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Matt Bowman Opts Out Of Twins Deal

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The Twins released right-hander Matt Bowman, per an announcement from the St. Paul Saints, their Triple-A affiliate (hat tip: Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, on X). The 33-year-old Bowman had been pitching well with the Saints and exercised an opt-out clause over the weekend (as first reported by the New York Post’s Jon Heyman). Minnesota had until today to add him to the 40-man roster but have instead opted to let Bowman become a free agent.

Bowman was in his second stint with the Twins organization this season alone. He inked a minor league pact with Minnesota back in January, was selected to the big league roster in mid-April, and wound up pitching 7 2/3 solid innings out of the ’pen. Bowman yielded only two runs in that first stretch, though his command was quite shaky. In addition to a pair of hits, he issued four walks and plunked a pair hitters while fanning six others. The Twins designated him for assignment and traded him to the D-backs for cash — the first in a lengthy series of transactions for Bowman in 2024.

Bowman spent about three weeks with the D-backs before being designated for assignment once again, this time clearing waivers and electing free agency. He inked a minor league deal with the Mariners and was selected back to the majors in mid-June, only to clear waivers and again elect free agency after just one appearance. Bowman quickly re-signed with Seattle on a new minor league deal, opted out before he got back to the big leagues, and then re-signed a new minor league deal back in Minnesota. He’s now a free agent once again.

It’s a fairly dizzying sequence that’s emblematic of the paths many journeyman of this ilk walk over the course of a given season. Bowman has pitched for six different teams in parts of six MLB seasons. He’s tossed 15 innings this season (5.40 ERA) and has a career 4.22 earned run average in 200 1/3 frames. The Princeton product was originally drafted by the Mets with their 13th-round pick back in 2012, and he’s fanned a below-average 18.8% of his big league opponents against a more solid 8.3% walk rate and a terrific 55.6% ground-ball rate.

This season, Bowman has been outstanding when pitching at the Triple-A level. He’s tallied 30 2/3 innings between Tacoma and St. Paul, logging a sparkling 2.05 ERA with a 28.9% strikeout rate and a 6.6% walk rate. Between that performance and his respectable track record in the majors, Bowman should get a look from another club seeking some bullpen help in the season’s final six-plus weeks.

Twins Sign Matt Bowman To Minor League Deal

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The Twins have signed relief pitcher Matt Bowman to a minor league contract, according to his player page on MLB.com. The deal includes an opt-out in early August (per Darren Wolfson of SKOR North). The right-hander has been assigned to the Triple-A St. Paul Saints.

Bowman began the 2024 season with the Twins, with whom he signed a minor league deal in January. Although he did not make Minnesota’s Opening Day roster, the team selected his contract in mid-April. He made five appearances for the Twins, giving up two earned runs in seven 2/3 innings of work before he was designated for assignment at the end of the month.

The Twins traded Bowman to the Diamondbacks for cash considerations, and the journeyman made four appearances for Arizona (6 ER, 6 2/3 IP) before he was designated for assignment once more. The 33-year-old elected free agency and found his next opportunity with the Mariners, signing a minor league contract with Seattle. He made just one appearance for the M’s, giving up a home run and a walk and recording two outs, before he was DFA’d yet again. After electing free agency, Bowman signed a new minor league deal with the Mariners in mid-June, but the deal contained an opt-out clause – one which he chose to exercise earlier this week. Presumably, the reliever decided he had a better chance to get back to the majors with a different organization.

Thus, Bowman returned to the place where his 2024 campaign began. The Twins have had one of the better bullpens in the American League this season, but they currently have four relievers on the 60-day IL. They only have two right-handed relievers on the 40-man roster who aren’t in the majors (Josh Winder and Ronny Henriquez), neither of whom has anywhere close to as much big league relief experience as Bowman. With that in mind, it’s easy to see why both sides were interested in a reunion.

Bowman began his professional career with the Mets in 2012 and made his MLB debut as a Rule 5 Draft pick with the Cardinals in 2016. He has also spent time with the Reds and Yankees. The righty made 183 appearances from 2016-19, pitching to a 4.02 ERA and 3.86 SIERA. Unfortunately, he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2020 and did not make his way back to the majors until September 2023, when he made four appearances for the Yankees. In other words, while he has plenty of experience, it has been several years since he enjoyed any prolonged big league success. His MLB numbers over the past two years are uninspiring (19 IP, 13 K, 9 BB, 4 HR, 6.16 ERA), but his minor league stats (74 2/3 IP, 3.62 ERA, 4.24 FIP) are significantly more promising.

