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Mariners Likely To Open With Six-Man Rotation

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The Mariners are planning to begin the season with a six-man rotation in place, general manager Jerry Dipoto told reporters yesterday (Twitter link via Greg Johns of MLB.com). That tactic should allow the Seattle club the opportunity to manage the innings of younger arms on a per-game basis while also maximizing their opportunity to evaluate some up-and-coming arms who could factor into the long-term outlook.

Recently extended southpaw Marco Gonzales seems likely to get the Opening Day nod as the Mariners’ most established starter, and the team will hope for better results from 29-year-old lefty Yusei Kikuchi in the second season of his uniquely structured free-agent deal. Kikuchi, who had established himself as one of Nippon Professional Baseball’s premier arms prior to 2019, is locked in at $43MM from 2019-21. After the contract’s third year, Seattle can pick up a four-year, $66MM “option.” If the club declines to do so, Kikuchi can instead exercise a $13MM player option. In essence, he’s guaranteed $56MM over four years, while the M’s have the opportunity to lock him up at what would be a total of seven years and $109MM if he takes his game to a new level between now and the completion of the 2021 campaign.

Beyond that pair of lefties, Seattle will get longer looks at southpaw Justus Sheffield and righty Justin Dunn — two key trade acquisitions that came over in the 2018-19 offseason. Sheffield, a former first-rounder and longtime top prospect, was the headline piece of the trade that sent James Paxton to the Yankees. Dunn came to the Mariners alongside vaunted outfield prospect Jarred Kelenic and righty reliever Gerson Bautista in the Robinson Cano/Edwin Diaz blockbuster.

The Mariners also rolled the dice on a pair of low-cost free agents this winter, nabbing former division rival Kendall Graveman and former Mariner Taijuan Walker on one-year pacts. Both have seen their careers slowed by 2018 Tommy John surgery. Graveman, who had his procedure in late July that year, didn’t make it back to the big leagues in 2019. Walker’s surgery was in April 2018, but a strained shoulder capsule limited him to one inning in 2019, which came in the final game of the season.

As one would expect from a rebuilding club, the Mariners have plenty of other young options to dream on, though the organization’s very best pitching prospects are likely a bit too far down the pipeline to factor into the 2020 season. The Mariners have selected a college right-hander with their top pick in each of the past three drafts — Logan Gilbert, George Kirby and now Emerson Hancock — and while that trio is unlikely to pitch in the Majors this year (Gilbert being the lone plausible exception), Dipoto did suggest that they and other top prospects could be on the taxi squad primarily for developmental purposes (link via Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times). Working out with other taxi squad members would give that promising group critical developmental reps in a year where no formal minor league season is expected to be played.

AL West Notes: Rangers, Dyson, Hamilton, Taijuan, Diaz, A’s

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The Rangers talked with Jarrod Dyson and Billy Hamilton before the two veteran outfielders respectively signed with the Pirates and Giants, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes.  The Rangers didn’t have any talks with Kevin Pillar prior to Pillar’s agreement with the Red Sox.  Center field is still something of a question area for Texas heading into the 2020 season, as utilityman Danny Santana is slated to handle the position, but with Scott Heineman, Joey Gallo, and perhaps Nick Solak on hand to share in some of the center field duties.

Additional help may not be imminent, as GM Jon Daniels told Wilson and other reporters “there’s nothing that is front-burner right now that I’m expecting to come to a head this spring.  There will be a lot of conversations, I’m sure.”  This doesn’t close the door on a new acquisition, of course, even if that new player may be more of a part-timer than a star (such as Kris Bryant, who has also been widely linked to the Rangers on the rumor mill.)  The versatile Santana is the answer in center field for the time being, though “we have to decide how we’re going to go about it,” Daniels said.  “I think Danny comes in with the expectation he’ll get the bulk of the playing time out there, but we also like him in that versatile role.  There’s a little bit of give there.  We have to make a call.”

