Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Leo Rivas

Mariners Promote Cole Young, Activate Bryce Miller

By | at

TODAY: The M’s officially announced Young’s selection and Miller’s reinstatement from the IL. Right-hander Casey Legumina and infielder Leo Rivas were optioned to Triple-A in corresponding 26-man roster moves, and righty Will Klein was designated for assignment to open up space for Young on the 40-man roster.

Klein made his MLB debut in 2024 and posted an 11.05 ERA over 7 1/3 combined innings with the Royals and Athletics.  Sent to the A’s as part of the deadline deal that brought Lucas Erceg to Kansas City, Klein was then flipped to Seattle in another trade this past January.

MAY 30: The Mariners will promote top infield prospect Cole Young this weekend, reports Daniel Kramer of MLB.com. He is not yet on the 40-man roster, so the team will need to make a move in that regard. They’ll also need to create active roster space for Young and starting pitcher Bryce Miller, who’ll be reinstated from the 15-day injured list to start tomorrow’s game against the Twins.

A Pittsburgh-area native, Young signed with Seattle out of high school in 2022. He received a $3.3MM bonus as the 21st overall pick. Scouting reports praised a potential plus hit tool and ability to play somewhere up the middle. While Young doesn’t have huge power projection in a 5’11” frame, he was viewed as a very polished player for his age.

That has been borne out in his systematic progression through the minors. He reached base at a .399 clip between two A-ball levels in his first full professional season. Young spent all of last season in Double-A, batting .271/.369/.390 as a 20-year-old in a tough league for hitters. The M’s bumped him to the more favorable Pacific Coast League this season. Young has taken to it well, running a .278/.391/.463 slash with more walks than strikeouts in his first look at Triple-A pitching.

The lefty-hitting Young actually began his Triple-A career mired in a slump. He hit .200 without a home run over 25 games in April. He’s been on an absolute tear since the calendar flipped. Young has raked at a .370/.466/.680 clip over 118 plate appearances in May. He has connected on five home runs, 10 doubles and three triples among a total of 37 hits. He has added another 15 walks while striking out all of eight times.

Young couldn’t have done more this month to force his way to the big leagues. He has divided his time evenly between shortstop and second base this season. Baseball America wrote over the offseason that he’s likely better suited for second base because of average arm strength. That figures to be his long-term home in Seattle. They’re committed to J.P. Crawford at shortstop. The path to playing time at the keystone is much more open. Ryan Bliss will miss most of the season recovering from biceps surgery. Miles Mastrobuoni and Dylan Moore have split the second base work over the past few weeks.

Moore is having a strong year, though his bat has tailed off following a huge April. He’s a right-handed hitter with a long track record of producing against lefty pitching. Moore figures to take some starts at second base against southpaws, but he’s versatile enough that it doesn’t need to be a strict platoon. Moore can spell Leody Taveras in right field or play regularly at third base over rookie Ben Williamson, who is hitting .246/.278/.297 through his first 38 games. Mastrobuoni, acquired in an offseason DFA trade with the Cubs, carries a .221/.306/.284 line through 111 plate appearances. He’ll be bumped to a utility role if not optioned to Triple-A.

Young was a consensus Top 100 prospect over the offseason. He meets the criteria for the Prospect Promotion Incentive. If he plays well enough to finish in the top two in Rookie of the Year balloting, he could earn a full year of service time. A’s shortstop Jacob Wilson seems as if he’ll run away with the award, but the runner-up spot is still there for the taking. That would not earn the Mariners any kind of draft compensation, which only applies if the team carries a top prospect in the big leagues for at least 172 days.

If he doesn’t earn the top-two Rookie of the Year finish, Young will fall short of a full service year and remain under club control for at least six seasons beyond this one. He’d be well-positioned to qualify for early arbitration as a Super Two player during the 2027-28 offseason if he’s in the big leagues for good.

Mariners Put Ryan Bliss On IL Due To Biceps Tear, Designate Jesse Hahn

By and | at

The Mariners designated right-hander Jesse Hahn for assignment today amid a series of roster moves, per a club announcement. Right-hander Casey Lawrence was selected from Triple-A Tacoma in his place. And, in a concerning bit of injury news, Seattle placed infielder Ryan Bliss on the 10-day injured list due to a torn left biceps. He suffered the tear during a swing in last night’s game. A timeline for his recovery hasn’t been provided, but given the nature of the injury, it seems all but guaranteed that Bliss will be facing a notable absence. Infielder Leo Rivas is up from Tacoma in his place.

