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D-backs Sign Austin Adams, Jesse Biddle To Minor League Deals

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The Diamondbacks have signed righties Austin Adams and Eric Yardley and left-hander Jesse Biddle to minor league contracts, per Baseball America’s Chris Hilburn-Trenkle.

Adams, 31, has spent the past three seasons with the division-rival Padres, at times looking like a potential late-inning weapon. Injuries and command issues, however, have undercut the righty’s enormous strikeout numbers. Adams has appeared in 108 games and tallied 97 innings at the MLB level (mostly with the Padres), working to a solid 3.90 ERA along the way. He’s punched out a massive 34.2% of his opponents in the big leagues, walked 15.5% of them and, remarkably, plunked 6% of his opponents as well.

Troubling as that lack of command is, Adams misses bats at an elite rate, and when opponents do make contact, it’s rarely high-quality contact. He’s held opposing batters to a dismal 86.2 mph average exit velocity in his career, yielded just a 29.7% hard-hit rate and allowed only six home runs in 97 innings (433 batters faced).

Adams has been intriguing enough for the Mariners to trade for him and for the Padres to push for his inclusion alongside Austin Nola in the trade that sent Ty France and Andres Munoz to Seattle. There’s some obvious talent, thanks in no small part to a wipeout slider, but in addition to being his difficulties locating the ball, he’s endured a torn ACL in 2020 and a flexor strain that required surgery in 2022, limiting him to just two innings. Because of that latter procedure, which was performed in August, it’s possible Adams will be delayed to begin his season. If he makes it back to the big leagues, the D-backs will have at least two years of club control over him.

Yardley, 32, has pitched in parts of three big league seasons, spending time with the 2019 Padres and 2020-21 Brewers. He’s notched a tidy 3.52 ERA in that time, although fielding-independent metrics are far more bearish than his ERA — due largely to a tiny 13% strikeout rate and a slightly elevated 9.7% walk rate.

Yardley has offset that lack of punchouts in part with a massive 60.8% ground-ball rate and a solid 1.01 HR/9 mark. The righty’s submarine delivery has helped him to keep the ball on the ground and in the yard, although as is often the case, it’s also given him a notable platoon split; lefties have clobbered Yardley at a .312/.382/.468 clip in his big league career.

As for the 31-year-old Biddle, he’s returning from a one-year stint with the Orix Buffaloes in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, where he pitched to a 4.02 ERA with a 24.4% strikeout rate and 10.9% walk rate out of the bullpen. The former first-round pick (27th overall by the Phillies in 2010) has appeared in parts of four Major League seasons, working to a 5.07 ERA in 103 frames. Biddle has fanned 22.2% of his opponents, issued walks at a bloated 13.1% clip and also recorded a hefty 52.8% ground-ball rate in that time.

Back in 2018, the Braves looked like they might’ve benefited from a shrewd waiver claim of Biddle, who pitched 63 2/3 innings of 3.11 ERA ball for them as a rookie that season. Since that solid debut, however, Biddle has been tagged for an 8.24 ERA in 39 1/3 big league innings.

Both pitchers will have the chance to factor into the Arizona bullpen at some point during the 2023 season. The Snakes have a handful of veterans on guaranteed contracts, including Mark Melancon, Miguel Castro and Scott McGough. They also enjoyed a breakout year from lefty Joe Mantiply and a strong 30-game run from 28-year-old Kevin Ginkel in the season’s second half. There are still multiple spots up for grabs, however, and injuries throughout the year will of course create additional opportunities for veterans of this ilk.

Padres Select Pedro Avila, Outright Austin Adams

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The Padres announced they’ve selected right-hander Pedro Avila onto the 40-man roster. The move keeps him from reaching minor league free agency this evening. San Diego also announced that reliever Austin Adams went unclaimed on waivers and elected free agency.

Avila has spent a fair bit of time on the Friars 40-man roster, but he’s barely pitched at the MLB level. He has just four career appearances, although they’ve been spread over three seasons. This year consisted of two MLB relief appearances before the Friars outrighted him to Triple-A El Paso in June. He spent the rest of the year there, starting 24 of 30 outings and working to a 4.58 ERA over 112 innings in a hitter-friendly environment. He punched out an above-average 26.1% of opponents against a slightly elevated 10.3% walk percentage.

