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Brewers Designate Joel Payamps For Assignment

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The Brewers announced today that right-hander Aaron Civale has been reinstated from the 15-day injured list. They have also recalled righty Carlos Rodríguez from Triple-A Nashville. In corresponding moves for those two, they have optioned righty Easton McGee while righty Joel Payamps has been designated for assignment. Milwaukee’s 40-man roster count drops to 39.

Payamps, 31, is having an ugly season so far. In 18 1/3 innings, he has allowed 17 earned runs, translating to an 8.35 earned run average. That has apparently exhausted the patience of the Brewers, getting bumped off the active roster. Since he’s out of options, they had little choice but to remove him from the 40-man.

It was that out-of-options status which led him to Milwaukee in the first place. He exhausted his final option season in 2021. Even before getting to that point, he had already been a frequent waiver claimee. The Red Sox claimed him from the Diamondbacks after the 2020 season. Before the 2021 campaign began, he went to the Blue Jays, back to the Red Sox and then the Blue Jays again on subsequent waiver claims. The Jays held him through mid-July that year before designated him for assignment and trading him to the Royals for cash.

Despite being out of options in 2022, he stuck with the Royals into August, before he went to the A’s on another waiver claim. Going into 2023, he was sent to the Brewers as a throw-in piece of the three-team, nine-player trade which sent Sean Murphy to Atlanta and William Contreras to Milwaukee.

Based on all of those transactions, several clubs clearly saw potential in Payamps, but the Brewers got the best results out of him. At the time he came to Milwaukee, he had thrown 113 innings with a 3.35 ERA. His 47% ground ball rate and 7.6% walk rate were strong marks but he only struck out 17.6% of batters faced.

Over the 2023 and 2024 seasons, he had a 2.78 ERA in 129 2/3 innings for the Brewers. His 42.6% grounder rate was a drop from his previous work but still roughly league average. His 6.7% walk rate stayed strong and he also punched out 26.1% of opponents. He was trusted enough to earn nine saves and 48 holds over those seasons.

But as mentioned, things have gone off the rails a bit this season, though it’s surely not quite as bad as his ERA indicates. His .373 batting average on balls in play and 52.2% strand rate this year are both on the unfortunate side. But on top of that bad luck, his strikeout rate has fallen to 19% while he’s only getting grounders on 29% of balls in play. His 4.44 FIP and 4.21 SIERA suggest he deserves far better than an 8.35 ERA but there are still some concerning trends.

For now, he heads into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Brewers could take as long as five days to explore trade interest. Even though he’s out of options and his numbers this year are poor, it’s possible there will be interest from other clubs based on his previous two campaigns. He is making $2.995MM this year and can be controlled via arbitration in 2026 as well.

Turning to the rotation, the return of Civale is a nice boost. He made just one start before landing on the IL due to a left hamstring strain and then suffered a setback while trying to get healthy. He has been a solid starter in his career, with a 4.08 ERA in 639 1/3 innings. He had a 3.53 ERA for the Brewers after being acquired from the Rays last year.

The Milwaukee rotation has been a bit of a revolving door this year, with Civale one of several pitchers to hit the shelf. Brandon Woodruff, DL Hall, Aaron Ashby, Nestor Cortes, Robert Gasser and Jose Quintana are all still on the IL.

Civale jumps into the rotation next to Freddy Peralta, Quinn Priester, Logan Henderson and Chad Patrick. Additional reinforcements appear to be on the way. Woodruff was nearing a return from shoulder surgery when an ankle injury set him back a little over a week ago. He restarted his rehab assignment last night and will probably make one more rehab start, per Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.Hall is also on a rehab assignment and shouldn’t be too far off. Quintana is throwing a bullpen with the club today, per Rosiak, with next steps to be determined after that.

Ashby is on a rehab assignment but his five minor league outings have all been two innings or less. The two most recent appearances were of the single-inning variety, so perhaps he’s being brought along as a reliever rather than a starter.

