Mariners Designate Rafael Montero For Assignment
The Mariners announced Friday that they’ve designated right-hander Rafael Montero for assignment. His spot on the active and 40-man rosters will go to righty Casey Sadler, who has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list.
Acquired from the Rangers in an offseason trade that sent a pair of 18-year-old prospects — righty Jose Corniell and infielder Andres Mesa — to the Rangers, Montero opened the season as the closer in Seattle. He struggled early in the year and eventually relinquished that ninth-inning job to breakout righty Kendall Graveman.
Montero never found much consistency, even in a setup capacity, but his results dating back to the end of June have just become too much for the club to overlook. Montero has not only been scored upon in seven of his past eight appearances — he’s given up multiple runs in each of those seven outings. Since June 25, he’s pitched to a whopping 13.09 ERA in 11 innings — surrendering 16 runs on 25 hits and four walks with 11 punchouts in that time. That brutal stretch has ballooned his season ERA all the way to 7.27.
As rough as the 2021 season has been for Montero, the former Mets farmhand was quite good in his two seasons with Texas. He signed with the Rangers while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and eventually made his debut partway through the 2019 season, slowly earning the team’s trust in higher-leverage spots. By the 2020 season he was the primary closer in Arlington, leading the club with eight saves. Montero’s two years in Texas produced a 3.09 ERA with a strong 28.6 percent strikeout rate against just a 5.9 percent walk rate.
Things clearly didn’t work out in Seattle, and the Mariners will now have a week to trade Montero, place him on outright waivers or simply release him. He’s on a $2.25MM salary, making it highly unlikely that a team would either trade for him or claim him on waivers if placed there. And, even if Montero goes unclaimed, he reached five years of Major League service time in 2021, giving him the right to reject the outright assignment in favor of free agency — without forfeiting the remaining guarantee on his deal.
As such, it seems quite likely that today will spell the end of Montero’s time with the organization. If he does either receive his release or reject an outright assignment, he’ll hit the open market in search of a change of scenery and fresh opportunity. Given how well Montero pitched in 2019-20, other clubs would surely have interest on what would essentially be a free look.
As for the 31-year-old Sadler, he’ll return to the Mariners and look to build on what was a strong start to his time with the club. Seattle plucked him off waivers out of the Cubs organization in 2020, and he’s proceeded to give them 21 innings of 3.00 ERA relief work dating back to the time of that claim. Sadler has fanned exactly a quarter of the 88 batters he’s faced as a Mariner and kept the ball on the ground at a roughly 44 percent clip as well.
Mariners Interested In Adam Frazier
The Mariners are known to be on the lookout for infield upgrades, and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports (via Twitter) that Seattle is currently in active pursuit of infielders who are controlled beyond the 2021 season — including Pittsburgh’s Adam Frazier. The Pirates are obvious sellers, and the widespread expectation is that Frazier will likely be traded between now and next Friday’s 4pm ET deadline.
Frazier, 29, is in the midst of the finest season of his solid career. His 413 plate appearances are the fourth-most in Major League Baseball, and he’s turned in a robust .327/.390/.453 batting line with four home runs, 27 doubles, four triples and five stolen bases. Frazier’s 10.9 percent strikeout rate is the fifth-lowest among 137 qualified big league hitters. He’s also tied for the game’s fifth-best contact rate (88.4 percent) and has the game’s seventh-lowest swinging-strike rate (5.4 percent).
It’s true that Frazier has benefited to an extent from some good fortune on balls in play; this year’s .363 BABIP is a career-high. However, even with some regression in that department, Frazier would likely still be enjoying a career year by virtue of that career-low strikeout rate. Statcast pegs his “expected” batting average at .297, after all, and he’s still walking at a respectable eight percent clip while swinging and missing less than ever before. He may not sustain this level of output, but he’s made his rough 2020 season look particularly fluky.
Frazier’s value goes beyond his contributions at the plate, too. His defense at second base has drawn plus ratings in Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average for his career, and he’s also an above-average left fielder by virtually any measure.
The Mariners surely see Frazier as a potential upgrade at second base, where they’ve received a collective .198/.267/.345 output so far in 2021. That’s a disastrous output no matter how you frame it, but it’s actually been far worse as of late; that combined effort includes 69 very strong plate appearances from Ty France, who’s slashed .293/.391/.483 while playing second base. France, however, has been playing more first base lately. Non-France Mariners second basemen in 2021 are hitting just .178/.239/.317 on the season.
