Headlines

  • Luis Gil To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
  • Orioles To Promote Adley Rutschman
  • Carter Kieboom To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
  • Cardinals To Promote Nolan Gorman, Matthew Liberatore; Tyler O’Neill To IL
  • Max Scherzer Likely Out Six To Eight Weeks Due To Oblique Strain
  • Chris Paddack Undergoes Tommy John Surgery
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2022-23 MLB Free Agent List
    • Top 50 Free Agents
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2022
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Arbitration Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Matt Festa

Mariners Make Six Roster Moves

By Mark Polishuk | May 5, 2022 at 5:28pm CDT

5:29PM: Brash will pitch out of the bullpen at Triple-A, as reported by The Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish and other media members.  Relief work could give Brash a quicker path back to the majors and allow him to better help the Mariners in 2022, even if the team still sees him as a longer-term starting pitcher.

2:47PM: The Mariners announced six roster moves, including the news that right-hander Matt Brash has been optioned to Triple-A.  Left-hander Nick Margevicius was designated for assignment, and righty Matt Festa was placed on the 15-day injured list with right elbow tendinitis.  Joining the roster from Triple-A Tacoma are right-hander Riley O’Brien and left-hander Danny Young, with Young’s contract being officially selected.  In addition, recently-designated right-hander Matt Koch has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A.

Brash has never pitched at the Triple-A level before, as the Mariners made the aggressive move of adding him to the Opening Day roster after an impressive Spring Training.  A rather lightly-regarded prospect who was acquired from the Padres in 2020, Brash exploded into top-100 notoriety with a very impressive 2021 season with the Mariners’ high-A and Double-A affiliates.

Results were far more mixed for Brash in his first taste of the bigs, however.  Brash has a 7.65 ERA over five starts and 20 innings, with almost as many walks (17) as strikeouts (19).  Yesterday’s start against the Astros saw Brash allow four runs over three innings, walking four batters and striking out three.

With Brash heading to Triple-A for more seasoning, Seattle has a hole to fill in the rotation.  The M’s have a few days remaining to figure out their plans, whether they’ll go with a bullpen game for Brash’s next scheduled start or whether another Triple-A call-up could be in the works.  Asher Wojciechowski, Daniel Ponce de Leon, and Darren McCaughan are all getting starts for the Rainiers but none have pitched particularly well, and Margevicius is now headed to the DFA wire.

Margevicius has also struggled, posting a 12.75 ERA over four starts and 12 innings at the Triple-A level.  A veteran of three MLB seasons, Margevicius is trying to work his way back from thoracic outlet syndrome surgery, and it isn’t surprising that the southpaw is still getting on track following that major procedure.  With this recent surgery in mind, teams might not claim Margevicius, allowing Seattle to slip him through waivers and outright him off the 40-man roster.

Festa is also no stranger to health issues, as he missed all of the 2020 season and most of 2021 after undergoing Tommy John surgery.  With this past procedure in mind, any sort of elbow problem is especially concerning, though tendinitis is usually a relatively minor problem.  After tossing 30 2/3 innings for the M’s in 2018-19, Festa made it all the way back to the Show this season, but had only a 5.25 ERA over 12 relief innings.

Though O’Brien has only worked as a reliever over six Triple-A appearances this season, he might also factor into the Mariners’ rotation picture given his track record as a minor league starter.  Acquired from the Reds back on April 17, O’Brien has a 3.36 ERA over 353 1/3 innings in the minors, mostly in the Rays organization from 2017-19.  O’Brien made his big league debut in cup-of-coffee fashion last season, tossing 1 1/3 innings in a single game for Cincinnati.

Now in his seventh pro season, Young is lined up to make his first MLB appearance.  Young was an eighth-round pick for the Blue Jays in the 2015 draft, and has worked almost exclusively as a reliever over his 280 1/3 innings in the Toronto, Cleveland, and Seattle farm systems.  While mostly a grounder specialist during his career, Young has boosted his strikeout numbers since the canceled 2020 minor league seasons, and has a 26.1% strikeout rate over 70 Triple-A frames (though also with a 5.14 ERA in Triple-A ball).  Anthony Misiewicz is the only other left-hander in the Mariners’ bullpen, so Young should get some looks against lefty batters.

