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Mariners Designate Jacob Nottingham

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The Mariners have designated catcher Jacob Nottingham for assignment, the team announced.  Right-hander Wyatt Mills was called up from the alternate training site in a corresponding move.

It’s the second DFA in a little over a week for Nottingham, who was only just claimed by Seattle off the Brewers’ roster on April 28.  Nottingham might now be moving on without ever officially appearing in a Mariners uniform if another team makes a claim.  (Given how Milwaukee just lost starting catcher Omar Narvaez to the injured list, one wonders if the Brewers could reunite with their former backstop.)  Nottingham is out of minor league options, which is why neither the Mariners or Brewers could simply stash him in the minors.

The 26-year-old Nottingham has a .203/.306/.432 slash line over 85 career plate appearances in the majors, appearing in 30 games total with Milwaukee from 2018-20.  A sixth-round pick for the Astros in the 2013 draft, Nottingham played in the minors with the Astros and Athletics before going to the Brewers as part of the Khris Davis trade in February 2016.

Mills was a third-round pick for Seattle in the 2017 draft, and is a local product who hails from Spokane and attended Gonzaga.  MLB Pipeline ranks him as the 22nd-best prospect in the Mariners’ farm system, with Mills showing some extra intrigue after displaying a velocity bump (up to 97mph) in Arizona Fall League play.  Mills has “primarily relied on a fastball-slider combination to miss bats and generate a ton of groundouts,” according to Pipeline, with “high spin rates” on both pitches.  Mills has a 3.57 ERA over 126 minor league innings, all as a relief pitcher.

Mariners Place Marco Gonzales On Injured List

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The Mariners are placing left-hander Marco Gonzales on the 10-day injured list after a Wednesday MRI revealed a left forearm strain, tweets Corey Brock of The Athletic. Manager Scott Servais tells reporters that Gonzales will miss at least “a couple starts.” He’s already begun treatment. Righty Domingo Tapia is being called up from the taxi squad to take Gonzales’ spot on the roster, tweets Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times.

It’s been a rough start to the season for the typically steady Gonzales. The 29-year-old has been the Mariners’ best pitcher in recent years and quietly been one of the league’s more effective lefties overall. From 2018-20, the former Cardinals first-rounder pitched to a 3.85 ERA with a 19.5 percent strikeout rate, a 5.2 percent walk rate and a 41.8 percent grounder rate. Along the way, Seattle inked Gonzales to a four-year, $30MM contract extension that includes a club option for the 2025 season as well.

Gonzales hasn’t looked much like himself this season, logging an ugly 5.40 ERA (4.80 SIERA) through his first five starts, which have lasted just 28 1/3 frames. Gonzales’ 19 percent strikeout rate is down from last year’s 23.1 percent (although close to his combined 2018-20 rate), but his 9.1 percent walk rate is his worst since his 2014 rookie campaign in St. Louis. His 88.1 mph average fastball velocity is also 1.8 mph south of his career mark.

However, it doesn’t appear that the forearm strain is at the root of those issues — or at least, Gonzales isn’t using it as any kind of excuse. Divish tweets that Gonzales says he only felt the discomfort crop up after his last outing. And to be fair to Gonzales, he’s fared quite a bit better in his three most recent starts than he did in his first two outings of the year. The lefty held the Dodgers to a run on six hits and a walk last week before limiting Houston to a pair of runs in six frames as recently as Monday.

Gonzales joins James Paxton (season-ending surgery) and Nick Margevicius (shoulder inflammation) as rotation arms on the injured list for Seattle. With that group sidelined, the M’s will look to Justus Sheffield, Chris Flexen, Yusei Kikuchi and Justin Dunn in the rotation. Their starter for Saturday’s game is still listed as TBD, though long relievers Ljay Newsome and/or Robert Dugger could perhaps step into that spot to head up a bullpen game.

Seattle also has some notable top pitching prospects thought to be on the cusp of big league readiness — 2018 first-rounder Logan Gilbert chief among them. Gilbert, the game’s No. 35 overall prospect at Baseball America, breezed through three minor league levels in his lone season of minor league ball in 2019. Through 135 levels spread across Class-A, Class-A Advanced and Double-A, he worked to a 2.13 ERA with 165 strikeouts (31.7 percent) against just 33 walks (6.3 percent).