The Padres clearly value Avila enough to keep him from departing to kick off the offseason, although it remains to be seen if he’ll hold his roster spot all winter. He still has a minor league option year remaining, so the Pads can shuttle him between San Diego and El Paso as rotation depth if he keeps his 40-man spot.

Adams only made two relief appearances this year before being shut down with a forearm strain. He underwent flexor surgery in August and appears unlikely to be ready for the start of the 2023 campaign. The Padres never looked likely to tender him a projected $1MM arbitration contract as a result. The 31-year-old had a 4.10 ERA with a 31.5% strikeout percentage in 2021 and will be a depth option for teams once he’s healthy.

Austin Adams Undergoes Flexor Tendon Surgery

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Padres reliever Austin Adams underwent surgery to repair the flexor tendon in his forearm this afternoon, reports Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter link). It marks a disappointing end to a season that has been wiped out by a forearm strain he suffered in April.

The timetable on Adams’ recovery isn’t clear, but it may cost him a chunk of next season as well. Sanders likens the procedure to the one teammate Drew Pomeranz underwent last August. He’s been out for almost a calendar year and just embarked on a minor league rehab assignment a couple weeks ago. One can’t just assume players’ recovery processes will be identical, of course, but it seems as if the 31-year-old Adams could lose the bulk of the 2023 campaign.

The right-hander made just two appearances this season. Adams got into 65 games a year ago, working to a 4.10 ERA with a huge 31.5% strikeout percentage through 52 2/3 innings. He paired that swing-and-miss stuff with extreme wildness, however, walking nearly 15% of opponents and bizarrely plunking 24 batters. Adams led MLB in opponents hit by pitch, six clear of second-place Joe Musgrove, despite being a single-inning reliever.

Control woes notwithstanding, Adams could’ve worked his way into medium or high-leverage innings on the strength of his wipeout slider had he been healthy this season. Unfortunately, he’s instead spent the vast majority of the year on the 60-day injured list. Adams will be paid his $925K salary and collect a full year of service time. He’ll eclipse the four-year service threshold and remains arbitration-eligible through 2024. He wouldn’t be in line for more than a marginal raise next season if the Pads tendered him a contract, but they could elect to non-tender him and reallocate his spot on the 40-man roster over the winter if they anticipate he’ll miss the majority of the 2023 campaign.

Padres Select Trayce Thompson, Place Wil Myers On Injured List

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The Padres announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contract of outfielder Trayce Thompson from Triple-A El Paso and placed fellow outfielder Wil Myers on the 10-day IL due to a left thumb injury. Righty Austin Adams was moved from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL in order to open a 40-man roster spot for Thompson.

Thompson, 31, is a former second-round pick (White Sox, 2009) and the younger brother of Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson. He’s appeared in parts of five big league seasons, most recently logging 15 games and 35 plate appearances with the Cubs in 2021. Thompson impressed in that small sample of work, hitting .250/.400/.714 with four homers and a pair of steals — flashing the tools that once made him a lofty draft pick and a well-regarded prospect.

Of course, those tools haven’t translated into production at the big league level regularly enough. Thompson has tallied 624 plate appearances in the Majors but has just a .208/.283/.405 batting line to show for it. He’s homered 26 times and swiped 11 bags (in 13 tries) as a big leaguer, but Thompson has also been far too prone to strikeouts. He’s whiffed in 28.2% of his plate appearances, and his penchant for punchouts has worsened over the years; after posting a strong rookie season with the ChiSox back in 2015, Thompson has fanned in nearly 31% of his trips to the plate while hitting .184/.260/.370.

That said, it’s hard to argue that he hasn’t earned an opportunity with his early-season work. In his first 16 games and 65 plate appearances with the Chihuahuas, Thompson has batted .316/.385/.860 with a jaw-dropping nine home runs. He’s added four doubles and a stolen base for good measure. Those numbers overwhelmingly outpace Thompson’s career .233/.303/.447 output in parts of seven Triple-A seasons, but there’s no denying the intrigue surrounding that blistering start.

As for Myers, he’ll head to the 10-day IL after opening the season in a .218/.254/.273 funk at the plate. That sloth-like start comes on the heels of a solid 2020-21 run at the plate, and it’s fair to say the thumb injury has contributed to his struggles. Myers originally incurred the injury during an at-bat two weeks ago and has been held out of the lineup on multiple occasions in an effort to let it heal. His placement on the injured list is retroactive to yesterday, so he’ll be eligible to return a week from Saturday.

