Headlines

  • Rays Acquire Nick Fortes From Marlins
  • Ryne Sandberg Passes Away
  • Brewers Have Interest In Ryan O’Hearn
  • Brewers Acquire Danny Jansen
  • 4 More Days To Lock In Savings On Trade Rumors Front Office
  • Dodgers To Promote Alex Freeland
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Mariners Outright Leody Taveras

By Darragh McDonald | June 13, 2025 at 1:25pm CDT

The Mariners announced that outfielder Leody Taveras has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Tacoma. He had been bumped off the 40-man roster when the Mariners designated him for assignment earlier this week.

Taveras has the right to elect free agency but will likely forgo that right. Players with at least three years of service time have the right to reject an outright assignment and head to the open market. However, if they have less than five years of service, they have to forfeit any remaining salary commitments in order to exercise that right. Taveras is between three and five years of service and is making $4.75MM this year, so it seems fair to presume he’ll report to Tacoma in order to keep the remainder that money coming to him.

That money has been an undercurrent to all things related to Taveras in the past year or so. He had a down season in 2024 and was arguably a non-tender candidate coming into 2025. With the Rangers attempting to stay under the competitive balance tax, they could have cut Taveras and given center field to Evan Carter.

The Rangers did tender Taveras a contract but there were trade rumors surrounding him in January. Though the club had a tight budget, it’s possible that concerns around Carter’s back surgery may have motivated them to stick with Taveras. But his production fell even further from his 2024 levels while Carter was getting into game shape. They decided to move on and put Taveras on waivers.

The Mariners made a somewhat surprising claim, given their own financial constraints. Reports throughout the winter suggested they only had about $15MM to spend on upgrading their roster for the 2025 season. They signed Jorge Polanco and Donovan Solano to one-year deals worth a combined $11.25MM, leaving them with a bit of wiggle room for in-season moves.

At the time they claimed Taveras, he still had about $3.7MM of his salary to be paid out, a notable sum for a fringe roster player. Perhaps not coincidentally, that money and the Polanco/Solano contracts add up to almost exactly $15MM.

Presumably, the M’s felt they could get the 2022-23 version of Taveras. In those seasons, he had slashed .264/.311/.400 for a 97 wRC+ while stealing 25 bases and providing strong outfield defense. They also had lost Víctor Robles and Luke Raley to the injured list, perhaps motivating them to take a gamble.

As mentioned, Taveras had seen his production drop lately. He put up a line of .229/.289/.352 last year, leading to an 82 wRC+. This year, his line was at .241/.259/.342 when Texas bumped him off the roster. While the M’s hoped for a bounceback, he actually got worse after coming to Seattle, with a .174/.198/.272 line in 28 games. They decided to pull the plug and it seems no other club was willing to take on the roughly $2.7MM of his salary still to be paid out.

It’s a less than ideal use of resources for the Mariners, especially given how little they had to work with. That is something which could impact their moves in the rest of the season. Unless ownership greenlit some extra spending, this move used up a few million bucks that could have been used to acquire a more surefire upgrade at the deadline.

There’s still some time to flip the narrative. Perhaps Taveras can get back on track with Tacoma and earn his way back onto the roster. However, that may get tougher in time. Raley is now on a rehab assignment and should be back on the roster in the next few weeks. Robles is further away but could rejoin the club later in the year. Presumably, adding another outfielder or two at the deadline will be a possibility.

If Taveras doesn’t get called back up to the majors, he will be able to elect minor league free agency at season’s end. That’s the case for all players with at least three years of big league service time who are outrighted during the course of a season.

Photo courtesy of Kirby Lee, Imagn Images

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Seattle Mariners Transactions Leody Taveras

Mets Place Kodai Senga On IL With Hamstring Strain
Main
Michael Tonkin Accepts Outright Assignment With Twins
View Comments (8)
Post a Comment

8 Comments

  1. Charlesm 2025

    2 months ago

    Maybe some time in the minors can help him rediscover how to hit and get on base consistently.

    2
    Reply
    • Dag Gummit

      1 month ago

      And catch a routine flyball.

      Probably coincidence that this came after he absolutely cost the team a game after bungling not just one but balls he should have caught in CF (replaced Julio after the scary hit on his leg).

      Reply
  2. BigRedMachine

    2 months ago

    Or be ready to play when your starting CF gets hit by a line drive on the base paths and injured and you need to go into the game and help your team.

    Reply
  3. Brett Baty’s Bat

    2 months ago

    Oof.

    Reply
  4. CaseyAbell

    2 months ago

    The way Carter is playing right now, the Rangers are happy happy joy joy that somebody took Taveras’ contract off their hands.

    2
    Reply
    • Dag Gummit

      1 month ago

      I say you should happy just to have him off the roster to let a kid like Carter play — even if the kid were struggling to this point (à la his 2024 performance).

      That some other idiot took that money off the Rangers’ hands is just… a mound of cherries on top.

      Reply
  5. hoof hearted

    2 months ago

    give Samad Taylor some ab’s

    Reply
    • Dag Gummit

      1 month ago

      Domino was the hot LHB COF/ 1B/ DH bat-type player the roster really, REALLY needs. Granted that even if Domino fill one of those we need, we still desperately need a solution for another (when’s Raley coming back?).

      I wouldn’t be all that surprised if Taylor and/ or Ford are next to come up once the org finally realizes that Solano and Garver are as cooked as charcoal.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Rays Acquire Nick Fortes From Marlins

    Ryne Sandberg Passes Away

    Brewers Have Interest In Ryan O’Hearn

    Brewers Acquire Danny Jansen

    4 More Days To Lock In Savings On Trade Rumors Front Office

    Dodgers To Promote Alex Freeland

    Nationals’ Travis Sykora To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Tigers Acquire Chris Paddack

    Kris Bubic To Miss Remainder Of 2025 Season With Rotator Cuff Strain

    Tigers To Place Reese Olson On 60-Day IL With Shoulder Strain

    Cubs, Jed Hoyer Agree To Multi-Year Extension

    Royals Sign Seth Lugo To Extension

    Emmanuel Clase Placed On Administrative Leave Amid MLB’s Sports-Betting Investigation

    Braves Acquire Erick Fedde, Place Grant Holmes On 60-Day IL

    Yankees Place Aaron Judge On Injured List With Flexor Strain

    Top 50 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline

    Yankees Acquire Amed Rosario

    Royals Acquire Randal Grichuk

    Aaron Judge Undergoing Testing For “Elbow Issue”

    Yankees Acquire Ryan McMahon

    Recent

    Rangers, Tigers Interested In David Bednar

    Blue Jays, Dodgers Among Teams Interested In Steven Kwan

    Giants Sign Diego Cartaya To Minor League Deal

    Rays Acquire Nick Fortes From Marlins

    The Opener: Suarez, Robert, Alcantara

    Ryne Sandberg Passes Away

    Roberts: “Don’t See A World” In Which Dodgers Trade Dalton Rushing

    Astros, Mets Have Expressed Interest In Brandon Lowe

    Brewers Have Interest In Ryan O’Hearn

    Brewers Designate Eric Haase For Assignment

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Eugenio Suarez Rumors
    • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Ryan O’Hearn Rumors
    • Mitch Keller Rumors
    • David Bednar Rumors
    • Marcell Ozuna Rumors
    • Merrill Kelly Rumors
    • Zac Gallen Rumors
    • Ryan Helsley Rumors
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version