Minor MLB Transactions: 4/28/21

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The latest minor moves from around baseball…

  • The Rangers have traded 24-year-old right-hander Leon Hunter to the American League West rival Mariners for cash considerations or a player to be named later, according to an announcement from Texas. Hunter was a 35th-round pick of the Rangers in 2019 who pitched at the rookie and Low-A levels that year. He notched a minuscule 1.38 ERA and amassed 30 strikeouts against just five walks in 25 innings during his first professional action, but with no minor league campaign in 2020, Hunter was unable to build on that quality showing last season.
  • The Mets announced that they’ve claimed catcher Deivy Grullon off waivers from the Rays. New York then optioned the 25-year-old to its alternate site. Grullon, whom the Rays designated on April 24, totaled 13 major league plate appearances between the Phillies and Red Sox from 2019-20. In his Triple-A debut in 2019, Grullon batted a productive .283/.354/.496 with 21 home runs in 457 PA.

James Paxton Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

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APRIL 28: Paxton underwent Tommy John surgery in the past five to seven days, Servais announced (via Brock).

APRIL 13: Servais confirmed today that Paxton will undergo season-ending surgery (Twitter link via The Athletic’s Corey Brock). Servais did not specify the procedure, only that it would be season-ending elbow surgery.

APRIL 10: Paxton hasn’t yet decided on surgery and will seek a second opinion on his injury, Mariners manager Scott Servais told reporters (including MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer).

APRIL 8: Tommy John surgery has been recommended for Mariners left-hander James Paxton, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports. If Paxton undergoes the procedure, he’ll miss the rest of this season and at least some portion of the 2022 campaign.

Paxton began his career with the Mariners, who used a fourth-round pick on him in 2010, though after spending 2013-18 in their uniform, they traded him to the Yankees. But Paxton, 32, returned to Seattle in free agency this past offseason on a one-year, $8.5MM deal. Unfortunately, the Big Maple exited his first (and potentially lone) start of 2021 on Tuesday because of forearm troubles. The Mariners then placed Paxton on the 10-day injured list.

While Paxton has typically pitched well in the majors, evidenced by his 3.59 ERA/3.62 SIERA over 137 appearances (all starts) and 754 2/3 innings, various injuries have haunted him since he entered the league in 2013. He has never thrown more than 160 1/3 innings in an individual season, and he totaled just 20 1/3 frames last year while dealing with back issues and a flexor strain. The Yankees then elected against bringing Paxton back, though he did draw substantial interest from teams on the open market before returning to the Mariners. It doesn’t appear the reunion will be fruitful for either side, however.

The Mariners entered the season with Paxton as a key part of their six-man rotation, but it looks as if they will have to make other plans for the rest of the year. At least for now, Nick Margevicius will take Paxton’s spot in the M’s starting staff, complementing Marco Gonzales, Yusei Kikuchi, Justus Sheffield, Chris Flexen and Justin Dunn.

Mariners Claim Jacob Nottingham, Designate Brandon Brennan

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The Mariners announced that they have claimed catcher Jacob Nottingham off waivers from the Brewers. To make room for Nottingham, the Mariners designated right-hander Brandon Brennan for assignment.

Nottingham, whom the Brewers designated last week, will now join his fourth major league organization. He entered the pro ranks as a fourth-round pick of the Astros in 2013 and has also spent time with the Athletics. The 26-year-old was a prospect of some note in his younger days, but he hasn’t gotten an extended look in the bigs. Nottingham has so far amassed 85 plate appearances, all from 2018-20, and batted a playable .203/.306/.432 with five home runs. He’s out of minor league options, so he’ll have to stick on a Seattle roster that has received bottom-of-the-barrel production from catchers Luis Torrens and Tom Murphy in 2021.

The soon-to-be 30-year-old Brennan became a Mariner in December 2018 when they took him from the Rockies in the Rule 5 Draft. Brennan appeared with the Mariners from 2019-20, during which he dealt with oblique and shoulder issues and combined for 54 2/3 innings of 4.45 ERA/4.52 SIERA pitching with a 23.6 percent strikeout rate against a 12.7 percent walk rate. He still has three minor league options left.

Mariners Claim Jack Mayfield

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The Mariners announced Tuesday that they’ve claimed infielder Jack Mayfield off waivers from the Angels and optioned him to their alternate site. Shed Long was transferred to the 60-day injured list in a corresponding roster move.

The slick-fielding Mayfield now joins his third American League West club. He was signed and developed by the Astros but found his way to the Angels via some offseason waiver maneuverings — briefly stopping in Atlanta but not making it to a Spring Training game before being waived a second time. He’ll give the Mariners some extra infield depth, which is needed in part due to Long’s lingering injury.

