Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Mariners Rumors

Daniel Bard Retires

By | at

Veteran reliever Daniel Bard is ending his comeback bid and will retire, reports WEEI’s Rob Bradford. The 40-year-old Bard signed a minor league contract with the Mariners earlier this summer and had pitched well in a limited look with Seattle’s Triple-A affiliate in Tacoma, allowing two runs on six hits and a walk with nine punchouts in 5 2/3 innings.

Originally a first-round pick by the Red Sox back in 2006, Bard made his big league debut in 2009 and quickly became a star reliever in Boston. In his first three seasons, the righty pitched 197 innings of  2.88 ERA ball and piled up 79 holds and five saves. Along the way, he fanned nearly 27% of his opponents. That’d be a strong mark even in today’s game, but at the time, the league-average strikeout rate sat around 18% (compared to this year’s 21.9%). Bard ranked 21st among all relievers in strikeout rate over that three-year period and, despite not debuting until mid-May in ’09, tallied the third-most holds in MLB from ’09-’11.

In 2012, the Red Sox tried moving Bard into the rotation, hoping some of that single-inning dominance would carry over to lengthier stretches. It didn’t pan out. Bard made ten starts and was hit hard, yielding a 5.30 ERA in 54 1/3 innings and showing some alarming command troubles. The lanky right-hander walked more hitters (36) than he struck out (34) and plunked eight batters. He was moved back into the bullpen later in the season.

Bard’s command struggles had actually begun in September of 2011. They continued in 2012 during that shift to the rotation, and reached a tipping point the following season. Bard pitched just one major league inning in 2013, plus another 15 1/3 frames in the minors — during which he walked one-third of the batters he faced and threw 11 wild pitches. Bard would eventually learn that he’d also been pitching with an undiagnosed case of thoracic outlet syndrome — he underwent surgery in 2014 — and he’s also been candid throughout his career about his ongoing battle with anxiety.

A series of minor league deals with the Rangers, Cubs, Pirates, Cardinals and Mets didn’t pan out, and by 2017 Bard had opted to call it a career and move onto the next phase of his baseball journey. He took a job with the D-backs, serving as a player mentor/mental skills coach who worked with young players throughout the organization. Bard held that position for a couple years but found that with some time off, his velocity, command and desire to pitch all returned. He worked out for clubs ahead of the 2020 season, signed a minor league deal with the Rockies and embarked on one of the more improbable comebacks in recent memory.

Bard was heading into his age-35 season and hadn’t pitched in the majors for seven years when he went to camp with the Rockies. He wound up not only earning a spot on the roster in the shortened 2020 season — he was named National League Comeback Player of the Year. Bard pitched 24 2/3 innings with the Rockies that season and logged a 3.65 ERA with a 25.5% strikeout rate, 9.4% walk rate, six saves and two holds. His fastball, which had sat 93-94 in 2012-13 while he was unknowingly pitching with thoracic outlet syndrome, averaged a hearty 97.3 mph.

Bard had a tough 2021 season but was brilliant in 2022 when he saved 34 games and pitched to a 1.79 earned run average. The Rockies signed him to a two-year, $19MM extension that summer rather than ship him out when he would’ve been one of the most popular rental arms on the trade market. That contract didn’t work out, as Bard struggled again in 2023 and missed the 2024 season recovering from a pair of surgeries: one to repair a torn meniscus and another to repair a torn flexor tendon. He’d hoped to make one final run in the majors, but he’ll now wrap up one of the more interesting career arcs this generation of baseball has seen.

All told, Bard pitched in parts of five seasons with the Red Sox and four with the Rockies — plus minor league appearances with the Rangers, Cardinals and Mets. He pitched 457 1/3 big league innings, saved 66 games, tallied 91 holds and recorded a 3.74 ERA. Bard set down just over 24% of the hitters he faced on strikes over the course of his career, and he earned more than $31MM in salary, thanks largely to that late-career extension in Colorado.

Bard has already taken one non-playing job with the Diamondbacks. It stands to reason that plenty of clubs would welcome someone with Bard’s background to their organization, be it in a coaching role, a player development role or a baseball operations role — should he choose to again look for new opportunities to stay involved in the game.

