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Mariners, Mark Lowe Agree To Minor League Deal

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6:04pm: It’s a minor league contract for Lowe, reports Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune (on Twitter). The right-hander will head to Triple-A Tacoma to begin the season.

4:08pm: Shortly after being cut loose by the Tigers, veteran right-hander Mark Lowe is set to sign a deal to return to the Mariners, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (on Twitter). The 33-year-old Lowe is represented by Frye McCann Sports.

Mark Lowe

Seattle is where Lowe revitalized his career back in 2015. After throwing just 18 2/3 innings big league innings from 2013-14, Lowe inked a minors deal in Seattle and proved to be one of the best minor league pickups of the offseason; in 36 innings with Seattle that season, Lowe turned in a ridiculous 1.00 ERA with a 47-to-11 K/BB ratio. That performance led to a trade to the Blue Jays, where Lowe took a step back but still logged a 3.79 ERA with a 14-to-1 K/BB ratio in 19 innings, helping the Jays to the postseason.

That terrific rebound campaign led the Tigers to commit to Lowe in the form of a two-year, $11MM contract, but that deal yielded disastrous results. Lowe’s average fastball velocity dipped from 95.5 mph in 2015 to 92.4 mph, and he stumbled to a 7.11 earned run average. Lowe did still strike out nearly a batter per inning, but his BB/9 rate shot from 2.0 to 3.8, and he went from averaging 0.65 HR/9 to 2.19 HR/9 as a member of the Tigers.

It’s not clear whether the Mariners are signing Lowe to a Major League deal or a minor league deal, but the financial commitment will be minimal either way. The Tigers are paying Lowe $5.5MM this year as part of the aforementioned two-year contract, and the Mariners would only be on the hook for the Major League minimum of $535,000 (or the pro-rated version of that sum, for whatever time Lowe spends in the Majors).

As it stands, the Mariners’ bullpen is slated to be anchored by flamethrowing right-hander Edwin Diaz, who emerged as a dominant closing option for manager Scott Servais last season. Also likely to be in the relief corps are right-handers Nick Vincent, Evan Scribner, Dan Altavilla and Casey Fien, while left-hander Marc Rzepczynski will be locked into a spot after signing his own two-year, $11MM contract this winter. Right-handers Tony Zych, Steve Cishek and Shae Simmons are all currently being slowed by injuries.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Smyly Scratched From Start, Will Undergo Arm Examination

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There’s some degree of uncertainty surrounding Drew Smyly’s left arm, writes Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. Smyly was scratched from his scheduled start this coming Friday due to the fact that he didn’t feel good coming out of his last bullpen session. The southpaw was slated to meet with the Mariners’ team doctor today, with manager Scott Servais nebulously stating that Smyly’s arm felt “soggy.” As MLB.com’s Greg Johns tweets, Servais said following today’s contest that he’s yet to receive an update on Smyly’s condition. It’s not known what type of tests Smyly underwent or what level of concern the Mariners are currently harboring, but the situation is certainly worth monitoring as Opening Day looms. The initial plan, according to Divish, was to shut Smyly down from throwing for a couple of days. The results of his examination could, of course, alter that trajectory.

No Ligament Damage For Shae Simmons

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  • Mariners reliever Shae Simmons is progressing in his recovery from the forearm strain he suffered March 11, relays Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. An MRI on Tuesday confirmed no ligament damage, but the righty will still go at least a few more days without throwing. As Dutton notes, the 26-year-old Simmons missed almost all of the previous two seasons with the Braves while recovering from Tommy John surgery, so the latest development is an encouraging one.

Mariners Option Dan Vogelbach To Triple-A

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In a somewhat surprising move, the Mariners announced that first baseman Dan Vogelbach has been optioned to Triple-A.  GM Jerry Dipoto told reporters (including Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times) that veteran Danny Valencia will be the Mariners’ everyday first baseman, with utilityman Taylor Motter as the backup.

[Updated Mariners roster at Roster Resource]

Vogelbach is hitting just .228/.313/.333 over 64 plate appearances in Spring Training, which Dipoto said contributed to the decision.  The slow start hasn’t removed Vogelbach from Seattle’s longer-term plans, however, as Dipoto noted that the the club is looking at the move in a similar vein as the Triple-A stints for Mike Zunino and James Paxton last season.  Both players performed well after that extra bit of minor league seasoning, and given how Vogelbach has just eight big league games under his belt, it makes sense that he would get a bit of extra time at Triple-A.

Still, this move is notable since the Mariners spent much of the winter aiming to use Vogelbach as their regular first baseman against right-handed pitching.  Acquired as part of the Mike Montgomery trade with the Cubs last July, Vogelbach owns an impressive .286/.391/.481 slash line and 83 homers over 2329 career PA in the minors since Chicago selected him in the second round of the 2011 draft.