Photo courtesy of Dave Nelson, Imagn Images

Brewers Select Easton McGee, Option Tobias Myers

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The Brewers announced three roster moves today, including the selection of Easton McGee’s contract from Triple-A Nashville.  To create space for McGee on both the 26-man and 40-man rosters, Milwaukee optioned right-hander Tobias Myers to Triple-A, and moved lefty Connor Thomas from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day IL.

McGee has appeared in two Major League games during his pro career, pitching once apiece in both the 2022 and 2023 seasons.  That resume would’ve likely been a lot longer if it hadn’t been for a Tommy John surgery in May 2023 that ended up costing him the remainder of that season and most of 2024.  The Brewers signed McGee to a two-year minor league deal following the 2023 campaign that allowed him time to recover from his surgery, and his mound work last year consisted of 33 1/3 innings in Milwaukee’s farm system.

Now more fully back to good health, McGee has a 3.44 ERA across 18 1/3 innings with Triple-A Nashville in 2025.  His 25.3% strikeout rate is solid but his 11.4% walk rate is on the high side, and significantly higher than McGee’s much better control numbers over the rest of his minor league career.

McGee has worked only as a reliever this season but has a few multi-inning outings under his belt, so he can add a fresh arm and some length to Milwaukee’s pen.  The Brewers used five different pitchers in Saturday’s 7-0 loss to the Twins, with starting pitcher Myers allowing four runs on 11 hits over just 3 2/3 innings of work.

After an impressive 2024 rookie season, Myers was optioned to Triple-A last week but then quickly recalled after Jose Quintana went on the Brewers’ IL.  The turn-around maybe didn’t help matters given Saturday’s results, and Myers now has a 4.95 ERA in 20 innings in 2025.  Today’s transaction probably paves the way for Myers to receive a bit of an extended stretch at Triple-A so he can get himself back on track in preparation for another recall later in the season.

Thomas was selected away from the Cardinals in last December’s Rule 5 draft, but the southpaw pitched just 5 2/3 innings over two appearances before elbow arthritis sent him to the IL in early April.  The shift to the 60-day IL means that Thomas will now be out of action until at least the first week of June.  Thomas would have to spend at least 90 days on the Brewers’ active roster for Milwaukee to gain his full rights, or else otherwise his Rule 5 status would carry over into the 2026 season.

Looking At The Brewers’ Rotation Depth Options

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The Brewers have won the National League Central two years in a row and three of the last four. They will be looking to defend that title in 2025 but might face a steeper challenge than in years past. The Cubs have had an aggressive offseason, adding Kyle Tucker, Matthew Boyd, Ryan Pressly, Ryan Brasier and more. The Reds added Brady Singer, Gavin Lux, Austin Hays and will be getting several players back from injury. The Pirates have had a quiet winter but have a rotation loaded with young talent, fronted by Paul Skenes and Jared Jones. The Cardinals planned to do a teardown but ended up standing pat, so they’re going into the year with a very similar roster to the one that finished above .500 last year.

Milwaukee hasn’t done a lot to remake its roster relative to last year. They have added Nestor Cortes and Caleb Durbin but lost Willy Adames, Devin Williams and others. Whether the team is better or worse than last year is debatable.

The rotation wasn’t a strength in 2024. Their starters put up a collective 4.09 earned run average, putting them 17th out of the 30 teams in the league. Their bullpen was one of the best, however. Their relievers had a collective ERA of 3.11, second only to the Guardians, which helped the team cruise to that division title. That was despite Williams being injured for much of the year.

Going into 2025, the rotation looks like it could be in a similar situation overall, though with some personnel changes. Of the seven players that made at least nine starts for the club last year, four of them are gone. Frankie Montas and Joe Ross hit free agency at season’s end, the former by declining a mutual option. Bryse Wilson was outrighted and Colin Rea had a club option turned down, so they also hit the open market as well.

Freddy Peralta, Tobias Myers and Aaron Civale are the three holdovers. Cortes was brought in from the Yankees as part of the Williams trade. In an interview this week with Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, manager Pat Murphy confirmed that those four make up his rotation core to start the season. Brandon Woodruff, who missed 2024 recovering from shoulder surgery, will be in there at some point but probably won’t be ready by Opening Day.