More from around the AL West…

  • Taijuan Walker is back with the Mariners after signing a one-year deal with the club worth $2MM in guaranteed money, rejoining the team that originally drafted him in 2010 and, after four MLB seasons, dealt him to the Diamondbacks in the 2016-17 offseason.  Looking back on his initial stint with the M’s, “I had a lot of stuff to learn,” Walker told the Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish and other media.  “I don’t think I did very good job here of doing what I need to do become the best pitcher I could be.  I definitely slacked off and just didn’t put the work in.”  The trade inspired Walker to work harder in Arizona, plus he was further motivated by “good vets that kept on me — just having Zack Greinke over there, a bunch of guys who were really hungry and ready to work.”  It could be said that Walker’s injury problems have also aided in the maturity process, as the right-hander has tossed only 14 innings totals over the 2018-19 seasons due to both Tommy John surgery and shoulder issues.  The need to re-acclimate himself to pitching played a role in Walker’s decision to sign with Seattle, since “I’m comfortable here.  I haven’t pitched in two years, so I wanted somewhere where I can come in and kind of take my time.  I don’t have to rush.”  Another positive factor was the Mariners’ hire of Kyle Torgerson as head athletic trainer, as Torgerson previously worked for the Diamondbacks and is already familiar with Walker.  “I’m comfortable with him.  He knows my body.  He knows what I have to do to stay healthy,” Walker said.
  • The arbitration hearing between Aledmys Diaz and the Astros is scheduled for February 17, The Athletic’s Jake Kaplan tweets.  This is Diaz’s first of three trips through the arb process, and the utilityman submitted a $2.6MM figure while the team countered with $2MM.  Acquired from the Blue Jays for Trent Thornton last winter, Diaz hit well (.271/.356/.467 with nine homers) in his first year in Houston but was limited to 247 plate appearances and 69 games, largely due to a hamstring injury that sidelined him for almost two months.  Diaz is one of two Astros players who didn’t reach an agreement with the club prior to the filing deadline, though the Astros sidestepped a hearing with George Springer by agreeing to a one-year, $21MM deal with the star outfielder last month.
  • The Athletics brought a catcher to their Major League spring camp, though it was non-roster invite and former Oakland Double-A backstop Collin Theroux rather than one of the well-known veterans the club reportedly has under consideration.  “It probably looks like we go forward with the group we have right now,” manager Bob Melvin told the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser and other reporters, with Theroux joining Austin Allen, Jonah Heim, Carlos Perez, Ronnie Freeman, and presumptive starter Sean Murphy at Spring Training.  There isn’t much collective MLB experience in this group, which is why the A’s have looked into the likes of Russell Martin as a seasoned backup (and mentor) to Murphy, who the A’s see as their catcher of the future.

Mariners Sign Taijuan Walker

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5:10pm: The Mariners have announced Walker’s return to Seattle. To make room on the 40-man roster, right-hander Austin L. Adams was placed on the 60-day injured list. The 28-year-old Adams — not to be confused with Austin D. Adams, who signed a minor league deal with the Twins earlier this winter — underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL last October.

12:59pm: It’s a one-year, $2MM deal, per ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan (via Twitter). The pact also comes with another $1MM available in incentive money.

12:42pm: All indications are that the Mariners have or soon will reach an agreement to bring back former hurler Taijuan Walker. The free agent was spotted in Seattle’s camp and has since posted a rather suggestive tweet about his next destination.

Previous indication was that the M’s had a standing MLB offer out to Walker. Other clubs were also in pursuit; he had recently put on a showcase for the Cubs, for instance. As it turns out, the 27-year-old will return to where he got his start. The Mariners chose him with the 43rd overall pick of the 2010 draft and called him up to the majors for the first time in 2013. Walker never quite came into his own in Seattle but did have two productive campaigns. He ended up being dealt away — one of many players spun off in recent seasons by GM Jerry Dipoto.

The Diamondbacks got some good work from Walker, including 157 1/3 innings of 3.49 ERA ball in 2017, before losing him to Tommy John surgery. A year later, his rehab from said operation was slowed by a strained shoulder capsule that ultimately wiped out nearly all of his 2019 campaign. Although Walker made it back to the MLB mound late in 2019, the Snakes decided it wasn’t worth the investment of one more arbitration-eligible season to bring him back.

Health permitting, it seems that Walker will now slide into the fifth spot of a Seattle rotation that’ll also include Marco Gonzales, Yusei Kikuchi, Justus Sheffield and fellow offseason pickup/Tommy John returnee Kendall Graveman. There’s a good deal of upside in the second through fifth slots in the rotation behind the quietly solid Gonzales, but the Seattle rotation is also rife with uncertainty.

Depth options such as Justin Dunn, Erik Swanson, Nick Margevicius and Nestor Cortes Jr. could all get some run in 2020, be it do to injuries within the big league staff or merely poor performance. Non-roster options who could head to Triple-A if they don’t break camp with the club include veteran Wei-Yin Chen and former top prospect Manny Banuelos, each of whom signed minor league deals this winter.

Taijuan Walker Auditioning For Cubs

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While he’s already said to be considering multiple offers from other organizations, righty Taijuan Walker is going to throw for at least one team in hopes of boosting interest. He’s in Cubs camp readying to audition, ESPNChicago.com’s Jesse Rogers reports on Twitter.