Notable Draft Signings: July 18-19th, 2025

By | at

Here’s a roundup of players from the recent draft who were signed or agreed to terms in the past two days. For an arbitrary cutoff, this post will focus on players taken before the second round or any later picks who signed a bonus of $2MM or more. Pre-draft rankings and scouting reports are provided by Keith Law of the Athletic, Baseball America, FanGraphs, MLB Pipeline and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel.

  • The Cubs have signed outfielder Ethan Conrad to a bonus of $3,563,100, per Jim Callis of MLB.com. Conrad was selected 17th overall, a pick that comes with a $4,750,800 slot. Since the Cubs are saving over a million on their first-round pick, they should have lots of leeway to lock up the remaining players in their class.
  • The Tigers have signed shortstop Jordan Yost with a $3.25MM bonus, per Callis. Yost went 24th overall, a pick that comes with a slot value of $3,726,300. Per Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press, Detroit has also agreed to terms with their second pick, catcher Michael Oliveto. Selected in the competitive balance A round, 34th overall, his $2.45MM signing bonus is below his $2,827,300 slot value. Between Yost and Oliveto, the Tigers have saved close to a million bucks, which can be redirected to the other guys they drafted.
  • The Orioles have signed catcher Caden Bodine with a $3,113,300 bonus, per Callis. Callis also relays that shortstop Wehiwa Aloy has signed for $3,042,800. Bodine and Aloy were taken 30th and 31st respectively, with the compensation picks the O’s received for Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander rejecting qualifying offers and signing elsewhere. Both bonuses were full slot value for their respective picks. The O’s also signed first-rounder Ike Irish to a bonus right around slot value, so they’ve played things pretty straight-up with their top three picks.
  • The Brewers announced that they have signed shortstop Brady Ebel, the son of Dodgers third base coach Dino Ebel. The younger Ebel was selected 32nd overall, the pick the Brewers received for Willy Adames rejecting a qualifying offer and signing elsewhere. That pick comes with a $2.97MM slot value. The signing bonus has not yet been publicly reported. [UPDATE: Baseball America’s Carlos Collazo reports that Ebel signed for a below-slot $2.75MM bonus.]
  • The Mariners have agreed to terms with 19 of their draft picks, reports Daniel Kramer of MLB.com. Top pick Kade Anderson’s bonus was previously reported. The M’s also gave catcher Luke Stevenson a bonus of $2.8MM and shortstop Nick Becker $2.75MM. Stevenson was taken in the competitive balance A round, 33rd overall. This bonus comes in just barely above the $2.76MM slot for that pick. Becker was selected in the second round 57th overall, a pick that comes with a slot of $1.64MM. Anderson’s bonus was about $700K under slot and it seems the M’s redirected those savings to get Becker to sign. Callis reported the Stevenson bonus earlier today.
  • The Yankees have signed shortstop Dax Kilby to a $2.8MM bonus, per Kiley McDaniel of ESPN. Kilby was selected 39th overall, though that was actually the club’s top pick. Their first-rounder was pushed back ten spots because they went over the third competitive balance tax threshold last year. Slot for the pick was $2,509,500, so they went a bit over to get him to sign.
  • The Rays signed outfielder Brendan Summerhill to a $1,997,500 bonus, per Callis. He was selected 42nd overall, in competitive balance round A. Slot value for that pick was $2,331,000, so the Rays saved a bit on this one. The Rays also went below-slot to sign first-round Daniel Pierce, so they have lots of extra powder for the rest of their class.
  • The Cardinals signed shortstop Ryan Mitchell to a $2.25MM bonus, per Ari Alexander of KPRC 2. Mitchell was taken in the second round, 55th overall. The slot for that pick is $1,720,300, so the Cards went about half a million above to get this one done. They saved close to a million when signing first-rounder Liam Doyle, so it seems some of those savings were used to ink Mitchell.

Photo courtesy of Dylan Widger, Imagn Images

Poll: Which Team Should Be Most Aggressive For Eugenio Suarez?

By | at

After entering the season with big expectations, the Diamondbacks have been dogged by injuries throughout the year and seen key players like Zac Gallen and Brandon Pfaadt perform below expectations. It’s left them with a 47-50 record headed into the second half, and while the front office has not yet outright declared themselves sellers, they seemingly haven’t closed the door on the idea either.