“I would think those four guys are [penciled in],” Murphy said, “and you can put Woody in there, too. But you can’t have him ready to start the season; he probably won’t be. But I think it’s pretty safe to say that those five guys are starters that, when healthy, are going to get opportunities.”

Taking things easy with Woodruff makes sense after his lost season, but that means the club will likely have to reach into its depth. Perhaps that will only be for a short time, but injuries are inevitable over the course of a season. For the long term, the need will be even greater. Civale and Cortes are both slated to be free agents after the upcoming season. Woodruff will certainly join them, as his deal has a $20MM mutual option for 2026 with a $10MM buyout. That was basically designed so that he would re-sign but with the club able to kick most of the payment down the line until the end of 2025. Peralta can be retained for 2026 via an affordable $8MM club option but is slated for free agency after that.

That means Myers is the only guy slated to still be on the roster when November of 2026 rolls around. Even he is not a lock to keep a spot going forward, as his strong 2024 season came after several years of poor minor league numbers. In short, the long-term rotation is wide open. Can the Brewers fill some of that in with guys already in the system? Let’s take a look at some of the options.

Aaron Ashby

Ashby, 27 in May, seemed like a potential rotation building block a few years ago. He tossed 139 innings in a swing role over the 2021 and 2022 seasons. His 4.47 ERA wasn’t especially impressive but his 27.1% strikeout rate, 9.7% walk rate and 57.8% ground ball rate seemed like a solid recipe for success.

The Brewers were intrigued enough to make a bet on the lefty, signing him to a five-year deal during the 2022 campaign which guaranteed him $20.5MM and also came with club options for 2028 and 2029.

Unfortunately, shoulder problems got in the way. Arthroscopic surgery wiped out his 2023 season. He returned last year and was kept mostly in a relief role, but with some good results. Down the stretch, he tossed 19 2/3 innings over 12 appearances with a 1.37 ERA, 36.8% strikeout rate, 3.9% walk rate and 51.1% ground ball rate.

With those numbers, it might be tempting to keep him in a bullpen role, but the club seems interested in stretching him out. Back in November, Murphy said the club still hopes to see what Ashby can do as a starter. He still has one option year and can be sent to the minors if the club would like.

DL Hall

Hall, 26, was a first-round pick of the Orioles in 2017 and went on to be a top 100 prospect. He came to the Brewers as part of the Corbin Burnes trade last offseason. He hasn’t lived up to that prospect hype just yet.

He has pitched in the past three seasons but logged only 76 innings. His 4.74 ERA doesn’t impress but his 25.1% strikeout rate, 9.4% walk rate and 46.5% ground ball rate make for a decent mixture. A left knee sprain hobbled him last year, limiting him to just 84 frames between the majors and minors. In 2022 and 2023, the Orioles shuttled him between the majors and the minors, as well as moving him between starting to relieving. He tossed 98 innings in 2022 between the majors and minors, then 71 1/3 in 2023. His minor league work has generally featured big strikeout numbers but also plenty of walks.

Hall is still a work in progress but the Brewers probably don’t want to give up on him, given the upside here. Like Ashby, he has one option year remaining, so pitching out of the Triple-A rotation isn’t off the table. He has one year and 74 days of service time, meaning he is currently slated for five years of club control, though a lengthy optional assignment could push that to six. Either way, he’s cheap and controllable for a long time to come.

Robert Gasser

Gasser, 26 in May, won’t be an option in the short term but is definitely part of the long-term plans. A former top 100 prospect, he debuted with a splash last year by posting a 2.57 ERA in his first five big league starts. Unfortunately, he required Tommy John surgery in June, wiping out the second half of his 2024. He’s now slated to miss most or perhaps all of 2025. He has less than a year of service time at the moment and the Brewers therefore have six years of club control over him.