Adams, meanwhile, is dealing with a forearm strain and was recently shut down from throwing for six weeks. It’s generally unsurprising to see him now transferred to the 60-day IL. That 60-day window begins with the day he was originally placed on the IL, not with today’s transfer, meaning he’s eligible to return in 50 days’ time. The 30-year-old righty has a 3.97 ERA and a very strong 31.8% strikeout rate in 59 innings with San Diego dating back to 2020, but he’s also walked 15% of his opponents in that time.

Padres’ Austin Adams Shut Down With Forearm Strain

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Padres reliever Austin Adams has a forearm strain and will be shut down from throwing for at least six weeks, manager Bob Melvin told reporters (including AJ Cassavell of MLB.com). He is likely to receive a platelet-rich plasma injection.

It’s a worrisome development, since forearm strains can sometimes be a precursor to Tommy John surgery. Adams will try to avoid going under the knife with a PRP treatment and rehab, but he’s looking at an extended absence in either event. Even if he begins throwing six weeks from now, he’ll need time to build back arm strength and head out on a minor league rehab assignment before returning to the big league bullpen. Given that timetable, the Friars seem likely to place Adams on the 60-day injured list whenever the need for a 40-man roster spot arises.

Adams, 31 next month, was acquired from the Mariners at the 2020 trade deadline in the seven-player deal that also saw Austin Nola head from Seattle to San Diego. On the injured list at the time as he recovered from a September 2019 knee surgery, he only made three appearances that season.

The right-hander was called upon in 65 games last year, though, working 52 2/3 innings of 4.10 ERA ball. Adams punched out a very strong 31.5% of batters faced on a 13.3% swinging strike rate, continuing a career-long trend of missing bats in droves. Yet he struggled mightily with his control, walking 14.5% of opponents. He also incredibly hit 24 batters, six more than any other pitcher despite throwing less than a third of the innings of many starters around the game.

After just two appearances this season, Adams landed on the 10-day IL last Thursday. Melvin will rely on offseason acquisitions Taylor Rogers and Luis García, veterans Pierce Johnson and Craig Stammen, and starter-turned-reliever Dinelson Lamet as his top high-leverage options. Rookie Steven Wilson and former NPB closer Robert Suárez are among the right-handed options he can turn to in the middle innings.

Tender Deadline Signings: 11/30/21

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With the deadline to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players looming tonight at 8pm ET — the MLBPA and MLB jointly agreed to move the deadline up a couple days due to the looming expiration of the collective bargaining agreement — we’ll likely see a slew of arbitration-eligible players signing one-year deals.

It’s commonplace for a large batch of players to sign deals in the hours leading up to the tender deadline. “Pre-tender” deals of this nature often fall shy of projections due to the fact that teams use the looming threat of a non-tender to enhance their leverage. Arbitration contracts at this juncture are often take-it-or-leave-it propositions, with the “leave it” end of that arrangement resulting in the player being cut loose. Given the widely expected lockout, there could be more incentive than usual for borderline non-tender candidates to take those offers rather than being cast out into free agency just hours before a transaction freeze is implemented.

As a reminder, arbitration contracts are not fully guaranteed. In a typical year, a team can cut a player on an arb contract at any point before the halfway point in Spring Training and only be responsible for 30 days’ termination pay (about one-sixth of the contract). Releasing a player in the second half of Spring Training bumps the termination pay to 45 days of his prorated salary.

MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected salaries for each team’s arbitration-eligible players last month, although for many of the players listed below, this isn’t so much avoiding arbitration as it is avoiding a non-tender. Here’s a look at today’s agreements…