Share 0 Retweet 1 Send via email0

Seattle Mariners Transactions Danny Young Matt Brash Matt Festa Matt Koch Nick Margevicius Riley O'Brien

37 comments

Mariners Select Matt Festa

By Anthony Franco | April 7, 2022 at 6:37pm CDT

The Mariners announced their Opening Day roster this afternoon, and reliever Matt Festa made the big league club. Seattle had a vacancy on the 40-man roster, so no additional move was necessary.

Festa is in line for his first MLB work in three years. He suited up with Seattle from 2018-19, tossing 30 2/3 innings of 4.70 ERA ball. The former 7th-round pick only punched out 17.7% of opponents on a below-average 9.2% swinging strike rate. Seattle outrighted Festa off their 40-man roster during the 2019-20 offseason, and he underwent Tommy John surgery not long after.

The 29-year-old returned from the surgery midway through last season, working 21 1/3 innings over 19 outings with Triple-A Tacoma. Festa posted a 2.95 ERA while striking out an excellent 36% of batters faced and only issuing walks at a 3.5% clip. After also impressing the organization in Spring Training, he’ll return to the big league club.

Seattle lost Casey Sadler for the season and will be without Ken Giles to start the year. Paul Sewald, Drew Steckenrider and Diego Castillo look as if they’ll assume the highest-leverage innings, while Festa will step into the middle innings mix. He still has a minor league option year remaining, so the M’s can bounce him between Seattle and Tacoma this season even though he’s back on the 40-man roster.

Share 0 Retweet 4 Send via email0

Seattle Mariners Transactions Matt Festa

14 comments

Mariners Notes: Festa, Cruz, Cameron

By Anthony Franco | February 26, 2022 at 9:23am CDT

Mariners reliever Matt Festa underwent Tommy John surgery in March 2020, just a few weeks after Seattle outrighted him off their 40-man roster. As is typically the case for TJS patients, he lost around a year and a half rehabbing and didn’t return to minor league games action until last July. The righty had an excellent second half with Triple-A affiliate Tacoma, working to a 2.95 ERA over 21 1/3 innings. He punched out a whopping 36% of batters faced while walking a minuscule 3.5% of opponents, but that wasn’t enough to earn another look in a Seattle bullpen that was among the league’s best.

Because he’s no longer on the 40-man roster, Festa is not subject to the ongoing lockout. Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times writes that he’s been participating in Seattle’s minor league camp and flashed mid-90s fastball velocity in workouts this week. If he maintains that form throughout camp, he could be an option for Seattle in the event of injuries or underperformance among the big league relievers. Festa, 29 next month, posted a 4.70 ERA/4.97 SIERA over 30 2/3 big league innings between 2018-19. He’ll need to recapture a spot on the 40-man roster to get back to the MLB level.

More from Seattle:

  • Former Mariners designated hitter Nelson Cruz hit free agency at the end of the year. Some Seattle fans have pined for a reunion, no surprise given Cruz’s success in the Pacific Northwest. He hit .284/.362/.546 over four seasons with the Mariners. Cruz wasn’t quite that productive last year in his age-40 campaign, but he still combined for an above-average .265/.334/.497 showing in 584 plate appearances with the Twins and Rays. That kind of production would be a notable upgrade to a Seattle lineup that ranked just 21st in wRC+ (pitchers excluded) last season. Nevertheless, Corey Brock of the Athletic opines as part of a reader mailbag that the Mariners seem unlikely to pursue a full-time designated hitter like Cruz. Seattle has an abundance of outfield options, in particular, and 2020 Rookie of the Year Kyle Lewis will be coming off a season cut short by injuries to a right knee that has proven problematic for the bulk of his professional career. Signing a full-time DH would necessitate playing Lewis more or less every day in the outfield, where Mitch Haniger, Jarred Kelenic, Taylor Trammell and Jake Fraley could also compete for reps. Brock feels the front office and manager Scott Servais are likelier to use the DH spot as an opportunity to rotate regulars through quasi-rest days, a fairly common practice around the league at this point.
  • The Mariners have hired former Padres analyst Dave Cameron in a consulting role, as Divish first reported (on Twitter). Cameron, a Washington state native, began his career as a Mariners’ blogger before being hired as a writer and editor at FanGraphs. He joined the San Diego front office over the 2017-18 offseason but departed the organization after four seasons last fall. He will now have the chance to apply his analytical skills for the team that first ignited his baseball fandom and set him on his journey.
Share 0 Retweet 4 Send via email0

Notes Seattle Mariners Matt Festa Nelson Cruz

39 comments

Mariners’ Matt Festa To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

By Steve Adams | March 2, 2020 at 10:07am CDT

Mariners right-hander Matt Festa is slated to undergo Tommy John surgery and will miss the 2020 season, tweets Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. Festa was outrighted off the 40-man roster this winter but had been in camp as a non-roster invitee to Spring Training.