Matt Bowman Opts Out Of Deal With Mariners

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Reliever Matt Bowman exercised an opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the Mariners, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post (X link). Seattle granted him his release rather than call him to the MLB bullpen.

That sends Bowman back to free agency, a fairly common occurrence over the past few weeks. He decided to test the open market after successive designations by the Diamondbacks and Mariners. Bowman inked minor league deals with Seattle both times. He was called to the majors once during his first stint but didn’t get a call since signing his most recent contract a couple weeks ago. The 33-year-old sinkerballer has pitched six times with Triple-A Tacoma over the last two weeks, surrendering four runs through eight innings.

Bowman had fired six innings without allowing an earned run for the Twins’ top affiliate in April. He has surrendered five runs (four earned) with 18 strikeouts and three walks across 16 Triple-A frames on the season. He hasn’t matched that at the major league level, where he has given up nine runs with a 10:7 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 15 frames.

It has been a few years since Bowman held down a long-term stop in a major league bullpen. He’s putting together a second straight solid Triple-A campaign after turning in a 3.99 ERA with a 51.9% ground-ball rate in 49 appearances for the Yankees’ top affiliate a year ago. Bowman should quickly land another minor league contract now that he’s again on the free agent market.

Mariners Re-Sign Matt Bowman To Minor League Deal

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The Mariners and right-hander Matt Bowman have reunited on another minor league pact. The righty elected free agency a few days back but has now joined the Tacoma Rainiers, tossing a scoreless inning for them yesterday.

Bowman, 33, has been bouncing around the league this year. He started with the Twins on a minor league deal and was added to that club’s roster in mid-April. After just over two weeks with the Twins, he was designated for assignment and sent to the Diamondbacks in a cash deal. After about three weeks as a Snake, he was designated for assignment again, that time clearing waivers and electing free agency. He then landed a minor league deal with the Mariners and was selected to their roster shortly thereafter. But just a few days after that, he was designated for assignment yet again and eventually elected free agency once more.

Around all those transactions, Bowman has thrown 15 major league innings for three different clubs with a 5.40 earned run average. His 15.2% strikeout rate and 10.6% walk rate are both subpar but he’s kept the ball on the ground at a solid 46.8% clip.

Injuries kept Bowman from pitching during the 2020-22 seasons, with recovery from Tommy John surgery making up a big chunk of that absence. He returned last year and has been able to put up decent results in Triple-A. He tossed 58 2/3 innings at that level while in the Yankees’ system last year and has tossed nine more Triple-A innings this year. Putting those stints together, he has a 3.46 ERA, lots of ground balls and a 23.5% strikeout rate, though with his 11.1% walk rate a tad on the high side.

That has gotten him limited looks in the majors, both last year and this year. However, he exhausted his final option season with the Yankees in 2023, which is why he’s been in DFA limbo so often this season.

The Mariners have four relievers on the injured list, with Gregory Santos, Matt Brash, Jackson Kowar and Gabe Speier all on the shelf. Brash and Kowar both had Tommy John surgery earlier this year and are done for the season. The M’s also have just 38 players on their 40-man roster right now and could easily call upon Bowman again whenever the relief corps is taxed and they need a fresh arm.

Mariners Outright Kirby Snead

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TODAY: The Mariners announced that Snead has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A.  As was reported yesterday, Bowman also cleared waivers and chose free agency rather than accept an outright assignment.

JUNE 11: The Mariners announced that they have recalled left-hander Jhonathan Díaz and right-hander Eduard Bazardo from Triple-A Tacoma. Díaz will start tonight’s game instead of Bryan Woo. To open roster spots for those two arms, both right-hander Matt Bowman and left-hander Kirby Snead have been designated for assignment.

Snead, 29, signed a minor league deal with the Mariners in the offseason. He made 12 appearances for Triple-A Tacoma to start the year with a 2.92 earned run average. He struck out 27.7% of batters faced, gave out walks at a tiny 4.3% rate and got grounders on 63.3% of balls in play.

That got him called up to the majors just over a month ago but the results haven’t been as strong since then. He made 11 appearances for the Mariners with a 4.35 ERA. His 51.5% ground ball rate was still strong but his strikeout and walk tallies were both seven, giving him a subpar 14.6% rate in each of those categories.