Arizona has a number of intriguing rentals they could dangle this summer to contending clubs, but perhaps the best of them all is third baseman Eugenio Suárez. The 33-year-old is in the midst of what figures to be a career year and has already clubbed 31 homers in just 95 games. As the best bat available this summer, he should attract plenty of attention. For which teams would he make the most sense? A look at some of the top options:

New York Yankees

The Yankees entered 2025 without a solid plan for the infield, and their situation has only gotten more dire. Oswaldo Cabrera suffered an ankle injury that’s left him unlikely to return to the field this year, and the club recently cut ties with DJ LeMahieu in order to move Jazz Chisholm Jr. back to second base. That leaves New York to rely on Oswald Peraza and Jorbit Vivas at the hot corner, a combination that doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. Suárez would be the perfect addition to a Yankees lineup that has too often relied on Aaron Judge to carry the load of producing on a regular basis by himself, and Suárez’s righty bat would help to balance a lineup dominated by lefties like Chisholm, Cody Bellinger, Ben Rice, and Austin Wells. As tempting as Suárez may be, however, injuries to players like Gerrit Cole and Clarke Schmidt leave the rotation perhaps even more in need of reinforcements than the lineup. The Yankees would also pay a 110% tax on what’s left of Suárez’s $15MM salary ($5.89MM as of this writing).

Chicago Cubs

The Cubs have had a strong year so far and entered the All-Star break in first place thanks primarily to their star-studded offense. Shoring up a patchwork rotation should be the top priority for this team, but Chicago does have one of the worst third base situations in the majors. Matt Shaw entered this year as a consensus top-30 prospect in the sport and may well still be the team’s long-term solution at the hot corner, but his 61 wRC+ won’t cut it on a contender. Jon Berti and Vidal Brujan have been no better offensively, so any upgrade at third would need to be external. There aren’t many teams for whom Suárez would represent a more substantial upgrade over their internal options, and adding him to the middle of the Cubs’ order to push players like Dansby Swanson and Ian Happ down the lineup would make one of the league’s best offenses even more potent.

Milwaukee Brewers

Nipping at Chicago’s heels in the NL Central race, the Brewers sit just one game back after playing extremely well the past few weeks. With Brandon Woodruff, Freddy Peralta and Jacob Misiorowski set to front the rotation and several solid back-end options, the Brewers appear to be the rare contender mostly set on the pitching front. Where they could use upgrades is on offense — particularly on the left side of the infield. Caleb Durbin has done a solid enough job at third base, but with Joey Ortiz struggling at shortstop and no obviously impactful trade candidates at that position, perhaps adding Suárez could bolster the lineup while allowing the Brewers to occasionally shift Durbin to second base and Brice Turang to shortstop. While the position fit is perhaps imperfect, Suárez would help transform the middle of a Milwaukee lineup that has seriously missed the contributions of Willy Adames this year. It’s fair to wonder whether Suárez fits the within the budget, however.

Seattle Mariners

Perhaps the best fit for Suárez would be a homecoming of sorts. The Mariners have long needed help on offense to complement their cache of young pitching talent, and this year is no different. Rookie Ben Williamson is handling the hot corner on a regular basis as things stand and playing good defense with minimal offense (.259/.294/.321, 79 wRC+).

Bringing Suárez back into the fold would transform the lineup, giving the team a second bona fide slugger alongside Cal Raleigh who could form a strong offensive nucleus with Randy Arozarena and Julio Rodriguez. The Mariners traded Suárez to the D-backs in the first place following the 2023 season — a move necessitated by an ownership mandate to reduce payroll. There is interest in a reunion, but would Seattle submit the top bid to reacquire a rental player they traded 21 months ago when other more surefire postseason clubs are in the bidding?

Other Options

The four clubs mentioned above are arguably the strongest fit for Suárez’s services, but they’re far from the only realistic options. The Reds would represent another homecoming for Suárez and have one of the worst third base situations in the majors at the moment. The Tigers — Suárez’s original organization — have gotten solid production from All-Stars Zach McKinstry and Javier Baez at the hot corner, but both are versatile and Suárez would add some more thump to a win-now lineup. The Blue Jays have a solid offense and are enjoying a breakout season from Addison Barger at third base, but he could just as easily be moved to right field to clear the deck for Suárez. The Mets have moved Mark Vientos off third base amid a difficult season, and Suárez would be a clear upgrade over Ronny Mauricio and Brett Baty on the infield.

