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Mariners Claim Pat Light From Pirates, Outright Ryne Harper

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The Mariners have announced they’ve claimed righty Pat Light from the Pirates and assigned him to Triple-A Tacoma. They’ve also outrighted righty Ryne Harper to Triple-A Tacoma.

The Pirates designated Light for assignment last Saturday. The reliever is a former first-round pick of the Red Sox and has tantalizing velocity, but he has long struggled with his control, as his 5.1 BB/9 this year for Triple-A Indianapolis suggests. The 26-year-old pitched briefly in the big leagues for the Red Sox and Twins last season and allowed 22 runs in 16 2/3 innings, though he did average 95 MPH with his fastball.

The Mariners selected the 28-year-old Harper’s contract late last month, then optioned him to Tacoma before he threw a pitch for them. He has pitched parts of seven seasons in the minors but has never appeared in a big-league game despite having been on a big-league roster and being part of a trade for a big-leaguer (the 2015 deal that sent Jose Ramirez to Atlanta). He has, however, fared well this season for Tacoma, posting a 3.00 ERA, 10.9 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9 24 innings there.

Mariners "Got Lucky" In Finding Dan Altavilla

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  • Mariners special assistant and former scouting director Tom McNamara says his club “got lucky” in finding righty Dan Altavilla out of Division II Mercyhurst University and taking him in the fifth round of the 2014 draft, David Laurila writes in his weekly notes column for FanGraphs. The Mariners had already seen Altavilla pitch in the Cape Cod League, but ended up taking him in part because of a coincidence of geography, as Altavilla happened to be pitching again a few miles from where Mariners officials were watching another game. “We were going to watch LSU versus Vanderbilt,” says McNamara. “It was (Aaron) Nola against (Tyler) Beede. Our scout who had Pennsylvania, Mike Moriarty, told us, ‘Hey, you know what? You guys could see the kid from Mercyhurst, too. He’s pitching at noon, and then you can go see the Vanderbilt game at seven o’clock. So we went.” Now, of course, Altavilla is a hard-throwing reliever in the Mariners’ bullpen.

Mitch Haniger Returns From DL

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  • The Mariners have announced that they’ve activated outfielder Mitch Haniger from the 10-day DL, where he landed after suffering a strained right oblique. To clear space, the team has optioned fellow outfielder Boog Powell to Triple-A Tacoma. Haniger joined Jean Segura in getting off to a hot start to his big-league career after arriving in a big offseason trade with the Diamondbacks, but Haniger has been out since April 25. He’s batting .342/.447/.608 in his first 95 plate appearances with Seattle.

Rosenthal: Mariners Will Soon Need To Address Rotation

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Mariners Sign Ryan Jackson To Minors Deal

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  • The Mariners have added shortstop Ryan Jackson on a minor league contract. The 29-year-old last saw Major League work with the Angels in 2015 and has struggled in his limited exposure to the big leagues, going just 2-for-33 in 39 plate appearances. He’s long been a solid performer at the Triple-A level, though, where he’s posted a collective .273/.352/.352 batting line across parts of six seasons.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Dipoto On Segura Extension

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  • Mariners ownership gave GM Jerry Dipoto a “unanimous go for it” when he approached them about pursuing an extension with shortstop Jean Segura, Dipoto said at yesterday’s press conference announcing the deal (via Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times). “I can speak for [CEO John Stanton] and [president Kevin Mather] as well. When I brought it to them the first time, I know it was shared with the ownership group to give them the ok to roll ahead with negotiations, everybody was absolutely in back of the negotiations or the proposal each step of the way. They were all for it.” Dipoto acknowledged that a full no-trade clause isn’t something he considers “typical” in extension talks, but Segura’s agent, CAA’s Nez Balelo, explained that due to the three previous trades in his Segura’s still-young career, it was an important element to secure.

Nelson Cruz Has MRI On Right Calf

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  • Nelson Cruz underwent an MRI on his right calf today and wasn’t in the lineup for the Mariners’ game against the Twins.  Seattle manager Scott Servais told MLB.com’s Greg Johns and other reporters that he expects Cruz to be out “maybe a day or two,” so the injury doesn’t seem serious, though Cruz has been bothered by his calf for over a week.  The veteran slugger is in the midst of another big season, hitting .299/.383/.563 with 14 homers over 230 PA for the M’s.

Mariners Extend Jean Segura

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3:50pm: The breakdown of Segura’s extension is provided by Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (Twitter link).  Segura receives a $3MM signing bonus, $9MM in 2018, and then salaries of $14.25MM in each season from 2019-2022.  The 2023 club option is worth $17MM, with a $1MM buyout.

12:37pm: The Mariners announced on Wednesday that they’ve locked up shortstop Jean Segura on a five-year contract extension that includes a club option for the 2023 season. The deal will reportedly guarantee the CAA Sports client a total of $70MM over the next five seasons and include full no-trade protection.

Jean Segura

“Over the past two seasons, Jean has been one of the premier offensive players in baseball,” said GM Jerry Dipoto in a statement announcing the extension. “His combination of average, power and speed is extremely difficult to find, especially as a top-of-the-lineup hitter at a key defensive position like shortstop. We are all quite excited about having him here with the Mariners and believe he is a key ingredient in our ongoing effort to build a championship level roster.”

The 27-year-old Segura, currently on the disabled list with a minor ankle injury, entered play Wednesday pacing the American League with a .341 average. In addition to that excellent mark, he’s posted a .391 on-base percentage and slugged .462 through 198 plate appearances in his first year as a Mariner. Seattle acquired Segura from the Diamondbacks alongside Mitch Haniger and minor league lefty Zac Curtis in exchange for right-hander Taijuan Walker and infielder Ketel Marte this offseason.