Jacob Misiorowski

Misiorowski, 23 in April, is not yet on the 40-man roster but is one of the top pitching prospects in the league. He reached as high as Triple-A last year, though the club eased off his workload by having him pitch shorter stints out of the bullpen to finish the year. Between Double-A and Triple-A, he tossed 97 1/3 innings on the year with a 3.33 ERA. He struck out 30.5% of hitters and got grounders at a 45.8% clip but also gave out walks 14.4% of the time. Though the club eased off the gas, that innings total is still his personal high thus far.

The righty is clearly going to factor into the mix at some point, but there’s clearly still some development going on. 2025 will likely be about reining in the control and getting the workload beyond the 100-inning mark, but it’s entirely possible that he throws some big league innings this year.

Elvin Rodríguez

Rodríguez, 27 in March, is a wild card at the moment. He spent 2024 in a multi-inning role for the Yakult Swallows in Japan. He logged 45 innings over 32 appearances with a 1.80 ERA, 24% strikeout rate and 6.5% walk rate. Whether the Brewers view him more as a starter or a reliever is unknown.

Carlos Rodríguez

Rodríguez, 23, made a limited MLB debut last year. He tossed 12 1/3 innings over three starts with a 7.30 ERA. Over the past three years, he has logged 365 2/3 innings on the farm with a 3.49 ERA, 27.4% strikeout rate and 10.4% walk rate. Most prospect evaluators consider him a capable back-end starter but he’s still young and has a couple of options remaining, so he’ll likely be in the Triple-A rotation until circumstances change.

Chad Patrick/Logan Henderson

These two were each just added to the 40-man roster in November, to keep them out of the Rule 5 draft. Henderson, 23, is considered more of a legit prospect but he is still a question mark. Elbow surgery limited him to just 13 2/3 innings in 2022. He got that up to 78 2/3 in 2023 and then 81 1/3 last year. His minor league numbers are strong overall, with a 3.11 ERA, 34.1% strikeout rate and 6.9% walk rate. However, he mostly gets by with a fastball/changeup mix that leads some to predict he’ll end up in the bullpen. Patrick is considered more of a depth/spot starter.

Bruce Zimmermann/Thomas Pannone/Easton McGee

These three signed minor league deals with the club this offseason. They all have a bit of major league experience and give the club some non-roster depth. Zimmermann has a 5.57 ERA in 158 1/3 innings and Pannone a 5.46 ERA in 118 2/3 innings, while McGee hasn’t allowed a run in his 9 2/3 innings.

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Though the Woodruff timeline creates some uncertainty, there are plenty of intriguing options here for the short term. But as mentioned, the Brewers will likely see three starters departing at the end of the year and a fourth after 2026. Ideally, guys like Ashby, Hall, Misiorowski and Gasser would step up take those spots, because the club usually doesn’t have a lot of spending power for bringing in free agents. That makes 2025 a key season in Milwaukee, since their future rotation plans are completely in flux.

Brewers Agree To Minor League Deals With Easton McGee, Brewer Hicklen

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The Brewers have signed right-hander Easton McGee and all-too-appropriately-named outfielder Brewer Hicklen to minor league contracts, reports Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. They’ll both be in major league camp during spring training, though McGee won’t be pitching, as he’ll still be rehabbing from last May’s Tommy John surgery. McCalvy further adds that McGee’s minor league deal is a two-year pact, so he’ll be in the Brewers system through at least the 2025 season.

McGee, 26 next month, appeared briefly in the big leagues with the 2022 Rays and 2023 Mariners, combining for 9 2/3 shutout innings. He fanned three hitters and walked just one during that time. He’s a soft-tosser by today’s standards, averaging 91.5 mph in ’22 and seeing that number drop to 90.1 mph prior to this past season’s surgery.

McGee was Tampa Bay’s fourth-round pick back in 2016, and though he doesn’t have power stuff or a history of elite run prevention in the upper minors (4.78 ERA in 141 Triple-A frames), he does boast outstanding command. He’s faced just shy of 2100 hitters since being drafted and walked only 4.6% of them. At 6’6″, his lanky frame likely helps his pedestrian fastball velocity play up a bit, and that standout command is difficult to develop in players. On what amounts to a no-risk minor league pickup for the Brewers, he’s a nice arm to stash in the system in hopes that he can eventually emerge as a back-end starter or perhaps a multi-inning reliever.