Mayfield, 30, appeared in a pair of games with the Angels but was hitless in three trips to the plate. He’s a career .165/.193/.275 hitter in the Majors, but that unsightly batting line comes in a sample of just 115 plate appearances, so it’s hard to glean too much from it. Mayfield carries a much more palatable .268/.325/.475 output in parts of four Triple-A seasons, and he’s regarded as a solid defender who can handle shortstop, second base or third base as needed. He still has a minor league option remaining beyond this year, so he can be an up-and-down depth option for the Seattle infield if he performs well enough to stick on the 40-man roster.

Yonder Alonso Joins MLB Network

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Recently retired slugger Yonder Alonso has joined the MLB Network as an on-air analyst, the network announced in a Tuesday press release. He’ll debut as a guest co-host on Intentional Talk this Friday.

“I am beyond thankful to be joining MLB Network’s team, and I can’t thank everybody enough that has helped me get to this point,” Alonso said in today’s press release. “Having just retired, I look forward to having fun and contributing new insights about the game to baseball fans all over the world.”

The 34-year-old Alonso announced his retirement back in November after a 10-year big league career split between the Padres, Athletics, Reds, Rockies, Indians, Mariners and White Sox. The No. 7 overall pick in the 2008 draft, Alonso finished sixth in Rookie of the Year voting with the Padres in 2012 and was an All-Star with the 2017 A’s. He finished up his playing days with a career .259/.332/.404 batting line and an even 100 home runs.

Mariners Place Nick Margevicius On 10-Day IL

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  • The Mariners have placed lefty Nick Margevicius on the 10-day IL with left shoulder inflammation and recalled righty Robert Dugger, the team announced. Margevicius’ IL trip comes one day after a disastrous performance in Boston, where he gave up four earned runs on two hits and four walks in a third of an inning. In five appearances (three starts) and 12 innings this year, Margevicius has been tattooed for 16 runs (11 earned) on 13 hits and seven walks. The Mariners are likely to plug righty Ljay Newsome into their rotation to take Margevicius’ place, manager Scott Servais suggested (via Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times). Newsome has held his own across four relief appearances this season, having allowed two earned runs on nine hits with 11 strikeouts against one walk over 10 2/3 frames.

Jerry Dipoto Discusses Jarred Kelenic

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  • Mariners star prospect Jarred Kelenic will make his MLB debut at some point this season, though while GM Jerry Dipoto told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand that Kelenic “is going to get here soon…I don’t expect that’s going to be in a matter of days.”  Enough time has passed in the season that the Mariners have gained an extra year of control over Kelenic’s services, a tactic mentioned as part of the infamous comments made by former team president/CEO Kevin Mather during a rotary club speech in February.  As expected, Dipoto made no mention of service time considerations, noting that the M’s wanted to see Kelenic get more experience facing left-handed pitching.  The GM also said that “when you break camp with a team, committing to those players for the first 30 or 40 games, it would be unfair to judge what they do without giving them that sample to work with.”  Looking at Seattle’s current outfield options, Mitch Haniger is off to a red-hot start, Taylor Trammell hasn’t hit but has looked strong defensively, and Kyle Lewis only just returned from the injured list.  Ty France is also hitting well and has taken most of the DH at-bats, but France could also see more time at first or second base when the time comes for Kelenic’s promotion.

Mariners Activate Kyle Lewis From Injured List

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April 20: The Mariners announced that Lewis has been reinstated from the injured list. Braden Bishop was optioned to their alternate site in a corresponding move.

April 19: The Mariners will activate center fielder Kyle Lewis from the 10-day injured list prior to their game against the Dodgers on Tuesday, manager Scott Servais told Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times and other reporters.

Lewis hasn’t made his 2021 debut yet as a result of a deep bone bruise he suffered in his right knee toward the end of spring training. The injury has so far prevented Lewis from building on a terrific 2020 season in which he won American League Rookie of the Year honors. Lewis took home the award after slashing .262/.364/.437 (126 wRC+) with 11 home runs in 242 plate appearances and succeeding on five of his six stolen base attempts. He was also quite durable last year, missing just two of the Mariners’ 60 games.

Even without Lewis, the Mariners have come racing out of the gates this year with the AL West’s leading record (10-6). They’ve done so in spite of below-average offensive production from Taylor Trammell, who has filled in for Lewis in center. Trammell has hit .152/.278/.304 (77 wRC+) with 23 strikeouts in 54 trips to the plate. Trammell has swung a better bat since a rough 1-for-13 start to the season and is regarded as one of the club’s top prospects, however, so he could still factor into the equation in left field even with Lewis back in the fold.

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