While Vogelbach has drawn praise for his power and his patient approach at the plate, however, he is already showing signs of being a bat-only player at age 23, as he possesses below-average defense even at first base.  His average and slugging numbers against southpaws in the minors are also well below his numbers against right-handed pitching, which is why the Mariners acquired the right-handed hitting Valencia this offseason.

Instead, Valencia now moves into an everyday role after hitting .287/.346/.446 line over 517 PA for the Athletics last season.  With Shawn O’Malley sidelined for at least 10 days following an appendectomy, Motter has stepped up as the M’s top utility infield option.  Ironically, first base is the spot where the versatile Motter has been the least amount of action (just 14 career games at first in the majors and minors), as he has been more regularly deployed everywhere else around the diamond except pitcher and catcher.  Valencia doesn’t have impressive splits against right-handed pitching over his career and Motter is also a right-handed bat, so there’s a slim chance Seattle could explore one of the left-handed first base options (i.e. Ryan Howard, Justin Morneau or Kelly Johnson) still on the free agent market, but the far more likely scenario is that Vogelbach is promoted after a few weeks.

Mariners Notes: O'Malley, Simmons, Cishek

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  • Mariners utilityman Shawn O’Malley needed an appendectomy yesterday, which will sideline him for around two weeks, as Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune reports. He and Taylor Motter are battling for a reserve role on the Opening Day roster, but the health issue could certainly move the needle. Thus far, Motter has the better spring stat line, with a .324/.435/.459 slash against O’Malley’s .278/.333/.278 mark. Both have options remaining and have reached the majors previously, though neither has a significant track record at the game’s highest level.
  • The Mariners also got some updates on a pair of righty relievers, Dutton adds on Twitter. Shae Simmons was able to play catch as he works through forearm issues, while Steve Cishek is scheduled for his first pen session tomorrow as he continues to progress from offseason hip surgery. It seems clear at this point that neither will be ready for Opening Day, though the deep Seattle unit should be able to bear the loss, and both could represent intriguing mid-season additions to the relief corps.

Mariners Not Ignoring Old-School Approaches To Player Evaluation

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  • The Mariners are no strangers to analytics, but they also value old-school approaches to player evaluation, MLB.com’s Doug Miller writes. Manager Scott Servais, for example, highlights veteran catcher Carlos Ruiz’s work this spring with pitchers, including 23-year-old Max Povse, who spent the 2016 season at the Class A+ and Double-A levels but has thrived so far in camp. “Max Povse comes out after four innings [thinking], ’Jeez, I never had to shake off a pitch tonight. Never had to think about it,'” says Servais. “You can’t measure it, but it’s there and it’s really important to a winning team.”

Rays’ Rule 5 Pick Kevin Gadea Out At Least Four Weeks

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Right-hander Kevin Gadea, whom the Rays selected out of the Mariners organization in last December’s Rule 5 Draft, will miss “at least” four weeks of action after an MRI revealed tendinitis in his right elbow, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter links). Perhaps of more interest, Topkin adds that the Rays were in the process of returning Gadea to the Mariners organization when the MRI revealed his injury. Now, he’ll open the season with the Rays and accrue some Major League service time on the team’s disabled list.

In that sense, the injury could benefit both Gadea and the Rays. He’ll earn the pro-rated portion of the league minimum for the time he spends on the MLB DL — a significant pay increase over what he’d have earned in the minors — and the Rays, in turn, will have a chance to further evaluate Gadea while he progresses through a minor league rehab assignment. If other injuries arise and/or other relievers fail to perform early in the season, it’s possible that Gadea could emerge as a candidate to help out on the Major League roster. Of course, the Rays may simply offer him back to the Mariners once he’s cleared to return to game action.

It should be noted that Gadea, 22, was a long shot to stick on the Rays’ roster out of camp. Signed out of Nicaragua as a free agent back in 2012, Gadea has yet to ascend even to the Class-A Advanced level, having spent the makority of the 2016 season in the Class-A Midwest League. Gadea handled himself quite well there, logging a brilliant 2.15 earned run average with 72 strikeouts (12.9 K/9) against just 11 walks (2.0 BB/9).

Drew Smyly Shows Best-Ever Velocity In Strong WBC Outing

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  • Mariners brass probably felt a mix of emotions as last night’s USA-Venezuela WBC matchup got underway, but as MLB.com’s Greg Johns writes, it ended up going quite well for the organization. Long-time staff ace Felix Hernandez was excellent, but it was new lefty Drew Smyly who opened eyes with his performance. The 27-year-old southpaw notched eight strikeouts against a potent Venezuela lineup over 4 2/3 strong frames, allowing only one unearned run. And he topped out at over 94 mph with his fastball, setting a new personal high-water mark in that regard.

Servais: Mariners Could Open Year With Eight-Man Bullpen

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