Hicklen, 28 in February, made his MLB debut with the 2022 Royals but went hitless in a minuscule sample of six plate appearances. He’s a 2017 seventh-round pick with a career .244/.348/.486 line at the plate in 853 Triple-A plate appearances.

While he didn’t hit for much power in 2023 (10 homers in 72 games), Hicklen popped 28 long balls with Kansas City’s Triple-A club in 2022 and has drawn praise for his plus-plus (70-grade) speed. Those wheels have been on display in Triple-A, where he’s swiped 56 bags in 61 tries. Overall, he’s stolen 186 bases in the minors with a hefty 85% success rate. He’s worked primarily in left field during his minor league career, but Hicklen has 1310 innings in right field and another 621 frames in center, so he’s capable of playing all three spots.

Mets Claim Penn Murfee From Mariners

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The Mariners announced several roster moves this afternoon, chief among them the departure of right-hander Penn Murfee, who was claimed off waivers by the Mets.  In addition, the Mariners assigned three players outright to Triple-A: catcher Luis Torrens along with right-handers Easton McGee and Adam Oller.

Murfee underwent UCL surgery back in June and is expected to miss at least the first half of the 2024 campaign.  Prior to his injury, Murfee had a 1.29 ERA over 14 innings for Seattle in 2023, following up on a 2022 rookie season that saw the righty post a 2.99 ERA in 69 1/3 frames of work.  For his career, Murfee has an impressive 27.6% strikeout rate and an 8.5% walk rate, though that latter number rose significantly from a 6.6BB% in 2022 to an ungainly 17.2% total this past season.

Between the UCL injury and Murfee’s spike in walks, the Mariners had some legitimate reasons for seeing the reliever as expendable, and Murfee is also turning 30 in May.  On the other hand, Murfee had some very strong numbers since becoming a full-time reliever in the minors in 2021, and he hasn’t yet reached his arbitration years.  Should Murfee return in good health, the Mets might’ve landed themselves some quality relief help for some portion of the 2024 season and beyond, as Murfee is controlled through the 2028 season.

Torrens has the right to reject the outright assignment and elect free agency, since he has previously been outrighted in his career.  Oller and McGee, meanwhile, lack the requisite service time to reject their assignments but still figure to be eligible for minor league free agency in November.

Now perhaps nearing the end of his second stint with the Mariners, Torrens was signed to a minor league deal back in August.  Seattle didn’t tender Torrens a contract last winter, and he subsequently signed a minors contract with the Cubs before eventually moving to the Orioles and Nationals in other transactions over the course of a journeyman season for the 27-year-old catcher.  Brought back as some catching depth after Tom Murphy was injured, Torrens appeared in five MLB games with the M’s, to go along with the 13 Major League appearances he made with the Cubs during the 2023 campaign.

Never known for his defense, Torrens’ market will be limited since some teams go glovework-first when considering backup catcher options.  Torres did hit 15 homers as recently as 2021 when it looked like he might be carving out a place for himself in Seattle’s catching mix, but he has a .227/.289/.354 slash line over his 807 career plate appearances in the majors.

Torrens will surely catch on somewhere on a new minor league deal since teams are always in need of catching depth, yet he might need some spark at the plate to keep himself from another carousel of roster transactions.  This winter marked Torrens’ second trip through the arbitration process, and since he was projected to earn $1.3MM in 2024, it made for a pretty easy decision for the Mariners to part ways.

Like Murfee, McGee is in the midst of a lengthy rehab, as he underwent Tommy John surgery back in May.  That will keep the right-hander out until at least halfway through the 2024 season, with the timeline perhaps a little fluid depending on both health and whether or not McGee is built back up for a starters’ workload.  McGee has worked mostly as a starter throughout his pro career, though the Mariners (or a new team) could bring him back as a reliever next year as a way of getting him back into the field, and then fully stretching him back out in Spring Training 2025.

