The Mariners and infielder Patrick Wisdom are in agreement on a minor league deal, reports Aram Leighton of Just Baseball. The Apex Baseball client will receive an invite to big league spring training.
Wisdom, now 34, had a strong run with the Cubs from 2021 to 2023. His production was fairly predictable. He would strike out a ton but would usually put the ball over the fence when he did connect. He hit at least 23 home runs in each of those three seasons but struck out in at least 34% of his plate appearances in all three.
Put together, he had 76 home runs in 1,211 plate appearances over those years while striking out at a 36.9% clip. That led to a lopsided .214/.298/.473 line. Despite the strikeouts and low batting average, he was 11% better than league average for that span, according to wRC+.
He got bumped into a bench role in 2024 but hit just .171/.237/.392 174 plate appearances. Since he was never an especially gifted defender, the drop-off at the plate became untenable and he was non-tendered at season’s end.
He signed with the the Kia Tigers of the Korea Baseball Organization and revered back to his previous form. He struck out in 29.2% of his plate appearances in South Korea last year but launched 35 homers. He finished the year with a .236/.321/.535 line and 126 wRC+. He got brief stints in the outfield corners but mostly split his time between third and first base.
The Mariners will bring him aboard in a non-roster capacity and get a look at him. They have Josh Naylor as their regular at first base. The hot corner is a bit more open. The club has some interest in bringing back Eugenio Suárez, another power-hitting third baseman with big strikeouts, but he remains unsigned as a free agent.
It’s possible that prospect Colt Emerson could take over the job this year but he’s currently only 20 years old and hasn’t yet made it to the majors, with just six games of Triple-A experience. Ben Williamson currently projects as a glove-first regular at third, at least until Emerson forces his way in. Wisdom gives them another option without taking up a roster spot. It’s also possible Wisdom could earn his way into a bench role as a right-handed bat, providing platoon coverage for lefties like Naylor, Dominic Canzone, J.P. Crawford, Cole Young and Luke Raley.
Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images