Bliss wasn’t off to a roaring-hot start this season, as he’s currently sporting a line of .200/.282/.314. Regardless, the injury further depletes the Seattle infield, which has been an issue for quite a while. All throughout the offseason, they were looking to make notable upgrades to their group on the dirt. Their moves ended up being pretty modest, with Jorge Polanco re-signed and moved from second to third base. Donovan Solano was also signed to be a part-time contributor.

Going into the season, Bliss and Dylan Moore were the top candidates to play second base. Lately, Polanco has been in and out of the lineup due to some soreness in his side, taking the designated hitter spot whenever he’s been healthy enough to play. That has left Moore at third and Bliss at second. Luke Raley has been playing right field to cover for the injured Víctor Robles, opening first base for Rowdy Tellez and the DH spot for Polanco.

It’s less than ideal for a club that has been searching for more offense for a while. The lack of thump in the lineup seemed to be their undoing last year and they weren’t able to make a significant upgrade in the winter. The team has a combined .199/.301/.329 line and 92 wRC+ at the moment and a 4-8 record which has them in the basement of the American League West.

Bliss wasn’t the most essential part of their foundation but it’s another brick removed. Rivas has a .233/.333/.274 line in his big league career but hit .296/.441/.424 in Triple-A last year and is out to a hot start this year, slashing .304/.429/.609 through seven games. He will jump into the infield group though the M’s also have Solano, Moore, Tellez, Polanco and Miles Mastrobuoni in the mix for playing time alongside shortstop J.P. Crawford.

The pitching moves are a reflection of the fact that their recent schedule has been a grind. They lost an 11-inning game on Friday, the first of the six-game stretch, using nine pitchers in that contest. They had fairly regular bullpen usage in the following three games but then had another rough one last night, using seven pitchers in a 12-inning marathon.

With the group fairly taxed overall, they’ve decided to bring in a fresh arm. Lawrence is a 37-year-old who has been called on for such duties before, having worked long relief gigs with the Blue Jays, Cardinals and Mariners in the past. Signed to a minor league deal in the offseason, he’s been pitching in the Triple-A Tacoma rotation to start this year. His last outing lasted 4 2/3 innings on April 4, so he should be able to mop up a few frames today, if needed. After that, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him bumped off the roster. He is out of options and the Mariners have a much-needed off-day tomorrow.

Hahn, 35, just made it back to the majors a few days ago after a long absence. The M’s selected his contract on April 5, his first time in the bigs since 2021. He has pitched four innings for the M’s since then, including the final two innings of last night’s extra-inning contest. He hasn’t been charged with an earned run yet this year but got a tough L last night when the Manfred Man came around to score in the 12th.

He’s now off the 40-man and will be in DFA limbo for a bit, a week at most. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Mariners theoretically have five days to explore trade interest. He has a 4.17 ERA in 315 1/3 bg league innings. He missed 2022 and 2023 due to a shoulder injury then pitched in Triple-A last year with a 4.29 ERA over 50 1/3 innings.

Photo courtesy of Joe Nicholson, Imagn Images

The Mariners’ Second Base Competition

By | at

The Mariners spent most of the offseason looking to address the infield. They eventually made a pair of relatively small free agent pickups. Donovan Solano was brought in as a right-handed platoon partner for Luke Raley at first base. Seattle surprisingly re-signed last year’s second baseman Jorge Polanco after the worst season of his career. The M’s are attributing that dip mostly to knee issues that required postseason surgery.

Polanco is moving to third base. That’s an effort to reduce how much he’ll move laterally to hopefully put less stress on his knees. The Mariners needed to do something at third base. Josh Rojas, who’d provided very little offensively after the first month of last season, was non-tendered. Polanco’s return will hopefully provide a boost at the hot corner, but it leaves second base open. There’ll likely be a camp battle between a veteran utilityman, a couple players with limited big league experience, and perhaps one of the organization’s top prospects.