  • The Yankees have agreed to deals with infielder Gio Urshela and right-hander Domingo German, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter links). Urshela will make $6.55MM, while German has agreed to a $1.75MM deal. Urshela has two seasons of control remaining; German is controllable for three years. Urshela is coming off a .267/.301/.419 showing while playing third base and shortstop. German tossed 98 1/3 innings of 4.58 ERA ball.
  • The Twins have signed three arbitration-eligible pitchers, per reports from Feinsand and Darren Wolfson of SKOR North (on Twitter). Right-hander Jharel Cotton signed for $700K, reliever Caleb Thielbar lands $1.3MM and reliever Tyler Duffey signs for $3.8MM. Thielbar and Duffey were both productive members of the Minnesota relief corps in 2021. Cotton was recently claimed off waivers from the Rangers.
  • The Giants have agreed to terms with outfielder Austin Slater on a $1.85MM deal, reports Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic (Twitter link). The 28-year-old (29 next month) appeared at all three spots on the grass while hitting .241/.320/.423 over 306 plate appearances in 2021.
  • Reliever Emilio Pagan and the Padres have agreed on a $2.3MM deal, reports Rosenthal (on Twitter). The 30-year-old worked 63 1/3 innings of 4.83 ERA/3.93 SIERA ball this past season.
  • The Diamondbacks agreed to a $2MM deal with left-hander Caleb Smith, reports Zach Buchanan of the Athletic (via Twitter). The 30-year-old posted a 4.83 ERA/4.68 SIERA across 113 2/3 innings in a swing capacity in 2021.

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Injured List Activations: Ahmed, Stewart, Adams

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After a flurry of injury news and updates around baseball today, here are some players who are getting back to action…

  • The Diamondbacks activated shortstop Nick Ahmed from the 10-day injured list.  Ahmed suffered some right knee inflammation near the end of Spring Training and received a PRP injection as part of his treatment.  The two-time Gold Glove winner is now ready to begin his 2021 season and take his usual place as the defensive anchor of the Diamondbacks infield.  Infielder Geraldo Perdomo was optioned to the alternate training site after last night’s game in preparation for Ahmed’s return.
  • The Orioles reinstated DJ Stewart from the 10-day IL, and Stewart is set for his season debut tonight, scheduled to hit fifth in Baltimore’s lineup.  Due to a left hamstring strain, the outfielder hasn’t seen any game action since a Spring Training outing on March 5.  While strikeouts continue to be a troublingly large part of Stewart’s offensive game, he has hit .224/.334/433 with 14 homers at the MLB level, good for an above-average 107 OPS+/108 wRC+ over 301 career plate appearances.
  • Right-hander Austin Adams has been reinstated from the Padres’ 10-day IL, and righty Nabil Crismatt has been optioned to the alternate training site to make room on the active roster.  Adams had been suffering from a minor elbow strain during Spring Training.  San Diego acquired Adams as part of their seven-player deal with the Mariners last August, and he stands out as a potentially nasty bullpen weapon if he can get his free passes in check.  Adams has an eye-popping 70 strikeouts over 42 career innings in the majors, but control has also been a major issue (a 15.8% walk rate).

Padres Option Luis Patiño, Activate Austin Adams

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The San Diego Padres announced a pair of roster moves today. Luis Patiño has been optioned to the team’s alternate site, with Austin Adams being reinstated from the injured list to join the active roster. This will be Adams’ first appearance with the team since being acquired from the Seattle Mariners at the trade deadline.

Patiño is one of the Padres many highly-regarded pitching prospects. He’s now completed a couple of stints at the major-league level during the 2020 season, making 9 appearances out of the bullpen and starting one game. Long-term, the Padres hope Patiño will prove himself worthy of a rotation spot, but they have the luxury of patience with the 20-year-old right-hander.

It’s been a mixed bag over Patiño’s first 16 1/3 innings in the Show. His 5.51 ERA/5.82 FIP can largely be attributed to his 7.2 BB/9, a number that certainly has been colored by the small sample size of 2020. He’s also managed to notch 10.5 K/9, roughly in line with his minor league averages in that regard. Having finished 2019 in Double-A, it’s unlikely he was ready to make the jump directly to the majors under normal circumstances, though the talented youngster was certainly pegged to be a fast-rise in the Padres system.

Adams, 29, came to the Padres with Austin Nola and Dan Altavilla at the trade deadline. Thought it’s easy to consider Adams a throw-in because he was injured at the time of the deal, Adams nonetheless comes with four seasons of control beyond 2020, including one final pre-arb year in 2021. A waiver claim last season from the Nationals, Adams hasn’t stayed healthy long enough to sustain a breakout that began when he joined Seattle last season, but the possibility remains that Adams could become a vital piece of the San Diego bullpen this season or beyond.