It might be tempting to wonder if there’s some kind of agreement in place, but Rogers says that’s not the case. It does seem fair to assume there’s serious interest, though.

Given that Walker already seems to have at least one solid opportunity with the Mariners, his former team, it’s notable that he’s willing to go put on an in-person showing at this point. If he lands with the Cubs, he’d presumably be given a shot to duel with Tyler Chatwood in camp for the fifth starter’s job.

The Cubs have pursued low-cost, reasonably high upside opportunities wherever possible this winter. Just what kind of money the team could promise Walker — in an up-front guarantee or through incentives — isn’t really clear. But it seems unlikely the Chicago organization will make a significant commitment at this point given the obvious, self-imposed constraints it has operated under this offseason.

Mariners Have “Standing Offer” To Taijuan Walker

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The Mariners have a “standing offer” of a one-year deal to free-agent right-hander Taijuan Walker, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reports. Divish adds that the 27-year-old Walker has offers from a “handful” of clubs and is mulling which presents him with the best opportunity.

There’s a clear opening in the Seattle rotation behind Marco Gonzales, Yusei Kikuchi, Justus Sheffield and offseason signee Kendall Graveman, and Walker has plenty of familiarity with the Seattle organization. The Mariners selected him with the No. 43 pick of the 2010 draft, and Walker threw the first 357 innings of his big league career as a member of the Mariners before being sent to Arizona (alongside Ketel Marte) in a trade that sent both Mitch Haniger and Jean Segura to Seattle. Walker started 25 games for the Mariners in 2016 — the team’s first season under manager Scott Servais.

The Twins have also been linked to Walker, although they’ve since added righty Kenta Maeda in a trade with the Dodgers, and it’s not clear if that swap has curbed their interest. Notably, however, Minnesota does have an open spot on its 40-man roster (barring the inclusion of a second 40-man player from the Dodgers in that yet-unofficial trade). Walker also threw in front of nearly two dozen scouts recently; paired with Divish’s note on the righty sifting through a “handful” of offers, it’s clear that the Mariners still have some competition for his services regardless of where things stand with the Twins’ reported interest.

Walker has pitched just 14 innings in the past two seasons due to Tommy John surgery and a strained shoulder capsule, but he did make it back to a big league mound in the final game of the 2019 season, when he touched 94mph with his heater and tallied a strikeout in his lone (scoreless) inning of work. In his last full season, Walker tossed 157 1/3 innings with a 3.49 ERA, 8.4 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 and a 48.9 percent ground-ball rate.

Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto has been open about his expectation of further additions to the team’s rotation mix. Since making those comments, he’s signed Wei-Yin Chen to a minor league deal and claimed left-hander Nick Margevicius off waivers from the Padres. Either could factor into a camp competition for the fifth spot in the rotation (along with Justin Dunn and perhaps Erik Swanson), but Dipoto has yet to acquire someone who’s a clear plug-in option for that fifth rotation spot. Walker would fit that bill as well as (if not better than) any remaining unsigned starting pitcher.

Taijuan Walker Works Out For Teams

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Free-agent righty Taijuan Walker is one of the more intriguing options on the open market. The former top prospect is still just 27 years old, and in his last full season back in 2017, he tossed 157 1/3 innings of 3.49 ERA ball with 8.4 K/9, 3.5 BB/9, 0.97 HR/9 and a 48.9 percent ground-ball rate. Tommy John surgery and a strained shoulder capsule have limited him to 14 innings across the past two seasons, however, creating a good bit of uncertainty surrounding the talented but (recently) injury-plagued right-hander.

To that end, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that Walker threw for about 20 scouts earlier today, hoping to bolster his chances of landing a Major League contract as opposed to a minor league deal and a non-roster invite. (Presumably, several clubs would be interested in offering him the latter.) Walker’s fastball sat in the 85-88mph range, per Nightengale, which is a notable departure both from his 94 mph career average and the 93.3 mph he averaged in his lone inning of the 2019 season (which came in Arizona’s final game of the year).

That lack of velocity perhaps sheds some light on why Walker has yet to secure a big league deal this winter. Other injury bounceback candidates like Alex Wood and Jimmy Nelson have cashed in on big league guarantees with the Dodgers, after all, and both are older than Walker. Elsewhere, the Giants paid a combined $13MM to rebound candidates Kevin Gausman and Drew Smyly.

One February bullpen session certainly doesn’t mean that Walker won’t regain some life on his fastball with continued workouts and the benefit of a Spring Training regimen. But at least for contending clubs, some trepidation about guaranteeing a roster spot is understandable. A rebuilding club — particularly one like the Orioles or Pirates, who’ve both cut payroll this winter — would make for a rather logical pairing with Walker, though. To this point, he’s been linked to the Mariners and the Twins, although the presence of nearly two dozen scouts at his showcase suggests that a far broader number of teams are considering him.