Dylan Moore

A six-year major league veteran, Moore has easily the most experience of anyone in the competition. He has been a productive role player for Seattle. Moore typically plays in over 100 games per season while bouncing around the diamond. He takes a lot of walks and brings some right-handed pop, but his batting averages have hovered around the Mendoza line. He’s a career .206/.316/.384 hitter. He posted a .201/.320/.367 line with 10 homers and 32 stolen bases across a career-high 441 plate appearances last year.

Park-adjusted metrics like wRC+ and OPS+ had his overall offensive output right around league average — a reflection of how difficult it is to hit at T-Mobile Park. Moore’s splits are stark. He hit .249/.362/.478 away from Seattle but mustered only a .144/.269/.234 slash line at home. He was also far better against left-handed pitching. Moore hit .229/.352/.410 when he held the platoon advantage, compared to a .183/.299/.339 mark against righties.

Daniel Kramer of MLB.com wrote last night that Moore was the frontrunner for the starting job, though the M’s haven’t made a final decision. The 32-year-old has never had one settled position. He played all four infield spots and in left field last year. Moore has logged over 100 career innings at every position aside from catcher. He’s miscast at shortstop and in center field but plays solid defense everywhere else. Both Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast have credited him as an above-average defender in his nearly 1100 career innings at the keystone.

Ryan Bliss

Bliss, 25, is a former second-round pick by Arizona whom the Mariners acquired in the Paul Sewald trade. He’s coming off a strong year at Triple-A Tacoma. The Auburn product hit .269/.377/.456 with 12 homers and 50 stolen bases (albeit with 13 times caught stealing) over 93 games. He drew walks at an excellent 14.1% clip against an average 22.4% strikeout rate. The Mariners called him up in late May.

Over his first 33 MLB contests, the righty-swinging Bliss hit .222/.290/.397. He hit a couple homers and swiped five bases, but he had a tough time making contact. Bliss struck out in 22 of his 71 plate appearances (a 31% rate) with a huge 16.5% swinging strike rate. That was a small sample in his first look at MLB pitching, so some struggles are to be expected, but the M’s optioned him back to Triple-A for the final two months of the season.

Listed at 5’7″ and 165 pounds, Bliss isn’t going to be a prototypical slugger. His average exit velocity and hard contact rate at both the Triple-A and MLB levels were solid, though. He has more power than it might seem at first glance. He’s a good athlete with decent strike zone discipline. The biggest question is whether the bat-to-ball skills will develop enough to make him a regular.

While Moore provides a ton of defensive flexibility, Bliss has a more limited profile. He played exclusively second base in the majors. Bliss has played on the left side of the infield (mostly shortstop) in the minors, but his arm strength is a question. He’s fast enough that the Mariners could eventually get him some work in the outfield, though his professional experience there consists of two minor league games in left field. Bliss still has a pair of options, so he’s likelier to end up back in Triple-A if he doesn’t win the second base job.

Cole Young

Young, 21, was Seattle’s first-round pick in 2022. He has ranked among Baseball America’s Top 100 overall prospects in all three professional seasons. Young has primarily played shortstop in the minors, but he started 37 games at second base with Double-A Arkansas last season. Barring injury to J.P. Crawford, Young figures to break into the majors as a second baseman.

Could that be as soon as Opening Day? President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto has left the door open. “We are open to the idea that if any of our young players — if we feel like they have the ability to impact us in a meaningful way — show us that this is their time, we’re just going to let them run,” Dipoto said (via Kramer).

Young is coming off a strong Double-A season. He hit .271/.369/.390 with a robust 12.1% walk rate and a modest 15.8% strikeout percentage. While he only hit nine homers, he has an advanced hit tool and plate discipline. BA credits him as a potential plus hitter with fringe power who could play an above-average second base.

The lefty hitter has no Triple-A experience. The conventional path would be for him to begin the season in Tacoma with an eye towards a midseason promotion. That’s the likeliest outcome, but a big performance in Spring Training might accelerate the timeline.