Snead pitched in two of the past three games for Seattle and likely would have been down for a day or two. Since he’s out of options and the overall results have been mediocre, he’s been bumped off the roster as the club gets some fresh arms aboard.

Bowman, 33, is also out of options and has been featured in many transactions because of it. The M’s just added him to their roster on Sunday and he made one appearances for them, logging two thirds of an inning in last night’s contest. That’s already the third team he’s pitched for this year, also taking the mound for the Twins and Diamondbacks.

For each player, the Mariners will have one week to either line up a trade or pass them through waivers. Bowman has a 4.22 ERA in 200 1/3 career innings but most of that work was a long time ago. He didn’t pitch in the majors during the 2020-2022 seasons due to injuries, including Tommy John surgery. He returned to the bigs by tossing four innings with the Yankees last year. Overall, he’s been able to get decent amounts of ground balls, with 55.6% of balls in play in his career hitting the dirt. Snead has a career ERA of 5.09 in a more limited sample of 74 1/3 innings at the major league level.

Díaz, 27, signed a minor league deal with the Mariners in the offseason and has been posting great results for Triple-A Tacoma this year. In 12 outings, including 11 starts and one long relief outing, he has thrown 66 1/3 innings with a 2.98 ERA. That’s despite pitching in the hitter-friendly confines of the Pacific Coast League. He has a 24.3% strikeout rate, 5.8% walk rate and 57.1% ground ball rate in that time.

He had an opt-out on his minor league deal but the Mariners were clearly impressed by his work in Tacoma this year. They added him to their 40-man roster to prevent him from triggering that opt-out, but kept him on optional assignment until today.

Per Adam Jude of the Seattle Times on X, Woo is having an MRI on his arm. It’s unclear exactly what the issue is but Woo began the year on the injured list due to right medial elbow inflammation. He returned in early May and has been utterly dominating, with an ERA of 1.07 in his six starts this year.

It’s a concerning development for the Mariners, both due to how well Woo has been pitching and the fact that it may be a recurrence of the previous issue. Further updates may be forthcoming after the MRI results come in, but it seems Díaz will step in and make at least one spot start. The Mariners have a strong rotation with Luis Castillo, Logan Gilbert, George Kirby and Bryce Miller in four spots, even without Woo. If Woo needs a trip to the IL, perhaps Díaz will stick around, though the M’s also have Emerson Hancock on the 40-man roster.

Matt Bowman Elects Free Agency

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Reliever Matt Bowman is back on the open market. The Mariners announced this evening that the righty elected free agency after clearing outright waivers. It’s the second time in as many weeks for Bowman, who became a free agent on May 31 after being waived by the Diamondbacks.

That could set Bowman up to join his fourth team of the season. He signed a minor league contract with the Twins over the offseason. He tossed six innings without allowing an earned run to earn a major league call midway into April. Bowman pitched five times before Minnesota designated him for assignment and sold his contract to Arizona. The Snakes DFA him after four outings, leading to a minor league deal with Seattle.

Bowman pitched twice for the M’s top farm team in Tacoma. The Mariners selected his contract and plugged him into a game against the White Sox on Monday. Bowman recorded two outs and surrendered a home run to Corey Julks. Seattle designated him for assignment the next day.

The 33-year-old has allowed nine runs across 15 innings between the three teams. He has punched out 10 while issuing seven walks. While that’s not particularly impressive, he hasn’t surrendered an earned run in eight Triple-A innings. Bowman had a solid 2023 campaign in Triple-A with the Yankees, turning in a 3.99 ERA with a strong 51.9% grounder rate over 58 2/3 frames. He should land another minor league contract in fairly short order.

Mariners Place Ty France On The 10-Day Injured List

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The Mariners made a series of roster moves this morning, headlined by the club’s reported promotion of first base prospect Tyler Locklear. Seattle also selected the contract of right-hander Matt Bowman, as first reported by Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times. In corresponding moves, first baseman Ty France was placed on the 10-day injured list with a fractured heel and right-hander Collin Snider was optioned to Triple-A in order to clear space on the active roster. Meanwhile, right-handers Levi Stoudt and Eduardo Salazar were designated for assignment to clear 40-man roster space for Locklear and Bowman.

