it.
.265 OBP. No running or defensive value.
Aw man, that’s not funny at all.
I saw the headline and thought Oh crap, here comes a Breslow press release. Would totally fit their current MO. Which is awful
Mariners need to move from Dipoto. Analytical ball ain’t working. Get yourself a GM that’s actually PLAYED like Posey look what he’s doing in
SF, M’s should have been all over that Devers deal.
Jerry Dipoto could dream on Rafael Devers all he wants but principal Mariners owner John Stanton would never agree to take on his remaining contract.
Dipoto played. Right handed reliever from 1993-2000.
FWIW Dipoto did play (not a stud like Posey, but still). And as much as Devers could help us on the field today, I’m glad we didn’t give up what SF did to take on the rest of that huge contract for a guy who is anything but a team player. There is a reason the BoSox kicked him out of the clubhouse.
Dipoto did play MLB ball.
He even had a battery mate named Scott Servais.
A move that absolutely nobody thought would….take this long to happen.
See you in Indy ⚾
Rowdy is a feast or famine guy…
He sure likes to feast
He has a future in the Sunday night beer softball leagues I’m sure..
Rowdy barely hits righty’s and next to nothing vs leftys. Hitting at Tmobile- real bad. He’s had some fair back end of the line up production but…..
Career bWAR of 0 in 2500 PAs
Dipoto used the stats to say, “Rowdy, you are replaceable. You will not help us win 54% of the time.”
Congrats, Rowdy, on a career worth nothing!
around here – we don’t see him as a good guy. dude can eat it.
Pirates should claim him. Jk
No they should not!!!
And trade back their present no power firstbaseman back for the pitcher that they should have kept
All the Seattle All you can east establishments are rejoicing
Those don’t exist in Seattle. Only one I could think of is the Chinese one out by Central Market right off Aurora. Other than that, there’s nothing.
they already have a first baseman who can’t hit consistently
TheMan 3
It is sad that our present 1st baseman has shown no power . Rowdy’s 11 Hrs would be an upgrade which shows that Cherington continues to make this club worse each year.
I wish there was an icon that would allow me to laugh at this.
What was Rowdy eating in 2022?
I saw him once at a Panera Bread around that time.
Red Sox…. you’re on the clock 😄
Rowdy was a feel good story. All of us non athletes could see ourselves in him. I wish him the best
Maybe he can star in a new season of Eastbound & Down 😂
Get real. Stop regurgitating dumb trash about Julio
When the pirates DFA him last season some of the yinzers were so mad. They blamed it on Nutting being cheap and not wanting to pay him a bonus. He should have be DFA last May. Reality check, he isn’t very good but has made a ton of money for his limited skill set.
JoseLind
What a difference in organizations, Pirates kept him almost the entire season but Mariners trim the dead wood. Will the Pirates keep Pham all year just like Telez?
On field performance is one thing.
In the clubhouse, the dugout, and off the field activities;
Tellez is always
ROWDY !!
There are a couple of teams that can use him
Rowdy still has power potential even hitting .208 he will find a team to log time with
My wife says I am a serviceable but flawed source of power in the bedroom 🙁
There is so many my wife jokes that could follow this that aligns to DH or PH
Not sure why people would think getting Devers here would be good. Who were we going to give up for him? Colt Emerson? Would be the natural one since he is our 3rd bm of the future. Then the $30 mill a year or so how many of Kirby Gilbert Woo Miller do we not resign? Gilbert has said he is open to talking extension since Cal signed. I would think all 4 of them would be interested. They were in AA for over a year together and got pretty close. They have the relationship they can be brutally honest with each other. If we took on the $30 mill a year we would lose probably 2 if not 3 of them. We would have Evans and Hancock to fill in and maybe be long term replacements. Don’t know if either will be as good as the guy they replaced. We will also probably lose another of the kids coming up. Maybe Young not sure though.
Getting Devers might be a bit a short term boon but longterm fail.