McGee (who turns 26 in December) was a Rays fourth-round selection in the 2016 draft, and his big league experience to date has consisted of exactly two games — three innings in an outing with Tampa in 2022, and a 6 2/3-inning start with Seattle in 2023.  His minor league resume consists of 485 1/3 innings and a 4.30 ERA, including a 4.78 ERA over 141 1/3 frames at the Triple-A level.  McGee isn’t a big strikeout pitcher, relying on good control and grounders to get results.

All of Oller’s MLB experience came with the Athletics (94 innings in 28 games) in 2022-23, though he has been part of five different organizations in his career.  Oller was a Rule 5 Draft selection for the Mets off the Giants’ roster in 2019, and Oller was part of the trade package New York sent to the A’s for Chris Bassitt prior to the 2022 season.  Seattle claimed Oller off waivers from the A’s in July but he never made any appearances for the M’s at the big league level.

Oller has a 7.09 ERA over his 94 innings for Oakland, and a 4.50 ERA in 526 1/3 career innings in the minors.  It seemed as though Oller had turned a corner in 2021 with an impressive years in the Mets’ farm system, but things soured in 2023 as Oller struggles both the big leagues, and at the Triple-A level with the Athletics’ and Mariners’ top affiliates.

Easton McGee Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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Mariners right-hander Easton McGee is expected to undergo Tommy John surgery, reports Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. If that does indeed come to fruition, it will wipe out the remainder of his 2023 season and part of his 2024 as well.

McGee, 25, was acquired from the Red Sox in an offseason trade and begun 2023 in the minors. He made five Triple-A starts with a 3.14 ERA and was recalled to make a spot start against the Blue Jays at the end of April. He fared extremely well in that game, tossing 6 2/3 scoreless innings while allowing just one hit and one walk. Unfortunately, he was placed on the injured list the next day and will now seemingly be facing a very significant absence, as TJS usually requires a recovery period of 14 to 18 months. The Mariners will eventually transfer him to the 60-day IL whenever they need his roster spot.

Drafted by the Rays in 2016, he climbed his way up to the big leagues with that club last year, making his major league debut with a scoreless three-inning appearance. He spent most of the season in Triple-A, tossing 107 2/3 innings over 22 starts and five relief appearances. He posted a 5.43 ERA in that time with a 17.4% strikeout rate, 4.3% walk rate and 39.6% ground ball rate. The Rays designated him for assignment in October, after which the Red Sox claimed him off waivers before flipping him to Seattle for cash a month later.

This is obviously horrible news for McGee, but the one silver lining is that the injury happened after he was promoted to the big leagues. That means he will collect major league pay and service time as he spends the rest of the season on the injured list.

For the Mariners, they first recalled McGee as they were trying to cover for the absence of Robbie Ray, who himself required Tommy John surgery. Bryce Miller has since stepped up and seized that rotation spot next to Luis Castillo, Logan Gilbert, George Kirby and Marco Gonzales, but they will no longer be able to count on Easton as a depth option for the rest of this season.

Mariners Activate Taylor Trammell

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The Mariners announced today that they have activated outfielder Taylor Trammell from the injured list, with right-hander Easton McGee headed for the 15-day IL with a right forearm strain in a corresponding move. Trammell had surgery to repair a fractured hamate bone in his right hand back in February.

A former top prospect, the 25-year old Trammell has struggled to this point in his big league career. During his first stint in the majors in 2021, Trammell slashed just .160/.256/.359 in 178 plate appearances, with a ghastly 42.1% strikeout rate. Both Trammell’s slash line and strikeout rate improved in 2022, however, has he pulled his wRC+ to nearly league average (97) in 117 plate appearances last season while striking out a more palatable 28.2% of the time. Unfortunately, Trammell’s 2022 campaign was cut short by a hamstring strain, leaving him with just 65 games played last year between the majors and Triple-A.