The loss of France is surely a frustrating one for Mariners fans, as the 29-year-old has been one of the club’s hottest hitters dating back to the start of May. In his last 34 games, France has slashed a strong .259/.353/.448 in 133 plate appearances. That strong stretch has lifted his overall season line to a respectable .251/.329/.403, but his hot streak will now be cut short by a trip to the IL after France was hit in the heel by a pitch from Royals lefty Daniel Lynch IV. France was initially considered day-to-day due to the issue but after continued discomfort he underwent imaging that revealed a fracture. A timetable for France’s return is not yet clear, though it seems likely to be a fairly lengthy absence. France’s injury opened the door for Locklear’s promotion, which you can read more about here. As noted by Divish, the Mariners plan for Locklear to be the club’s everyday first baseman going forward, rather than part of a platoon with Luke Raley.

Also joining the club alongside Locklear is Bowman, a veteran of six major league seasons who has already pitched for the Diamondbacks and Twins so far this year. When the Twins dealt Bowman to Arizona, he had been squeezed off of Minnesota’s 40-man roster despite a solid showing in five appearances, where he posted a 2.35 ERA in 7 2/3 innings of work. Unfortunately, the wheels came off for Bowman across his four appearances with Arizona, where he was shelled for six runs on eight hits and two walks in 6 2/3 innings of work that ballooned his ERA to 5.02 on the year. That led the Diamondbacks to designate the righty for assignment in late May, and he later elected free agency rather than remain in the organization as a non-roster depth piece.

Bowman signed with the Mariners on a minor league deal last week and looked good in two scoreless appearances with the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Tacoma. Now, he’s set to join a Mariners bullpen that has lost key players like Matt Brash, Gregory Santos, and Gabe Speier to the injured list this season. While the 33-year-old righty hasn’t exactly impressed in the majors in recent years, he nonetheless sports a 3.51 ERA in 66 2/3 innings of work at the Triple-A level over the past two seasons with a solid 23.1% strikeout rate that suggests he could be a solid middle relief option for Seattle going forward. He’ll be replacing Snider in the club’s bullpen after the righty briefly came up from Triple-A last week; the 28-year-old now figures to return to the minors as a depth option for the Mariners moving forward.

Departing the club’s 40-man roster are Stoudt and Salazar, neither of whom have pitched for the Mariners in the majors this year. Salazar was claimed off waivers from the Dodgers just two weeks ago and sports a 6.91 ERA in 14 1/3 innings of work in the majors with L.A. and Cincinnati. He allowed two runs on three hits and three walks while striking out just one in 3 1/3 innings of work with Triple-A Tacoma. As for Stoudt, the righty was claimed off waivers from the Reds back in February as a potential depth starter but has pitched to disastrous results at Triple-A, with a 6.92 ERA in 52 innings of work and a strikeout rate of just 14.9%. The Mariners will have one week to either trade the pair or attempt to pass them through waivers. If either player clears waivers successfully, the Mariners will have the opportunity to outright them to the minor leagues as non-roster depth.

Mariners, Matt Bowman Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Mariners are in agreement with reliever Matt Bowman on a minor league contract, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post (X link). The ZS Sports client would be paid at a $1MM base rate if he cracks the MLB roster and has multiple unspecified opt-out chances, Heyman adds.

Bowman elected free agency after being waived by the Diamondbacks last week. The 33-year-old has already spent time in the majors with both the Twins and D-Backs this season. He made nine appearances between the two clubs, logging 14 1/3 innings of eight-run ball. He fanned 10 hitters against six walks while running a higher than average 47.7% ground-ball rate.

A sinkerballer, Bowman has made his living keeping the ball on the ground. He has a huge 55.7% grounder percentage in just shy of 200 career MLB innings. The vast majority of that work came with the Cardinals and Reds between 2016-19. Injuries essentially robbed him of the 2020-22 seasons. Bowman underwent Tommy John surgery late in the ’20 campaign and didn’t return to full health until last season. He spent most of last year in Triple-A with the Yankees, turning in a 3.99 ERA with a decent 22.6% strikeout rate and a 51.9% grounder percentage over 58 2/3 innings. New York briefly called him to the majors last fall but cut him loose at season’s end.

Bowman opened the 2024 season in Triple-A after signing a minor league deal with Minnesota. He threw six scoreless frames with seven strikeouts to earn his call-up. He’ll head back to that level as he tries to secure a spot in the Seattle relief corps.