I don’t know much about the Seattle clubhouse or how the club treats their players, but Devers really sent up a Red Flag when he was asked with the whole “I play 3rd base” problems. Then there were rumblings of asking him to play DH. Maybe the Red Sox imagined (as I did) a time when he says (Mr. Devers doesn’t play today. OR (Mr. Devers doesn’t pinch hit today.”
Was there some reason Bregman was signed, knowing there was an incumbent star at 3rd.
Devers fielding was subpar while bregman would give them GG caliber instead. They must have thought Devers would be open to 1B
…it was a communication problem vs hurt feelings.
Good job, Dip-oto, for bringing onboard gems like Tellez and Solano to the team. Their contributions are about the same as yours.
I am going to guess you are an ill informed fan or an LAA troll. Jerry was severely handicapped with payroll. He had $15 mill to spend and too many holes to fill. I would guess neither of those players were on top any list. Dipoto has done a good job building the team through the draft. How long has it been since we had more than a couple players in the top 100? We will field a team with most of our starters being under 30. Yes Jerry keep up the good work. You have been doing great.
The Robbie Ray trade was a huge winner for Dipoto.
With his stolen base on Tuesday, Rowdy has now tied the record for the most steals by someone named Rowdy in MLB history. “Is measured by Statcast as the slowest player in baseball.” Eye roll…
Hopefully for them that means they move Cal Raleigh to 1st. Having a guy with over a 1000 ops at catcher is too risky.
He’s the best defensive catcher in mlb.
They don’t need to move him now but eventually it’s probably good idea to do so since his hitting is way more valuable than his defense.
Rowdy has got to get his head around hiring people who can help him with diet and fitness. He has much more potential than he is showing. Less cheap carbs for a start.
Rowdy was pretty popular when he was with the Brewers. There’s something we Brewers fans like about a fat guy who hits homers and strikes out a lot.
Rob Deer Syndrome
The problem was that Rowdy seems to have hit half his home runs against the Pirates so maybe that is why they wanted him.
Wow Rowdy really creating some buzz. If nothing else that play at first where the runner bounced off him like a brick wall was worth the price of admission for me.
Isn’t he like top 5 or top 10 in all star voting?
The comments on his weight always baffle me. Rowdy (6′ 4″ 270LBS) is very comparable to Josh Bell ( 6′ 3″ 261LBS), yet I never hear Bell critcized for his weight. If he is, I apologize–I’ve just not heard it. Bell is over his career a better player (7.6 WAR versus Rowdy’s 0.0 WAR, literally league average) but that is largely because he’s played 400 more games than Rowdy. Bell, though, strikes out less and walks more. I’m sure it’s more complicated than that but I’m struck by how similar they are in stature but Bell is just a better hitter than Rowdy, yet is a very similar fielder. I’m not sure that it comes down to weight but moreso comes down to their batting eyes.
Sandlot-I thought that Rowdy played decently last year at first base with the Pirates.Bell is not nearly that good of a fielder,one of the worst first basemen that I have seen.
WAR means wins above replacement which means at 0.0 he has had the same average result as a AAAA player.
I question the concept of WAR and whether it gives an accurate evaluation of value,but it does give a decent relative ranking.
They may be somewhat forgiving too regarding Rowdy’s weight.He is a big guy and can easily carry 230-240 pounds but should be no more than that.
I could see the Sox picking him up for the power he has shown.He could rotate with Toro.Romy could take Hamilton’s spot on the 26 man.
Heck,what would more strikeouts mean to the team.They strike out a ton already.But hey,it is only an out and part of today’s game so that is fine.
He already cleared waivers just look at his MLB profile says free agent..
Who cares . Can we get Big dumper and Jrod both competing in the homerun derby please
(After another loss)
Bryce Harper (to Thomson): Skipper, I just want to reiterate that I would gladly play in the outfield again if you found a good bat for first.
Thomson (nodding): Oh good, I think Rowdy Telez will be available in a few days.