Leo Rivas/Miles Mastrobuoni

Rivas, a switch-hitter, is likelier to wind up as a depth infielder than a regular. He reached the majors last year for the first time as a 26-year-old, hitting .233/.333/.274 in 43 games. Rivas posted big numbers in Triple-A. He turned in a .296/.441/.424 slash behind a massive 20.7% walk rate. He’ll work plenty of free passes but has limited power. Rivas can play shortstop and is better suited as a utility player. With two minor league options, he’ll likely bounce on and off the active roster.

Seattle acquired the 29-year-old Mastrobuoni in a DFA trade with the Cubs last month. He’s a .219/.279/.263 hitter over parts of three seasons. He’s unlikely to play regularly but could get occasional work around the infield if he holds onto his 40-man roster spot. He still has an option remaining.

Mariners Designate Ty France For Assignment; Place Julio Rodríguez, J.P. Crawford On Injured List

By | at

The Mariners’ roster got a major shakeup today, with the club announcing a huge slate of moves. First baseman Ty France was designated for assignment while shortstop J.P. Crawford and outfielder Julio Rodríguez each landed on the 10-day injured list. Crawford has a right hand fracture while Rodríguez has a right high ankle sprain. In corresponding moves, the club recalled infielders Tyler Locklear, Leo Rivas and outfielder Cade Marlowe.

The writing seemed to be on the wall for France a few days ago. Seattle placed the 2022 All-Star on outright waivers earlier this week in hopes that another club would claim the remainder of his $6.775MM salary. Earlier today, Chris Cotillo of MassLive reported on X that France had gone unclaimed on waivers.

The Mariners didn’t have to outright France to a minor league affiliate — they could have simply decided to keep him on the roster, as the Blue Jays did with Kevin Kiermaier earlier this month when he also cleared waivers — but it seems they are committed to moving on.

Now that he’s been designated for assignment, he’s off the 40-man roster and they will technically have some time to explore trade scenarios. With France clearing waivers, the M’s at least know that they can’t just get rid of his salary, though they could perhaps eat some of that as a means of facilitating a deal. France has enough service time to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency while retaining the remainder of his salary, so he’ll likely end up released if no trade is worked out in the coming days.

From 2020-22, the thought of placing France on waivers would’ve seemed silly. The former Padres prospect went from San Diego to Seattle as part of the Austin Nola trade at the 2020 deadline and posted a terrific .284/.354/.441 slash (127 wRC+) with 40 homers, 64 doubles and three triples. France had posted strong offense throughout his minor league tenure but drew concern from scouts about his lack of an obvious defensive home. He worked himself into a fine defender at first base though, posting average or better marks there up until an across-the-board decline this season.

France’s glove isn’t the only thing that’s taken a step back. He was barely a league-average hitter in 2023 and has seen his production dwindle further in 2024. Over his past 1005 big league plate appearances, he’s posted a punchless .241/.328/.361 slash. France is still getting on base at a decent clip, but his strikeout rate has spiked from 16.4% (2020-22) to 24.4% in 2024. This year’s 19.7% line-drive rate is a personal low, and France’s 46.3% grounder rate is the second-highest mark of his career. For a player whose average sprint speed ranks in the seventh percentile of MLB hitters (via Statcast), an uptick in grounders is particularly problematic.

Though his recent play hasn’t been up to his prior standards, France has plenty of track record. He’s been a solid right-handed bat who’s primarily played first base in the majors but has dabbled at the opposite infield corner and at second base as well. If he ends up released, a new team could sign France and would only owe him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the big league roster, as the Mariners will remain on the hook for the rest of this year’s salary.

France would also be controllable for a new club through the 2025 campaign. He opened the current season with 4.089 years of MLB service and has already added another 117 days. That’ll push him to five-plus years. A new team could go through the arbitration process with him this offseason, or they could push for a more palatable club option to be tacked on, as the Tigers did with Carson Kelly last August following his release with the D-backs.

Crawford was hit by a pitch on the hand in last night’s game and suffered a fracture. Rodríguez collided with the outfield wall on Sunday while attempting to make a catch and was visibly injured, with video relayed on X by Fox Sports MLB.

It’s unclear how long the Mariners expect to be without those two players, but they are notable blows for a club that has already been plummeting of late. Just over a month ago, the club had a ten-game lead in the American League West. But some poor play from Seattle combined with a hot streak from the Astros now have the M’s percentage points behind Houston and also 3.5 games back of a Wild Card spot.