His first appearance with the Padres will be his first overall in 2020, but he posted a 3.77 ERA/2.96 FIP in 2019 across 29 appearances totaling 31 innings with the Mariners. While command can be an issue, Adams managed 14.8 K/9 last year, a number that suggests he has the stuff to develop into a late-game stopper. It’ll be interesting to see how exactly the Padres plan to work him into the bullpen rotation in the limited games remaining before the playoffs.

Padres, Mariners Complete Seven-Player Trade

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The Padres continued their busy deadline activities with a trade large in both numbers and long-term scope.  The Padres and Mariners combined on a seven-player deal that will see catcher/utilityman Austin Nola and right-handers Austin Adams and Dan Altavilla go to San Diego, while Seattle will receive top outfield prospect Taylor Trammell, infielder Ty France, catcher Luis Torrens, and right-hander Andres Munoz.

After already picking up Jason Castro from the Angels in another trade earlier today, the Padres will further bolster themselves behind the plate with Nola, though Nola brings extra versatility to the table.  While Nola has primarily worked as a catcher this season, he has a lot of experience at first base and second base, plus a handful of games as a third baseman and corner outfield.

Austin NolaSince Nola might be considered more of a super-utility piece than as a pure catcher, he will essentially replace both backup infielder France and backup catcher Torrens on San Diego’s roster.  The Padres are likely to use Nola all around the diamond while perhaps still going with Castro and Austin Hedges as their primary catching tandem, though Nola will surely also see some time at catcher.

As Ken Rosenthal speculated, the Padres did move a catcher to Seattle as part of the deal, though it was Torrens rather than Hedges or (the currently injured) Francisco Mejia.  It isn’t out of the question that one of that duo could be traded elsewhere in another future swap for the aggressive Padres.  Besides Castro, San Diego has also added Mitch Moreland and Trevor Rosenthal in deals with the Red Sox and Royals over the last two days, and the Padres remain in the hunt for such big-name pitchers as Mike Clevinger and Lance Lynn.

Originally a fifth-round pick for the Marlins in the 2012 draft, Nola plugged away in the minors before finally making his MLB debut last season at age 29.  Since reaching the bigs, Nola has done nothing but produce for the Mariners, hitting .280/.351/.476 with 15 homers over 377 career plate appearances heading into today’s action.  He is also controlled through the 2025 season, though San Diego might not necessarily view Nola as a long-term asset given that he turns 31 in December.

Altavilla has been a somewhat inconsistent contributor during his five years out of the Mariners bullpen, amassing a solid career 4.08 ERA over 106 innings and missing a lot (9.9 K/9) of bats.  He only pitched 14 2/3 innings in 2019 and had a 7.71 ERA through his first 11 2/3 frames this season.  As a hard-throwing righty, Altavilla will basically fill the bullpen depth spot left behind Gerardo Reyes, who was moved to the Angels in the Castro trade.

Adams could potentially factor into the Padres’ plans in 2020, as the right-hander has been rehabbing in the hopes of a late-season return after undergoing knee surgery in September 2019.  Over 38 career innings with the Nationals and Mariners since the start of the 2017 season, Adams has a 3.79 ERA, 2.33 K/BB rate, and a whopping 14.9 K/9.  MLBTR’s Steve Adams examined the righty’s hidden-gem potential back in April and, as always, the pitcher now going to San Diego is not to be confused with the other right-handed Austin Adams, who is currently with the Twins.

Taylor TrammellTurning to the Mariners’ end of the trade, Trammell is the clear centerpiece, and this is the second time in two years that Trammell has been part of a major deadline swap.  The outfielder was part of the prospect package going to San Diego last July in the seven-player, three-team swap that sent Trevor Bauer to the Reds and Franmil Reyes and Yasiel Puig to the Indians.  Trammell will now become part of a loaded young outfield core in Seattle that includes Rookie Of The Year favorite Kyle Lewis and top prospects Julio Rodriguez and Jarred Kelenic.