Twins Have Interest In Taijuan Walker

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The Twins added veteran starter Jhoulys Chacin on a minor league deal over the weekend but might not be through adding experienced arms to their spring rotation mix. Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune writes that the club could yet add right-hander Taijuan Walker to the fray; Miller’s colleague, La Velle E. Neal III, also mentioned Minnesota’s interest in the righty in a previous notebook column.

Walker, 27, once rated as one of the game’s 15 best overall prospects and looked to be putting things together following a trade from Seattle to Arizona. In 2017, his age-24 campaign, Walker tossed 157 1/3 frames of 3.49 ERA ball in Arizona, averaging 8.4 K/9, 3.5 BB/9, 0.97 HR/9 and a 48.9 percent ground-ball rate.

However, the former No. 43 overall draft pick (Mariners, 2010) wound up undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2018, and a sprained shoulder capsule the following May prolonged his absence while creating additional health concerns. Walker was only able to make it back to a big league mound for one inning in 2019, when he served as an opener in the Diamondbacks’ final game of the year. Arizona non-tendered him in December rather than pay a third-time arbitration salary that would’ve likely matched last year’s $5.025MM rate.

In all, Walker has totaled just 14 innings over the past two seasons thanks to that torn elbow ligament and sprained shoulder capsule, which have understandably combined to limit his earning power. Neal implied that the Twins have hoped to land Walker on a non-roster deal, though the lack of an agreement suggests that he’s perhaps holding out for a guaranteed contract.

It’s easy enough to see Walker’s appeal for the Twins, whose 2020 rotation is currently the weakest area on the club. Jose Berrios and Jake Odorizzi will be back to lead the staff, and Minnesota added right-hander Homer Bailey on the heels of his healthiest season since 2013. Michael Pineda, too, will return in 2020 — but not until he finishes up a reduced 60-game suspension for taking a banned substance. That punishment will keep him shelved until mid-May. Lefty Rich Hill, signed the same day as Bailey, will be out until at least June after undergoing primary repair surgery on his left elbow this winter.

The Twins currently appear likely to rely on right-hander Randy Dobnak (1.59 ERA, 23-to-5 K/BB ratio in 28 1/3 innings in 2019) and left-hander Devin Smeltzer (3.86 ERA, 38-to-12 K/BB in 49 innings) to round out their rotation early in the season. The weekend addition of Chacin gives them another option, should he look more like his 2018 self than his 2019 self this spring. Aussie southpaw Lewis Thorpe and top prospect Brusdar Graterol could also be in the mix.

Walker, though, would add an intriguing wild card to that rotation competition if the two sides are ultimately able to strike up a deal. He has five-plus year of service time under his belt, meaning there are no future arbitration years of which to gain control, but he’s looked like one of the market’s more intriguing short-term dice rolls since the day he was non-tendered two months ago.

Latest On Mariners, Taijuan Walker

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The Mariners have added a pair of potential rotation candidates in Wei-Yin Chen and Nick Margevicius since last week, and they may not be done yet. It’s “believed” that they’re still interested in free-agent right-hander Taijuan Walker, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports. Johns first connected the Mariners to Walker over a month ago, but rumors centering on the 27-year-old have been scarce in the past several weeks.

There has already been one Seattle stint for Walker, whom the team chose 43rd overall in the 2011 draft and then saw blossom into an elite prospect. Walker stayed with the organization through 2016, but the M’s then traded him to Arizona in a move that netted them outfielder Mitch Haniger and middle infielder Jean Segura (now with the Phillies). Segura was later shipped out as part of a deal for the Mariners’ current shortstop, J.P. Crawford.

Walker, still only 27 years old, perhaps hasn’t lived up to the billing he had as a prospect. He had an uneven tenure with the M’s, though Walker was effective with Arizona in his first season there. Unfortunately, shoulder and elbow injuries (including Tommy John surgery) have cut him down dating back to 2018, having limited him to 14 innings in the past two seasons. Walker tossed just one frame last year, in the Diamondbacks’ final game.

Despite the arm troubles Walker has endured of late, he does look like one of the most interesting starters left in a free-agent market that has mostly been picked over. In the Mariners’ rebuilding position, Walker makes sense as a buy-low type who could have a chance to push for a spot in a rotation that’s short on established options behind Marco Gonzales.