The M’s don’t have a ton of bullpen flexibility. Five of their relievers are out of options. Andrés Muñoz certainly isn’t going anywhere. Tayler Saucedo is the team’s top left-hander while Gabe Speier is on the shelf. That essentially leaves just one spot (currently held by Collin Snider) for the Mariners to rotate relief arms without exposing anyone to waivers. Bowman himself is out of options, so the Mariners couldn’t freely send him back down if they call him up at any point.

Matt Bowman Elects Free Agency

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Reliever Matt Bowman has elected free agency after being designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks on Sunday, tweets Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports. The right-hander, who turned 33 today, went unclaimed on outright waivers.

Bowman pitched in four games for Arizona, allowing six runs over 6 2/3 innings. The Snakes had acquired him from the Twins in a cash trade on May 2. Bowman had pitched five times for Minnesota as well. He allowed eight runs in 14 1/3 frames with 10 strikeouts and six walks between the two teams. That’s already the Princeton product’s heaviest MLB workload since 2019.

Injuries essentially robbed Bowman of the 2020-22 seasons. He underwent Tommy John surgery late in the ’20 campaign and didn’t return to full health until last season. Bowman spent most of last year in Triple-A with the Yankees, turning in a 3.99 ERA with a decent 22.6% strikeout rate and a strong 51.9% grounder percentage over 58 2/3 innings. New York briefly called him to the majors last fall but cut him loose at season’s end.

Bowman signed with Minnesota on a non-roster contract and again pitched well in Triple-A. He didn’t allow an earned run over his six innings, leading the Twins to call him up during the second week of April. Bowman is out of options, so Minnesota couldn’t send him back to the minors once they added him to their 40-man roster. That led to his trade to Arizona, but Bowman struggled in his limited time in the desert. Based on his recent Triple-A production, he shouldn’t have any problem finding a new minor league deal now that he’s back on the open market.

Diamondbacks Designate Matt Bowman For Assignment

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The Diamondbacks announced this afternoon that right-hander Matt Bowman has been designated for assignment. Left-hander Blake Walston was recalled to the big league roster to replace Bowman on the club’s active roster.

Bowman, who will celebrate his 33rd birthday on Friday, joined the Diamondbacks earlier this month when he was acquired in cash deal with the Twins. At the time of the deal, Bowman had been squeezed off of Minnesota’s 40-man roster despite a solid showing in five appearances, where he posted a 2.35 ERA in 7 2/3 innings of work. Unfortunately, the wheels have come off for Bowman across his four appearances with Arizona, as he’s been shelled for six runs on eight hits and two walks in 6 2/3 innings of work that have ballooned his ERA to 5.02 on the year.

A 13th-round pick by the Mets in the 2012 draft, Bowman had considerable success with the Cardinals in the first two seasons of his big league career from 2016 to ’17. In a combined 126 1/3 innings of work, Bowman posted a solid 3.70 ERA (112 ERA+) with a stronger 3.47 FIP. That seemingly portended a successful career near the back of big league bullpens, but things didn’t work out that way as Bowman struggled to well below average results with St. Louis the following season, prompting the club to part ways with him.

He pitched for the Reds in 2019 to an impressive 129 ERA+ in 32 innings of work but a series of elbow injuries, including one that required Tommy John surgery, wiped out Bowman’s 2020-22 campaigns. The veteran resurfaced with the Yankees last year but was torched for a 9.00 ERA and 6.51 FIP in four innings of work before returning to the minor leagues. Arizona will now have one week to trade Bowman or attempt to pass him through waivers. The right-hander has been outrighted previously during his big league career and as a result can reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency should he so choose.

Replacing Bowman on the club’s 40-man roster is Walston, who is slated to take the ball for today’s start against the Marlins. It’ll be the first big league start and just the second MLB appearance of Walston’s young career. Arizona’s first-round pick in the 2019 draft, the 23-year-old climbed his way through up the minor league ladder to make his big league debut earlier this year, when he struck out five in 3 2/3 innings of work against the Dodgers while allowing two runs on three hits and four walks. That admirable effort against one of the league’s most intimidating offenses has earned Walston another opportunity in the majors thanks in part to the injuries facing the Dbacks rotation. Marquee offseason signing Eduardo Rodriguez has yet to throw a pitch for the club this year due to a strained lat and he’s been joined on the 60-day injured list by veteran righty Merrill Kelly, who is battling a shoulder strain.

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