Segura is already earning $6.2MM this season and, of course, would stand to earn a significant raise upon that salary via arbitration in 2018 before hitting the open market in advance of his age-29 season. With a rough assumption of a would-be $9-10MM salary via that arbitration process this winter, the Mariners secured Segura’s first four free agent seasons for a rough annual value of about $15MM.

Extensions for a player in his service class are relatively rare — especially at this point of the year — though recent examples include Salvador Perez’s five-year, $52MM deal and Brandon Crawford’s six-year, $75MM contract (as shown in MLBTR’s Extension Tracker). Segura doesn’t have the consistent track record that a number of his peers that have secured long-term deals in this service class have had.

Back in 2013, Segura had a terrific sophomore season with the Brewers, hitting .294/.329/.423 with 12 homers and 44 stolen bases through 623 plate appearances. However, that was followed up with a pair of down seasons, during which he suffered the tragic loss of his infant son. A change of scenery that sent Segura to the D-backs in exchange for Chase Anderson and prospect Isan Diaz led to a resurgence for the one-time top prospect. Segura was sensational in his lone year with the Diamondbacks, slashing .319/.368/.499 with 20 homers and 33 steals.

From a long-term perspective, the Mariners are reasonably well-equipped to handle a significant extension. Robinson Cano, Felix Hernandez and Kyle Seager are the only players under club control beyond the 2018 campaign. Segura now joins that core, and the presumptive increase in his salary that will begin with his free-agent years will coincide with the departure of Nelson Cruz, Marc Rzepczynski and Drew Smyly in free agency. The Mariners will also see Steve Cishek, Carlos Ruiz, Danny Valencia and Jarrod Dyson depart via free agency after the 2017 season. Not including the yet-unreported terms of Segura’s extension, the Mariners have committed just under $72MM to their 2019 payroll and just $43.5MM committed to the 2020 payroll.

Jon Morosi of MLB Network and FOX Sports first reported the two sides were close to a deal (Twitter link). Hector Gomez of Z 101 in Santo Domingo tweeted the agreement and the terms of the deal. FanRag’s Jon Heyman reported that Segura would receive a full no-trade clause (Twitter link).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Mariners Outright Andrew Aplin

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  • The Mariners announced that outfielder Andrew Aplin has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Tacoma. Aplin, whom Seattle designated for assignment last Friday, joined the team in a trade with the division-rival Astros in late May. The 26-year-old still doesn’t have any major league experience on his resume, and has only hit .245/.341/.333 in 979 Triple-A plate appearances. Aplin’s defense has drawn positive reviews, however, with Baseball America lauding his “above-average, accurate arm” and “good routes and reads.”

Jean Segura Doesn't Expect Long Absence

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Hours after Marlins right-hander Edinson Volquez threw the first no-hitter of the year, Angels designated hitter Albert Pujols added another notable accomplishment to the 2017 ledger, belting his 600th home run. Pujols skied a grand slam off Twins right-hander Ervin Santana to become the ninth player in the history of the sport to go deep at least 600 times. The former Cardinal has already hit nine homers this year, and he figures to pass both Sammy Sosa (609) and Jim Thome (612) on the all-time list by the end of the season.

As Pujols joins his teammates and fans in celebrating his historic feat, here’s more from the West divisions…

  • An Adrian Beltre trade is something the Rangers will have to consider if they end up as sellers at the trade deadline, opines Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter links). Beltre has established himself as a franchise icon since joining the Rangers in 2011, but the potential Hall of Famer will turn 39 next April and is due $18MM in 2018 to conclude his contract. As such, it might make sense for the Rangers to shop him, though Grant doubts they’d be willing to eat any of the money left on his deal. It could be a moot point, anyway, as Beltre has the ability to block any trade via his 10-and-5 rights.
  • The Rockies will place left-hander Tyler Anderson on the disabled list Sunday, retroactive to May 31, with left knee inflammation, per Nick Groke of the Denver Post. While Anderson has dealt with the issue since early May, he doesn’t believe it’s serious. Neither does manager Bud Black, who indicated that Anderson’s DL placement is “precautionary.” Anderson is one of four Rockies to make 11 starts this year, but he has allowed home runs on 24.1 percent of fly balls en route to a 5.85 ERA over 60 innings. For now, Anderson’s spot in the rotation will go to well-regarded right-hander Jeff Hoffman.
  • The Padres entered the season with three picks from last winter’s Rule 5 draft on their roster, and one – outfielder/shortstop Allen Cordoba – has stood out, as Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes. Cordoba, then a member of the Cardinals organization, spent last season in the rookie-level Appalachian League. Now, he’s a .298/.333/.442 hitter over 111 plate trips with the Padres. Manager Andy Green has taken notice of the 21-year-old’s success, saying that Cordoba “continues to impress. He’s earned every bit of the opportunity that he’s receiving right now. Nothing’s been given to him. He’s earned the right to be out there. He’s earned the right to be hitting at the top of the order, and it’s been very, very impressive.”
  • Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto said Friday that Jean Segura could miss two months with a high ankle sprain, but the shortstop has a much more optimistic outlook, relays Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. “I don’t think this is going to take a month,” Segura stated. “Maybe a couple of weeks. We’ll see how it feels the next couple of days.” Segura went on the DL on Friday after slashing a stellar .341/.391/.462 in his first 198 plate appearances of 2017.
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