The Mariners announced Tuesday that they’ve signed first baseman/outfielder Connor Joe and left-hander Jhonathan Díaz to minor league deals. Both players receive invitations to major league spring training. Díaz was outrighted by Seattle last week and briefly elected free agency but will return on a new minor league pact.
Joe, 33, briefly appeared with both the Padres and Reds last season but only totaled 42 plate appearances in the majors. He didn’t hit well in that time but from 2021-24 logged a respectable .244/.339/.395 batting line (99 wRC+) with 35 homers, 82 doubles, nine triples, an 11.2% walk rate and a 21.6% strikeout rate in 1566 plate appearances between Colorado and Pittsburgh. He spent most of last year in Triple-A, where he posted a disappointing .225/.346/.306 slash in 205 trips to the plate.
In 645 career plate appearances against lefties, the right-handed-hitting Joe is a .247/.344/.401 hitter, just a bit north of league-average by measure of wRC+. He’s logged 874 innings in right field, 944 innings in left field and 1089 innings at first base, with solid grades at first and in left field. Seattle already signed Rob Refsnyder to pair with lefty-swinging DH/corner outfielder Dominic Canzone, but Joe provides some depth in the event of an injury to Refsnyder.
The 29-year-old Díaz has pitched briefly in parts of five major league seasons but only has 46 1/3 MLB frames under his belt. He’s worked to a 4.66 ERA in that small sample, fanning 33 of 219 opponents (15.1%) against 27 walks (12.3%). He’s been a solid member of the Mariners’ Triple-A rotation in each of the past two seasons, starting at least 22 games in both seasons and keeping his ERA in the low 4.00s.
Díaz isn’t likely to crack Seattle’s Opening Day roster, but he’s a serviceable depth arm to have down in Tacoma and could be in line for additional opportunities in 2026 after right-hander Logan Evans underwent UCL surgery recently. Evans was likely Triple-A-bound himself but was sixth on Seattle’s rotation depth chart behind the quintet of Logan Gilbert, Bryan Woo, George Kirby, Luis Castillo and Bryce Miller. Right-hander Emerson Hancock is probably the first man up in the event of an injury now, but Díaz joins him, Casey Lawrence and fellow non-roster invitee Dane Dunning in that conversation.
You need to add to your payroll.
You need to get a pinball machine that works.
I read Marlins.
We could use one more quality reliever but we are pretty set. The Mariners had a really good off-season. That lineup is as strong as it has been in a long time and they may be saving some money for the trade deadline. They have done a very good job of adding to the team at that deadline.
I feel they could use two more relievers but maybe one solid middle inning RHP would be fine. I am hoping they at least add someone and not just random pitching lab types they’ve plucked off waivers.
Congrats to the Mariners for signing Joe Conner and John Diaz to minor league contracts.
Jhon* Diaz
What about Randy Dobnak he has to be more likely to make the rotation than Casey Lawrence.
Joe probably doesn’t crack the Mariners roster, though if he has a good spring he might be able to push Canzone or Raley off the roster
Canzone still has an option, so he’s likelier to be sent down if he struggles. Can’t imagine a world where it’s Connor Joe, unless they just want a defensive replacement for Naylor or an outfielder.
Thats because that world does not exist lol
He won’t.
It’s all for Tacoma. Looks like they could have a six-man rotation there if they want to, even with Evans out for the year. Diaz, Dobnak, Castaño, Anderson, Sloan, and good ol’ Casey Lawrence. Maybe even Cooper Criswell, unless they keep him on the big club. Makes it easier to keep Hancock in the pen.
You are now banned from Lookout Landing.
Where did you come from, where did you go?
Where did you come from, Connor Joe?