Suárez’s elite power and ability to play a solid third base make him an attractive target for any club hoping to add a little thump to the lineup. Which team should push hardest to acquire him? Have your say in the poll below:

Mariners Agree To Sign First-Round Pick Kade Anderson

By | at

The Mariners and third overall pick Kade Anderson have already reached an agreement, as Just Baseball Media’s Aram Leighton reports that the two sides have agreed to a deal with a bonus of roughly $8.8MM.  That would represent a significantly below-slot signing, as the third pick comes with a slot price of $9,504,400.

Anderson rose to prominence over his two seasons at LSU, particularly in the 2025 season when he emerged as a full-time starter and arguably the best pitcher in college ball.  Anderson posted a 3.18 ERA over 119 innings (with a 37.4% strikeout rate and 7.28% walk rate) and was named the most outstanding player of the College World Series as LSU captured their eighth NCAA title.

This breakout made the southpaw one of the top prospects of the 2025 draft class, and the top pitching prospect in the eyes of some evaluators.  Kiley McDaniel had Anderson as the best prospect overall on ESPN’s board, while MLB Pipeline had Anderson second, Fangraphs and Keith Law each had the left-hander third, and Baseball America had Anderson fourth in their rankings.

Anderson’s fastball, slider, and curveball each received at least a 55 from Pipeline and Baseball America on the 20-80 scouting scale, and Pipeline’s scouting report also put a 60 grade on Anderson’s changeup.  He throws a lot of strikes with all of his pitches, and Anderson’s fastball is usually in the 92-94 range with the occasional top-out up to 97mph, and this relatively modest velocity is enhanced by plenty of movement.  Health is a bit of a question, as Anderson underwent a Tommy John surgery in high school and is of around average size at 6’2″ and 179 pounds.

While Anderson doesn’t have a lot of college innings under his belt, it might not take him too long to start knocking on the door for a promotion to the majors.  The Mariners are already deep in pitching, and their draft-lottery luck in landing the third pick has now brought a high-level young arm into the organization.

Trade Deadline Outlook: Seattle Mariners

By | at

The Mariners are up next in our team-by-team Trade Deadline Outlook series. Seattle last made the postseason in 2022 and has had numerous near misses in recent years under president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto and general manager Justin Hollander. The Mariners' vaunted young rotation has long been the talk of baseball, but the M's also have an excellent farm system they can leverage to improve the roster over the next three weeks.

Record: 49-45 (Playoff probability 61.4%, per FanGraphs)

Other series entries: Rockies, Giants, Phillies, Pirates, Astros, Marlins, Athletics, Orioles, White Sox, Nationals, Cubs, Rays, Dodgers, Braves, Yankees, Angels, Mets, Blue Jays

Buy Mode

Potential Needs: First base, third base, late-inning reliever

The Mariners needed offense throughout the winter but were afforded little to no financial resources to make it happen. Dipoto and Hollander dealt with substantial payroll restrictions for a second straight winter, reportedly trying to stretch a budget of about $15-16MM to acquire as many as three different bats. The resulting additions -- Jorge Polanco, Rowdy Tellez, Donovan Solano -- haven't paid off much. Polanco has been quite productive but has been relegated to DH duty for much of the season due to injuries. Tellez was released last month. Solano has hit better over the past five weeks or so but has been a liability for most of the year.

On top of those underwhelming additions, the M's have been plagued by injuries. Victor Robles suffered a shoulder injury that'll cost him more than half the season. Luke Raley missed more than a month with an oblique injury. Second baseman Ryan Bliss ruptured his biceps in April and will likely miss the remainder of the season.

Fortunately for the Mariners' baseball operations staff, it seems ownership has come around on spending to further bolster the lineup. It's not clear just how far north they're willing to take payroll, but even a relatively modest increase could be a boon for a club that could clearly use help at two corner spots. So, where can the Mariners turn?

Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription

BENEFITS
  • Access weekly subscriber-only articles by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, and Anthony Franco.
  • Join exclusive weekly live chats with Anthony.
  • Remove ads and support our writers.
  • Access GM-caliber tools like our MLB Contract Tracker

Which Other Draft Picks Are Eligible To Be Traded Before Sunday?