The 26-year-old Festa has pitched a total of 30 2/3 innings of relief over the past two seasons. To this point in his relatively young career, Festa has managed a 4.70 ERA with a 25-to-14 K/BB ratio and a 36.5 percent ground-ball rate in the Majors. He’ll now have to wait at least a year to for the opportunity to add to that resume.

Although Festa lost his roster spot over the winter, his absence still depletes the Mariners’ depth a bit. Based solely on his minor league results, Festa would’ve had a decent shot at eventually reemerging in the Majors in 2020. The overall sample is pretty small — Festa was drafted in 2016 and made his MLB debut in 2018 — but the right-hander has a sub-3.00 ERA in both Double-A and Triple-A and has generally posted sharp strikeout-to-walk ratios throughout his minor league tenure. In total, Festa has tossed 209 2/3 frames in the minors and compiled a 3.18 ERA with 11.0 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9.

Share 0 Retweet 7 Send via email0

Seattle Mariners Matt Festa

15 comments

Mariners Outright Matt Festa

By Steve Adams | February 10, 2020 at 1:20pm CDT

The Mariners announced that right-hander Matt Festa went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Nashville. He’s been invited to Major League Spring Training as a non-roster player.

The 26-year-old Festa made his MLB debut with the Mariners in 2018 and has pitched a total of 30 2/3 innings of relief since that time. To this point in his relatively young career, Festa has managed a 4.70 ERA with a 25-to-14 K/BB ratio and a 36.5 percent ground-ball rate in the Majors.

Festa, a seventh-round pick back in 2016, has averaged about 93 mph on his four-seamer — rather pedestrian among relievers in today’s game — but the righty’s success in both Double-A and Triple-A could earn him another look with the Mariners in the future. The Seattle bullpen is short on proven assets and could feature a Rule 5 pick (Yohan Ramirez) as well as several out-of-options hurlers to begin the season (Matt Magill, Sam Tuivailala, Dan Altavilla and offseason pickup Carl Edwards Jr.). That could be a recipe for a fair bit of in-season turnover, so it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to Festa back in Seattle at some point this summer, particularly if he’s able to continue his strong upper-minors production.

Share 0 Retweet 3 Send via email0

Seattle Mariners Transactions Matt Festa

10 comments

Mariners Designate Matt Festa For Assignment

By Steve Adams | February 3, 2020 at 2:04pm CDT

The Mariners announced Monday that they’ve designated right-hander Matt Festa for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to outfielder Jose Siri, whose previously reported waiver claim out of the Reds organization has now been formally announced by Seattle.

Festa, 27 next month, has pitched 30 2/3 innings of relief with the Mariners over the past two seasons, logging a 4.70 ERA with a 25-to-14 K/BB ratio and a 36.5 percent ground-ball rate along the way. Seattle initially selected him in the seventh round of the 2016 draft.

Festa has enjoyed solid numbers in Double-A and Triple-A, albeit in limited samples of work. The East Stroudsberg University product pitched to a 2.76 ERA with 12.3 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9 in 49 innings in 2018 before logging a 2.64 ERA, 9.7 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 in 30 2/3 Triple-A frames in 2019. Festa doesn’t throw particularly hard (93 mph average four-seamer) and doesn’t have the type of gaudy spin rates that attract some clubs to pitchers who lack premium velocity. His success in the upper minors and the fact that he has a minor league option year remaining, however, could earn him a look with another club.

The Mariners will have a week to trade Festa, place him on outright waivers or release him.

Share 0 Retweet 2 Send via email0

Seattle Mariners Transactions Matt Festa

20 comments

Mariners Select Ryan Garton, Designate Zac Rosscup

By Jeff Todd | May 17, 2019 at 5:05pm CDT

The Mariners announced a group of moves that will change up their bullpen mix. Righty Ryan Garton’s contract was selected; he’ll be joined by fellow righty Matt Festa, who was recalled.