As such, it’s no surprise to see Frazier among the Mariners’ targets. He’s playing the year on a $4.3MM salary and is controlled through 2022 via arbitration. That’s a key distinction for the Mariners, who are seven games back in the AL West and four and a half games back of a Wild Card spot. They’re aiming to stock up for a bit of a long-shot postseason run in 2021, but adding players who can help next year when their young core is more established (and likely after some offseason spending) is sensible.
It stands to reason that if Seattle is looking into Frazier, then general manager Jerry Dipoto has also gauged the asking price on Royals All-Star Whit Merrifield, who has again seen his name surface on the summer rumor mill. Dipoto is never afraid to make deals and will likely be checking in on a number of controllable, longer-shot trade candidates as the deadline approaches.
Mariners Sign Top Three Draft Picks
7:40PM: The Mariners have also signed second-round shortstop Edwin Arroyo and third-round right-hander Michael Morales to above-slot deals, according to Mayo (Twitter links). The 48th overall pick has an assigned price of $1,543,600, but Arroyo (a Florida State commit) signed for $1.65MM. Morales had been committed to Vanderbilt, but he’ll now begin his pro career after seeing to a $1.5MM bonus that is more than double the $733.1K slot price for the 83rd overall pick.
3:54PM: The Mariners have agreed to sign 12th overall pick Harry Ford, MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo reports (via Twitter). Ford signed for $4,366,400, matching the slot value assigned to his pick.
Ford is an 18-year-old high school catcher from Georgia, and he’ll now begin his pro career after being originally committed to attend Georgia Tech. Ford was the consensus choice as the draft’s second-best catching prospect, behind only Henry Davis (who went to the Pirates as the first overall pick). Draft pundits all had Ford within roughly the same range on their rankings, with The Athletic’s Keith Law placing Ford highest at eighth, while Baseball America was comparatively the lowest at 17th.
While Ford was drafted as a catcher, there is some doubt he’ll remain at the position — not necessarily due to a lack of ability behind the plate, but rather because Ford is a good enough athlete to potentially fit at multiple other positions. Ford has 60-grade speed and also a plus throwing arm that some scouts feel could make him a possible future option as a center fielder. At the plate, Ford has excellent bat speed and is very strong, making him a good candidate for more power potential in the future.
Outrighted: Lucroy, Mathisen
A couple of recent outright assignments to note…
- Veteran catcher Jonathan Lucroy was assigned outright to Triple-A Gwinnett after clearing waivers, the Braves announced. He has enough service time to reject the assignment in favor of free agency. Once one of the game’s premier catchers, the now-35-year-old Lucroy has slipped into journeyman status. He went 1-for-5 in a brief look with the Braves, who are his second big league team of the season and fifth in the past three years (not counting his Spring Training run with the White Sox). An All-Star in 2016, it’s been a swift decline for Lucroy, who has batted just .249/.317/.350 in 1286 plate appearances split among eight teams since the start of the 2017 season.
- Infielder Wyatt Mathisen went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Tacoma, the Mariners announced. He was designated for assignment earlier in the week. The 27-year-old Mathisen came over from the Rays in a deal that sent cash back to Tampa Bay late last month. He didn’t appear in a big league game and has struggled in 15 Triple-A contests with the Mariners, although his Triple-A track record prior to this stint has been excellent. Mathisen hit .288/.344/.525 with the Rays’ top affiliate in Durham earlier this year and posted a massive .283/.403/.601 slash through 87 games with the Diamondbacks’ Triple-A club back in 2019 (albeit in the juiced ball season). He has experience at second base and all four corner positions.
Mariners Select Darren McCaughan
The Mariners announced they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Darren McCaughan. Outfielder Dillon Thomas has been optioned to Triple-A Tacoma to create space on the active roster. Seattle had a vacancy on the 40-man roster after placing outfielder Jake Fraley on the COVID-19 injured list last weekend.
It’s the first big league call for McCaughan, whom Seattle originally selected in the 12th round out of Long Beach State in 2017. The 25-year-old has never appeared on an organizational prospect list at FanGraphs or Baseball America, but he’s pitched well throughout his minor league career. Over parts of four professional seasons, McCaughan has worked to a 3.75 ERA with a below-average 20.8% strikeout rate but a minuscule 4.7% walk percentage.
It has been more of the same for McCaughan this season with Triple-A Tacoma. Through ten starts, he’s worked to a 3.97 ERA. That’s the fourth-lowest mark among the thirty hurlers with 40+ innings in the hitter-friendly league. McCaughan still hasn’t missed many bats (18.5% strikeout percentage) but he’s continued to pound the strike zone (5.3% walk rate) and generally been quite effective at retiring high level hitters.
Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reported McCaughan’s promotion shortly before the official announcement.
Mariners Targeting Starting Pitching, Infield Help
The Mariners are seeking starting pitching and infield upgrades in advance of the July 30 trade deadline, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. Murray suggests the club sees second base as its biggest area to address, with a right-handed hitter being preferable.
Seattle has somewhat surprisingly hung around the playoff picture all year, entering play tonight 3.5 games behind the Athletics for the final Wild Card spot. Despite having been outscored by 51 runs, the Mariners are six games over .500 at 50-44. They’ll have an opportunity to make up ground when they welcome the A’s for a four-game set this weekend.
The Mariners weren’t generally expected to contend entering the season. While the club has seen plenty of progress as they reach the final stages of their rebuild, much of the roster is still young and unestablished. Despite their place in the standings, they remain a long shot to get to the postseason this year. FanGraphs pegs Seattle’s playoff odds at just 4%.
Thus, it’s not particularly surprising to hear the Mariners front office has indicated to rival teams they’re uninterested in parting with any of their top prospects, according to Murray. Rather than pursuing the top pitching targets on the market, Seattle’s expected to look for stopgap options to aid an injury-plagued rotation. Justin Dunn and Justus Sheffield remain on the injured list, and the team’s reunion with James Paxton didn’t even last two innings before the lefty required Tommy John surgery. That has left the M’s to rely on Yusei Kikuchi, Logan Gilbert, Marco Gonzales and Chris Flexen.
Turning to the infield, each of first and second base have been problem areas for the M’s this year. Seattle’s presumably still committed to Evan White long-term, but the young first baseman won’t play again in 2021 due to a hip injury. At second base, the Mariners have gotten a disappointing campaign from Dylan Moore, who’s hitting just .190/.276/.356 across 243 plate appearances.
It shouldn’t be hard to find an upgrade over that production even if the Mariners are disinclined to part with top players. Speculatively speaking, Jonathan Schoop is having a strong season with Detroit and fits Seattle’s reported target for a righty-hitting second baseman; the switch-hitting César Hernández could be made available by the Indians, as could Josh Harrison of the Nationals.
Of course, there’s still some possibility the Mariners fall out of that solid position in the standings over the coming week. Losing this weekend’s series with Oakland, for instance, might change the calculus. Both Murray and Jeff Passan of ESPN write that the Mariners could yet straddle the line between buying and selling, looking to bolster the roster for this season and beyond while continuing to listen to offers on players like outfielder Mitch Haniger and reliever Kendall Graveman. The M’s don’t seem especially likely to trade Haniger, who’s controllable through next season, but an impending free agent like Graveman seems a more plausible candidate for a midseason move.
Mariners Place Jake Fraley On COVID-19 IL
Mariners outfielder Jake Fraley is going on the COVID-19 injured list, with fellow outfielder Dillon Thomas being recalled to take his place on the active roster. Manager Scott Servais revealed that Fraley has tested positive for COVID-19 and also has symptoms, according to Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. Servais said the majority of players with whom Fraley was in close contact have been vaccinated, so they’re hoping that will stop the virus from spreading further.
This is a very unfortunate development for what had previously been a breakout year for Fraley. He has thus far put up a line of .237/.409/.439, with a wRC+ of 143 and 1.1 fWAR. Now he will have to isolate for at least 10 days, per league protocols, and attempt to convalesce.
For Thomas, this will be his second stint with the team after a two-game cup of coffee last month. At Triple-A this year, he is slashing .260/.376/.429, good enough for a wRC+ of 103.
Latest On Mariners’ Deadline Plans
The Mariners have been one of the most surprising contenders of the 2021 season to date. Manager Scott Servais entered the season with a six-man rotation and a host of exciting young outfielders getting ready to traverse the grass at T-Mobile Park, but expectations were low for a franchise with zero World Series appearances and no playoff appearances since 2001.
Both droughts are likely to continue into 2022, but there’s at least a chance that the Mariners could continue their upward trajectory and push for a playoff spot this season. With the trade deadline two weeks away, the Mariners are 49-43, on pace for 86 wins and just 3.5 games out of a wild card spot. In fact, they have the best record in the American League for a team not currently in a playoff spot, putting them in prime position to be surprise buyers at the deadline.
GM Jerry Dipoto has his ear to the ground, as ever, though it sounds like he’s still vacillating between the buyers and sellers line. Per The Athletic’s Corey Brock, Dipoto offered this recent assessment: “Our bullpen has been awesome, and it was roughly a number of guys who no one has ever heard of that just needed another chance. That’s put us in a really good position right now to be able to make a more aggressive play in the next two, three weeks if the opportunity presents itself. But we’re not going to push the opportunity because we believe this is a window that is open and we want to make sure it stays open. We don’t want to shortchange our long term.”