By | at

The Rays made an “early” strike in deadline season yesterday, shipping off their Competitive Balance Round A selection (No. 37 overall) in Sunday’s draft to acquire righty Bryan Baker from the division-rival Orioles. Baker, 30, has had his two worst outings of the season in his final Orioles appearance and last night’s Rays debut — which came just hours after he was “shocked” to learn he was traded and boarded a last-minute flight to meet his new team in Boston — but carried a 2.58 ERA and 33.3% strikeout rate through July 5. He comes to the Rays with three additional seasons of club control, as well.

Following the trade, O’s general manager Mike Elias acknowledged that Thursday’s trade was “earlier than my comfort level” but that the timing of the draft and strength of the return pushed him to make a deal sooner than he’d have preferred (link via Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com). It’s feasible that other general managers/president of baseball operations feel similar pressure if presented with opportunities to add an extra pick over the next two-plus days.

As a refresher, Competitive Balance picks are the only picks in the annual amateur draft that are eligible to be traded. They can only be traded one time, meaning the pick the Orioles received for Baker — and the picks the Dodgers, Guardians and Red Sox received in trades of Gavin Lux, Josh Naylor and Quinn Priester, respectively — are now locked in place for those clubs. There are still a handful of selections that could be traded, however.

Here’s a rundown of the picks in Competitive Balance Rounds A and B. MLBTR has confirmed via industry sources that the picks held by the Dodgers, Yankees and Mets in Round A are ineligible to be traded, as they’re technically first-round picks that were dropped down into Competitive Balance Round A as penalty for exceeding the luxury tax by more than $40MM. Similarly, the picks held by the Rays and Brewers in Round B are ineligible to be traded due to the fact that they are compensation for failing to sign last year’s picks in Competitive Balance Round B. Picks that are eligible to be traded are in bold; those ineligible to be moved are in strikethrough font. The deadline to trade any of these eligible picks is 4pm ET on Sunday — two hours prior to the start of this year’s amateur draft.

Round A

  • No. 33 overall: Red Sox (acquired from Brewers in exchange for RHP Quinn Priester)
  • No. 34: Tigers
  • No. 35: Mariners
  • No. 36: Twins
  • No. 37: Orioles (acquired from Rays in exchange for RHP Bryan Baker)
  • No. 38: Mets
  • No. 39: Yankees
  • No. 40: Dodgers
  • No. 41: Dodgers (acquired from Reds in exchange for INF/OF Gavin Lux)
  • No. 42: Rays (acquired from A’s in exchange for LHPs Jeffrey Springs, Jacob Lopez)
  • No. 43: Marlins

Round B

  • No. 66 overall: Guardians
  • No. 67: Rays (compensation for unsigned pick in 2024)
  • No. 68: Brewers (compensation for unsigned pick in 2024)
  • No. 69: Orioles
  • No. 70: Guardians (acquired from D-backs in exchange for 1B Josh Naylor)
  • No. 71: Royals
  • No. 72: Cardinals
  • No. 73: Pirates
  • No. 74: Rockies

The Tigers are the only clear buyer with a pick that can be traded, and it’s a prominent one. The Mariners and Cardinals are only one game out of a Wild Card spot in their respective leagues. Seattle is expected to act as a buyer and has been on the hunt for corner infield bats and late-inning bullpen help. The Royals (3.5 games), Twins (4) and Guardians (5) are all within five games of a Wild Card spot.

Fans would largely welcome the advent of additional selections becoming eligible to be traded, but that’s not in the cards for now. MLBPA executive director Bruce Meyer joined Foul Territory earlier this week and told hosts Scott Braun, Erik Kratz and A.J. Pierzynski that the union is in favor of trading draft picks and has unsuccessfully raised the issue in past waves of collective bargaining (video link, draft pick talk coming around the one hour, 12-minute mark).

“This union has consistently been in favor of teams being able to trade draft picks,” said Meyer. “It would help competition. We think it would help small-market teams that have those valuable draft picks. They should have the flexibility to trade them if it’s in the best interest of the team. I think many teams would agree, but the league for whatever reason has, to date, been against allowing clubs the ability to trade Rule 4 [amateur] draft picks. We proposed it last time. It was rejected. I don’t want to commit to much for the next round of bargaining, but I feel pretty confident we’ll propose that again, because we think it’s actually beneficial to competitive balance.”