To make 40-man space for Garton, the M’s have designated southpaw Zac Rosscup for assignment. Active roster space for Festa comes at the expense of Erik Swanson, who was optioned out.

The 29-year-old Garton earned his way back to the bigs for the first time since 2017 after showing well in a swingman capacity at Triple-A. In 26 innings over a dozen appearances, including one start (just the second of his professional career), Garton posted a 3.46 ERA with 9.7 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9.

Rosscup, 30, had an outwardly appealing 3.21 ERA but had allowed 14 walks to go with twenty strikeouts in 14 innings. He was posting yawning platoon splits, dominating those left-handed hitters he didn’t walk (.087/.323/.087) while being tuned up by righties (.344/.447/.500).

Share 0 Retweet 6 Send via email0

Seattle Mariners Transactions Erik Swanson Matt Festa Ryan Garton Zac Rosscup

13 comments

Minor MLB Transactions: 7/14/18

By Connor Byrne | July 14, 2018 at 3:51pm CDT

Keeping up with the latest minor moves…

  • The White Sox outrighted reliever Bruce Rondon to Triple-A on Friday, per Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times. Rondon could have rejected the assignment in favor of free agency, but it seems he’ll report to Charlotte. The 27-year-old flamethrower has amassed 40 strikeouts in 29 2/3 major league innings this season, but he has also registered a hideous walk rate (8.19 per nine) and an even higher ERA (8.49). As a result, the Sox designated Rondon on Wednesday and no one took a chance on him via waivers.
  • The Mariners have selected the contract of right-hander Matt Festa from Double-A and optioned fellow righty Christian Bergman to Triple-A, the team announced. Festa is now in position to make his M’s debut two years after they picked him in the seventh round of the 2016 draft. Now 25, Festa has been formidable in relief this year, having pitched to a 3.13 ERA with 12.51 K/9 against 1.99 BB/9 in 31 2/3 innings. He ranks as Seattle’s ninth-best prospect at MLB.com.
  • The Blue Jays selected right-hander Chris Rowley from Triple-A Buffalo and transferred righty Rhiner Cruz (groin) to the 60-day DL prior to Saturday’s game. Rowley’s season debut couldn’t have gone much worse – he surrendered three earned runs on two hits (including a walk-off grand slam to Boston’s Xander Bogaerts) and a walk in a third of an inning.
Share 0 Retweet 1 Send via email0

Chicago White Sox Seattle Mariners Toronto Blue Jays Transactions Bruce Rondon Chris Rowley Matt Festa Rhiner Cruz

4 comments
Show all

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Luis Gil To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Orioles To Promote Adley Rutschman

    Carter Kieboom To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Cardinals To Promote Nolan Gorman, Matthew Liberatore; Tyler O’Neill To IL

    Max Scherzer Likely Out Six To Eight Weeks Due To Oblique Strain

    Chris Paddack Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

    Brandon Lowe Diagnosed With Stress Reaction, Shut Down For At Least Three Weeks

    DeGrom MRI Reveals “Continued Healing”; Still No Clear Timetable For Return

    Boras: Michael Conforto Not Ruling Out Late-Season Return

    Mariners Option Jarred Kelenic, Claim Adrian Sampson

    Kumar Rocker Signs With Frontier League’s Tri-City ValleyCats

    Dodgers Place Clayton Kershaw On Injured List

    Bryce Harper Has Tear In UCL, Won’t Throw For Four Weeks

    Padres Sign Robinson Cano

    Gerardo Parra Retires

    Recent

    Luis Gil To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Yankees Place Chad Green On IL With Elbow Strain

    Offseason In Review: New York Mets

    Orioles To Promote Adley Rutschman

    Angels, Grant Dayton Nearing Deal

    Boone: Luis Gil Dealing With “Significant” Arm Injury

    Twins Outright Jharel Cotton

    Injury Notes: Wade, E-Rod, Skubal, Murphy

    Daulton Jefferies Diagnosed With Thoracic Outlet Syndrome

    Dodgers Sign Pedro Baez To Minor League Deal

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Trevor Story Rumors
    • Frankie Montas Rumors
    • Michael Conforto Rumors
    • Arbitration Tracker
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Go Ad-Free
    • MLB Player Chats
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent List
    • Top 50 Free Agents
    • 2022-23 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2022
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • Feeds by Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

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

    hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top
    Close

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version