The timing of the injuries is not only unfortunate for that reason but also because Rodríguez was starting to heat up after a rough first half. He was hitting just .247/.297/.327 for a wRC+ of 83 through the end of June but had slashed .375/.434/.688 since the calendar flipped to July. That resurgence will now have to be put on hold for as long as he’s out.

Crawford has been scuffling this year as well, though luck could be a big factor there. He is slashing .204/.299/.347 on the year but his .243 batting average is well below his .293 career rate and the .289 league average in 2024. That has dragged his offense from last year’s 134 wRC+ to 90 this year, though he’s still been able to contribute by stealing five bases and providing above average shortstop defense. Ideally, his luck would have evened out in time but he won’t have that opportunity for as long as he’s on the IL.

The M’s will now have to try to pull themselves out of this tailspin without contributions from France, Crawford or Rodríguez. Locklear is covering first base today and could get some regular run there going forward, with Jason Vosler perhaps factoring in as well. Utility player Dylan Moore is at shortstop in tonight’s lineup and may be the regular there, with Rivas backing him up. Víctor Robles is in center field and figures to be joined in the club’s outfield mix by Canzone, Luke Raley, Mitch Haniger and Jonatan Clase.

With the trade deadline now just a week away, the Mariners figure to be looking for more offense in general and it’s been reported that they will be aggressive in doing so. At this point, there’s nothing to suggest that either Crawford or Rodríguez is facing a significant absence but it nonetheless could heighten the club’s focus on adding a bat or two. The Mariners are hitting a collective .217/.298/.364 this year for a 93 wRC+, which places them 22nd in the league.

Mariners Select Leo Rivas, Place J.P. Crawford On Injured List

By | at

The Mariners have placed shortstop J.P. Crawford on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain, per a team announcement. Infielder Leo Rivas’ contract has been selected from Triple-A Tacoma, and he’ll take Crawford’s spot on the roster. Righty Gregory Santos was transferred from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL in a corresponding move. More specifically, Crawford tells Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times that he’s dealing with a Grade 1 strain (X link).

Crawford was scratched from yesterday’s game after experiencing tightness in his right oblique. He was sent for an MRI that revealed the strain. The Mariners haven’t provided a timetable for his return, but even Grade 1 strains — the least severe — of an oblique can sideline players for upwards of a month. Manager Scott Servais said prior to today’s game that utilityman Dylan Moore will be in line for the bulk of the shortstop reps while Crawford is on the shelf (X link via Divish).

The timing of Crawford’s injury is unfortunate. He’d gotten out to a slow start in 2024 but had just begun to turn the tides, hitting safely in nine of his past ten games and batting .275/.383/.360 during that span. He’s still hitting just .198/.296/.302 on the whole but had clearly been trending in the right direction prior to sustaining the injury.

Crawford’s absence will cost the Mariners their everyday leadoff man and shortstop. He’s emerged as a consistent presence atop the lineup, slashing .262/.352/.384 from 2021-23 while playing sound defense at shortstop (where he won a Gold Glove in 2020). Swapping him out for the 31-year-old Moore is likely a downgrade on both sides of the ball.

While Moore has plenty of experience at shortstop — and at nearly every position on the diamond — it’s his weakest position by measure of both Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average. Moore is a .217/.344/.398 hitter since 2022 (118 wRC+), but that production has come with the benefit of being heavily platooned; he won’t have that luxury in an everyday role and figures to face plenty of right-handers, against whom he’s just a .198/.302/.368 hitter.

Rivas, 26, is receiving his first call to the bigs. The Mariners are his third career organization, as he was originally signed by the Angels as a teenager and has also spent time with the Reds. He’s out to a strong start in Triple-A Tacoma, where he’s posted a .308/.422/.462 slash in 66 trips to the plate. Getting on base has never been an issue for Rivas in the minors, where he touts a career .378 OBP. He lacks power, however, evidenced by a career-high of seven homers and a lifetime .106 ISO (slugging minus average). Divish notes that Servais touted Rivas’ defense multiple times as a reason that he was given the call in the wake of Crawford’s injury.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrows scroll to top