It should be noted that virtually any proposal in collective bargaining comes with some give and take. Meyer’s comments only portray one side of the discussion, and it’s not clear whether anything else was attached to that proposal. Regardless, it’s notable that the union’s lead negotiator has signaled a desire to again broach the subject of draft pick trades when the two sides return to the table to hammer out a new collective bargaining agreement.

MLBTR Podcast: Firings in Washington, Bad Braves, And An AL East Shake-Up

By | at

The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images

Mariners Outright Jacob Hurtubise

By | at

The Mariners announced that outfielder Jacob Hurtubise has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Tacoma. There wasn’t any previous indication he had been removed from the 40-man, so Seattle’s count drops to 39.

Hurtubise, 27, hasn’t yet appeared in a major league game with the Mariners. He was claimed off waivers from the Reds a few weeks ago and kept on optional assignment. Since then, he has hit .150/.269/.150 in ten Triple-A games. On the heels of that cold stretch, it seems the M’s decided it would be a good time to pass him through waivers and open a roster spot, which turned out to be correct.

Since Hurtubise has less than three years of big league service time and this is his first outright assignment, he does not have the right to elect free agency. The Mariners will therefore get to keep him as non-roster depth.

He has a small amount of major league experience but without success thus far. He currently sports a .167/.291/.212 batting line in 83 plate appearances with the Reds. But he has hit more in the minors, with some speed to boot. He had 715 plate appearances on the farm over 2023 and 2024 with a .306/.443/.437 batting line. His 15.1% walk rate was almost as high as his 15.7% strikeout rate. Overall, that production translated to a 138 wRC+. He also swiped 62 bags in 72 tries over those seasons.

This year has been a struggle but Hurtubise will try to get back in good form and earn his way back onto the roster. For the Mariners, they are surely happy to be able to hold onto a talented player while opening a roster spot for a future move.

Photo courtesy of Katie Stratman, Imagn Images

MLBTR Podcast: Depleted Mets’ Pitching, The Pirates Are Open For Business, And More!

By | at

The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

  • Griffin Canning’s injury dealing another blow to the Mets’ rotation (1:45)
  • Which playoff-caliber starters could be available at the deadline? (6:10)
  • What does Canning’s free agency look like with this injury? (12:55)
  • The Pirates reportedly having almost no one off the table at the deadline (15:10)

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Could the Orioles be sellers at the deadline and then make a late-season run for a Wild Card berth? (28:35)
  • Should the Royals make Vinnie Pasquantino available at the deadline? (31:20)
  • Should the Cubs get Eugenio Suárez from the Diamondbacks? (35:30)
  • Should the Mariners get Josh Naylor of the Diamondbacks or Alex Bregman of the Red Sox? (40:10)
  • If the Reds are sellers, should they make TJ Friedl available? (44:20)
  • The constant tough question of when a small-market team should sell a star player (47:05)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Wendell Cruz, Imagn Images

Zach Pop Elects Free Agency

By | at

Zach Pop cleared outright waivers and elected free agency, the Mariners announced. Seattle had designated the righty reliever for assignment over the weekend.

Pop, 28, had a brief run in Dan Wilson’s bullpen. He signed a minor league contract in mid-April and was selected onto the MLB roster on June 13. The Kentucky product made four appearances over the next two weeks. He gave up nine runs (eight earned) on 10 hits and a pair of walks through 5 1/3 innings. Pop recorded only three strikeouts among 30 batters faced with a well below-average 7% swinging strike percentage.

Before his brief run in Seattle, Pop spent a couple seasons as a middle reliever with the Blue Jays. He hasn’t missed many bats but recorded a gaudy 55% ground-ball rate across 48 1/3 innings last year. While hitters had a difficult time elevating the ball, they did a lot of damage when they were able to get it in the air. More than 20% of fly balls cleared the fences, leading to a 5.59 earned run average.

Pop owns a 4.75 ERA in parts of five big league campaigns. He’ll probably be limited to minor league offers but should intrigue teams as a depth option thanks to a sinker that averages around 96 MPH.

Show all

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