Free Agent Faceoff: Wood Vs. Walker

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The market for starting pitchers has shrunk substantially since free agency opened at the beginning of November. Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strasburg, Zack Wheeler, Madison Bumgarner, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Dallas Keuchel and Cole Hamels have all found contracts. Jake Odorizzi, whom MLBTR ranked as the game’s 10th-best free agent at the outset of the winter, accepted a qualifying offer from Minnesota. The Twins also re-signed Michael Pineda and just picked up two more starters in Rich Hill and Homer Bailey.

With all of those pitchers and several others (Kyle Gibson, Tanner Roark and Julio Teheran, to name some) off the board, it looks like a pretty bare-bones group at this point. So, if you’re still banking on finding a No. 1, 2 or 3 type of starter in free agency, you may be out of luck. Even a surefire No. 4 or 5 seems like a lot to ask right now, but there are at least a few unsigned starters with upside who won’t cost a bank-breaking amount to sign. Left-hander Alex Wood and righty Taijuan Walker are two examples.

Between Wood and Walker, the former wins this battle in a landslide as far as major league track record goes. The 28-year-old flew under the radar to some degree from 2013-18, an 803 1/3-inning stretch in which he combined for a sterling 3.29 ERA/3.36 FIP with 8.27 K/9, 2.57 BB/9 and a 49.5 percent groundball rate with the Braves and Dodgers. Thanks to that run, the Reds acquired Wood last offseason with the expectation he’d give them front-line production. Instead, though, back problems limited the relatively soft-tossing Wood to seven starts and 35 2/3 frames of 5.80 ERA/6.38 FIP ball.  Since then, there hasn’t been any reported interest on MLBTR’s pages in Wood, who has quickly gone from coveted starter to buy-low candidate.

Walker’s in a similar position – someone who could be a high-reward pickup at a reasonable cost. Now 27, Walker was an extremely hyped prospect with Seattle, which chose him 43rd overall in 2017. However, Walker didn’t prove to be irreplaceable to the Mariners over a fairly small sample of action, and they wound up trading him to the Diamondbacks in a late-2016 blockbuster.

Walker and his ~94 mph fastball were quite effective in his first season in Arizona – 3.49 ERA/4.04 FIP with 8.35 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 and a 48.9 percent grounder rate in 157 1/3 innings – but he has barely pitched since. He tossed 13 innings in 2018 before undergoing Tommy John surgery that May, and totaled just one frame last season (in the D-backs’ final game) after shoulder injuries stunted his TJS recovery. Arizona then cut Walker loose via non-tender instead of paying him a projected $5MM-plus in arbitration. Since then, at least one team – Walker’s old employer in Seattle – has shown interest in signing him.

Walker and Wood appear as if they’d be sensible additions for the Mariners or any other team that wants to take a back-of-the-rotation risk on a short-term deal. Odds are that neither player will secure a multiyear guarantee, though a one-season contract with a club option for 2021 could be a worthwhile gamble. Wood seems likely to rake in more money (MLBTR predicted he’d get a one-year, $8MM pact), but does that make him a better bet than Walker? Which of the two would you sign?

(Poll link for app users)

Mariners Reportedly Interested In Taijuan Walker

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Right-hander Taijuan Walker entered the professionals as the 43rd overall pick of the Mariners in 2010. Walker didn’t realize his vast potential with the Mariners, nor has he since they traded him a few years ago, but a reunion between the two could be in the offing. Walker’s now a free agent, and Seattle’s “definitely interested” in bringing him back, Greg Johns of MLB.com writes.

Walker, once among the game’s premier prospects, left the Mariners in a blockbuster trade just over three years ago. That deal sent Walker and now-star second baseman/outfielder Ketel Marte to Arizona and delivered middle infielder Jean Segura (now a Phillie) and outfielder Mitch Haniger to Seattle. Walker was then coming off his second straight reasonably productive season in the majors, and the 6-foot-4 starter debuted well with the Diamondbacks in his first year with the club before injury troubles cut him down.

During his initial campaign with the Diamondbacks, Walker pitched to a 3.49 ERA/4.04 FIP with 8.35 K/9, 3.49 BB/9 and a 48.9 percent groundball rate across 157 1/3 innings. But Walker totaled a mere 14 frames over the next two years (just one last season) on account of arm problems. Walker underwent Tommy John surgery in April 2018, which is one of the reasons Arizona decided to jettison him earlier this winter instead of paying him a projected $5.025MM in his final run through arbitration.

While the D-backs didn’t want to take a chance on Walker in 2020, he does look like an intriguing free agent in an ever-dwindling marketplace. A rebuilding team like Seattle, which has few to no established arms in its rotation after Marco Gonzales, looks like a good fit.

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