Despite his uneven MLB career to this point, Trammell has continued to demolish Triple-A pitching, with a phenomenal .285/.377/.495 slash line and a 20.6% strikeout rate in 101 games at the level. Now back with the big league club, Trammell figures to factor into the club’s outfield and DH mix, though with Jarred Kelenic off to a torrid start and Julio Rodriguez and Teoscar Hernandez both entrenched in the outfield on an everyday basis, Trammell may be left to compete with Sam Haggerty and AJ Pollock for DH at-bats.

Making room for Trammell on the active roster is McGee, who heads to the injured list with a forearm strain. The 25-year-old McGee made his big league debut with the Rays last season, posting three scoreless innings, but was designated for assignment by the club last offseason. He was then claimed on waivers by the Red Sox before being shipped to Seattle in exchange for Cash ahead of the 2023 campaign. McGee made his first appearance with the Mariners in a start against the Blue Jays yesterday, where he delivered 6 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing just a hit and a walk while striking out two.

Mariners Notes: Rodriguez, McGee, Flexen, Hernandez

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Julio Rodriguez left today’s game due to lower back tightness, with manager Scott Servais telling reporters (including MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer) that Rodriguez started feeling discomfort after a stolen base in the third inning.  The outfielder remained in the game until AJ Pollock replaced Rodriguez in center field before the bottom of the sixth, but the Mariners opted to be a little cautious with the young star.

The injury doesn’t appear to be serious, as Servais indicated that Rodriguez might potentially be back in the lineup tomorrow.  However, the Mariners have an off-day on Monday before facing the A’s on Tuesday, so the team might opt to give Rodriguez “a couple days down, [so] he will be okay when we go over to Oakland,” Servais said.

As Kramer notes, Rodriguez also dealt with lower back problems near the end of the last season, which ultimately resulted in a 10-day IL placement.  That decision was made in part to get Rodriguez healthy prior to the playoffs, and he was able to return just before the end of the regular season prior to hitting .217/.357/.435 over 28 plate appearances during Seattle’s postseason run.

Rodriguez’s presence might have made a difference late in today’s 1-0 loss to the Blue Jays in 10 innings.  One bright spot for the M’s was the performance of surprise starter Easton McGee, who allowed just one hit and one walk over 6 2/3 scoreless innings.  McGee held Toronto hitless until his final batter faced, when Matt Chapman lined a double to center field to end the unlikely no-hit bid.

Chris Flexen had initially been slated to start on Saturday, but the Mariners instead called McGee up from Triple-A prior to the game.  Going into the season, Flexen was projected to work as a reliever, but a spot in the rotation opened up when Robbie Ray was sidelined with a flexor tendon injury that ended up requiring a season-ending surgery.  Unfortunately for Flexen, he hasn’t risen to the occasion, with a 10.38 ERA over 17 1/3 innings in four starts as Ray’s replacement.

In addition to Monday’s off-day, the Mariners are also off on May 11 and May 18, giving the team some opportunity to reset their rotation multiple times.  As a result, the M’s might only need a fifth starter twice within the next three-plus weeks.  It would certainly seem like McGee has earned another look, but whether it’s McGee, Flexen, or another pitcher used as the fifth starter, the Mariners will get some time to evaluate and prepare for the longer-term question of how they’ll replace Ray.

McGee was making his first Major League start and just his second career appearance in the Show, after debuting with three innings of relief work (allowing four hits and one unearned run) as a member of the Rays in their 3-1 loss to the Astros on October 2, 2022.  Tampa opted to designate McGee for assignment after that game, with the Red Sox quickly claiming the right-hander off waivers.  The Mariners then acquired McGee in a trade for cash considerations in November.

A fourth-round pick for the Rays in the 2016 draft, McGee isn’t a hard thrower or much of a strikeout pitcher, with a modest 17.47% strikeout rate over 485 1/3 career innings in the minors.  McGee worked to a 4.30 ERA over his minor league career by inducing a lot of grounders and avoiding walks, though his walk rate with Triple-A Tacoma this year has risen to a still-solid 7.6%.  McGee largely struggled at Triple-A Durham in 2022, but he has done much better with the Mariners’ top affiliate, with a 3.14 ERA over 28 2/3 innings for Tacoma in 2023.