Being dealt twice in 13 months’ time, however, could be an indication that Trammell’s star has somewhat dimmed.  He didn’t perform overly well at the Double-A level last year, hitting a combined .234/.340/.349 in 514 combined PA with the Reds’ and Padres’ affiliates.  MLB.com ranked Trammell as the 16th-best prospect in baseball prior to the 2019 season but dropped him to 57th in their pre-2020 listing, citing “a pull-heavy approach” that didn’t serve him well at Double-A.  Overall, however, the scouting report was still impressed by Trammell’s speed, and his “impressive combination of athleticism, hitting ability and power potential even when he struggled.”

France has been an under-the-radar contributor for the Padres, hitting .314/.375/.510 in his first 56 plate appearances.  The 26-year-old was something of an unheralded 34th round pick out of San Diego State in 2015, but France did nothing but hit in the minors and has acquitted himself well at the plate in the big leagues.  France has played mostly corner infield positions during his career, though he also has experience at second base, so his right-handed bat could spell both the left-handed hitting Shed Long Jr. and even Kyle Seager when a southpaw is on the mound.

Though Torrens only has 70 big league games (including seven this season) to his name, he is now the most experienced receiver in a Seattle catching corps that consists of rookie Joseph Odom and Joe Hudson.  Tom Murphy is currently on the 45-day injured list recovering from a fractured metatarsal in his left foot, leaving the door open for the Mariners’ other backstops to make an impression.  A veteran of seven pro seasons with the Yankees and Padres, Torrens has a solid .272/.343/.404 slash line in 1584 career minor league PA, though just a .479 OPS over 168 PA with San Diego at the big league level.

Munoz is a longer-term asset for the Mariners, as the 21-year-old underwent Tommy John surgery last March.  With a fastball that sits just a hair below 100mph, Munoz made his MLB debut last season, posting a 3.91 ERA, 2.73 K/BB, and 11.7 K/9 over 23 innings for the Padres.  Control has been a slight issue for Munoz (5.5 BB/9) over 106 career minor league innings, but there is definitely closer-of-the-future potential if he can fully harness his heater.

The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal was the first to report that the Mariners and Padres were “in active talks” about a Nola trade, and also later reported Torrens’ inclusion and that players on both sides were being informed of their involvement.  ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan reported that the trade had been completed, and that it was a seven-player swap that included Trammell and Adams.  As for the other players in the trade, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times was first on Altavilla, The Athletic’s Jim Bowden was first on France, and The Athletic’s Dennis Lin was first on Munoz.

Photographs courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Latest On Mariners’ Roster

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9:24pm: Dipoto announced that Murphy has a broken bone in his foot, Jen Mueller of ROOT Sports reports. The team’s optimistic it won’t take long for Murphy to heal, but he’ll start the season on the injured list.

7:15pm: The Mariners are in the process of finalizing their 30-man roster for their season opener, but it appears they’ll begin without a couple notable players, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reports (Twitter links: 1, 2, 3).

Reliever Austin Adams won’t be available when the Mariners’ season kicks off Friday, as he’s still working back from the right knee surgery he underwent last September. Meanwhile, catcher Tom Murphy is battling a left ankle problem that hasn’t responded well to treatment, and the Mariners won’t know until Thursday morning whether he or reliever Bryan Shaw (whom they agreed to sign this week) will be immediately available. As Divish writes, Shaw has to pass coronavirus intake requirements before he’s able to join the team.

Both Adams and Murphy proved to be worthwhile scrapheap pickups for the Mariners last year. The club landed the right-handed Adams in a minor trade with the Nationals, and as MLBTR’s Steve Adams explained in April, it paid dividends. In his first season in Seattle, Adams posted a 3.77 ERA/2.96 FIP with 14.8 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 in 31 innings.

Murphy, acquired from the Giants heading into last season, also emerged as a shrewd addition, as MLBTR’s Anthony Franco noted this past spring. He slashed an impressive .273/.324/.535 with 18 home runs and 3.2 fWAR in just 76 games and 281 plate appearances while backing up Omar Narvaez. Now that Narvaez is a member of the Brewers, Murphy’s in line to get the lion’s share of playing time at catcher, but that will obviously depend on his health.

If Murphy’s unable to start the season, the Mariners are likely to turn to Austin Nola and Joe Hudson behind the plate, but Divish reports that general manager Jerry Dipoto is keeping an eye on the free-agent and waiver markets for outside help. Russell Martin is easily the best free-agent backstop available, but there’s no word on whether the M’s are interested in him or if the 37-year-old wants to play this season.

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