This weekend’s series marked Teoscar Hernandez’s first time in Toronto since the November trade that sent him from the Jays to the Mariners.  Interestingly, M’s president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto told The Athletic’s Kaitlyn McGrath and Corey Brock that Hernandez might have come to Seattle much earlier, as “most of the work we did on the Teoscar trade actually happened in Spring Training before the [2022] season began.  We tried so hard to pick him up before the season started and talked through a lot of players.”

It makes for an interesting what-if, as Hernandez being dealt prior to the season might have greatly changed the trajectory for two teams that reached the postseason (and faced each other in the Wild Card Series).  For Seattle, it could be that the M’s pivoted to the Eugenio Suarez/Jesse Winker trade with the Reds after not reaching an agreement with Toronto over Hernandez, or perhaps DiPoto’s front office might have even explored adding Hernandez in addition to the two former Cincinnati players.  That would’ve made for a crowded outfield in Seattle, but it’s possible the Mariners might have sent one or two of those excess outfielders to the Blue Jays as part of a projected Hernandez swap.  Erik Swanson may have still be part of such a trade but likely not as the primary piece, given how Swanson hadn’t yet had his 2022 breakout season, and Hernandez would’ve commanded a higher trade ask since he had two remaining years of arbitration control.

Mariners Acquire Easton McGee From Red Sox

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The Mariners have acquired right-hander Easton McGee from the Red Sox for cash considerations, according to announcements from both teams.

McGee, who turns 25 next month, was originally selected to a big league roster for the first time about six weeks ago, yet is now in his third organization already. A 2016 draft pick of the Rays, he was added to Tampa’s roster at the end of September but quickly designated for assignment after a single appearance. He was claimed by the Red Sox on the final day of the regular season and didn’t get a chance to pitch for them. Though Boston won’t get any contributions from McGee on the field, they will at least get some Seattle cash out of the deal.

McGee has never been a huge strikeout artist but has often succeeded in the minors by inducing a lot of ground balls. His grounder rate has been around 45-50% in most of his minor league seasons, though it dropped to 39.6% over 107 2/3 Triple-A innings in 2022. That led to McGee posting an ERA of 5.43 on the year, though he’d been better than that in previous campaigns. Another thing he has going for him is control, as he’s never posted a walk rate above 4.8%, apart from his rookie ball debut. For reference, the MLB average in 2022 was 8.2%. McGee still has a full slate of options, meaning the Mariners can keep him stashed in the minors as a depth option for the foreseeable future.

Red Sox Claim Easton McGee From Rays

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The Red Sox have claimed right-hander Easton McGee off waivers from the Rays, according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive. McGee had been designated for assignment on Monday.

McGee, 24, will join just the second organization of his career. He was drafted by the Rays in 2016 and has been with them until today. He’s never been a huge strikeout guy, but has always limited walks and gotten lots of ground balls, though he’s gotten less grounders this year. In 107 2/3 Triple-A innings this season, he registered a 5.43 ERA with a 17.4% strikeout rate, 4.3% walk rate and 39.6% ground ball rate. He was especially vulnerable to the long ball, surrendering 24 home runs this year.

The Rays selected him to the big league roster a week ago and put him into Sunday’s game. McGee threw three innings in his MLB debut without allowing an earned run, though one unearned run did cross the plate. He was designated for assignment the next day as part of the standard Tampa Bay roster churn.

The Red Sox are evidently intrigued by the 6’6″ righty, nabbing him off waivers on the final day of the regular season. McGee comes with a full slate of options and just a few days of service time, meaning he can be part of Boston’s pitching staff for the foreseeable future, so long as he hangs onto a 40-man roster spot. The club is facing a great deal of turnover in its rotation, with Nathan Eovaldi, Rich Hill and Michael Wacha all slated to reach free agency in a month’s time, making it fairly sensible to reach out and grab another depth option.

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