Their greatest need, should they want to wrench that window open right now, would be to add another starter to an injury-depleted rotation. Logan Gilbert has emerged as an exciting young arm, and Marco Gonzales is healthy again alongside Yusei Kikuchi and Chris Flexen, but they also have nearly a full rotation on the injured list.
As Dipoto noted above, the bullpen has helped shoulder the load thanks to surprisingly competent seasons from Kendall Graveman, JT Chargois, Paul Sewald, and Drew Steckenrider, a foursome that’s accrued 3.3 fWAR of their league-leading 4.5 bullpen fWAR. The Mariners have made a practice of trading away relievers over the years, but this time around they might choose to hold onto a few of them, especially if they can’t find the rotation help they need.
That said, it’s just as likely that Trader Jerry stays true to his history and deals an arm or two to a contender. Brock suggests that Graveman is the most likely Mariner to find himself in a new uniform by August, which certainly makes some sense given his breakout season. Graveman is a free agent at the end of the year, and right now he’s presenting as a difference-maker, a transition from starter to high-leverage arm that began last season. He has locked down eight saves as the Mariners’ closer, pitching to a sterling 0.93 ERA/3.03 FIP across 29 innings.
Even if the Mariners do decide to sell a piece or two, don’t expect Mitch Haniger to be an easy get. Brock notes that Haniger “isn’t likely to be moved unless the Mariners are floored by a deal.”
On the one hand, that might be surprising given the plethora of promising young outfielders in the organization, well-known prospects like Jarred Kelenic, Jake Fraley, Kyle Lewis, Julio Rodriguez and Taylor Trammell. For now, however, Lewis is hurt, Rodriguez has just 14 games of experience in Double-A, and Kelenic and Trammell have stumbled at the big league level with marks of 12 wRC+ and 74 wRC+, respectively.
In the plus column, Fraley has absolutely raked to a 143 wRC+ by way of a .237/.409/.439 triple slash — buoyed by an above-average .202 ISO and eye-opening 22.1 percent walk rate that would be first overall in the game among qualified hitters if he had more plate appearances. Fraley doesn’t have the prospect pedigree of those other names, however, and it’ll take more than 149 plate appearances to anoint him as an above-average regular.
Which is the point, really, both behind Haniger’s value on the trade market and the Mariners’ desire to keep him. Injuries have slowed his ascension to stardom, but since his arrival in Seattle, he’s been a 127 wRC+ hitter with 78 home runs and a .269/.343/.489 triple slash line across 1,751 plate appearances. He’s 30 years old, and with one more season of team control remaining, it’s easy to understand why contenders might ask about his availability.
Despite Haniger’s importance to this lineup, however, and despite the Mariners having a chance to make a run at the playoffs, Trader Jerry likes to deal. Speculatively speaking, Dipoto likely would prefer to get the godfather offer for Haniger that forces his hand, and maybe that makes him more inclined to see that offer where it doesn’t exist. But by all accounts, Dipoto is content to hold him through the deadline.
He could, after all, explore a trade in the offseason. Besides, with Lewis hurt and Rodriguez not yet ready, there’s no real rush to vacate Haniger’s plate appearances. There’s enough run to go around if Servais wants to see Haniger, Fraley, Trammell, and Kelenic all in the lineup at the same time, though that hasn’t been the case thus far.
Still, expect Dipoto to do something. At the very least, he sounds likely to acquire some kind of starting pitcher, with the real question being the quality of arm he’s able/willing to procure.
Mariners Return Rule 5 Pick Will Vest To Tigers
The Mariners have returned Rule 5 selection Will Vest to the Tigers, the team announced.
The right-hander was selected by Seattle with the 12th overall pick in the Major League phase of the 2020 Rule 5 Draft on Dec. 10, 2020. He was designated for assignment back on July 12th, and now that no team claimed him, he will be returned to the Tigers for one half of the Rule 5 selection fee.
Vest, 26, actually saw a fair amount of playing time with the Mariners, appearing in 32 games and logging 35 innings with a 6.17 ERA/4.17 FIP. He had a 1.38 ERA through his first 12 outings, but things unraveled a bit from there as he allowed 22 earned runs in his next 22 innings.
The control and strikeout numbers aren’t all that encouraging, as a 11.5 percent walk rate is a decent tick above the 8.9 percent league average, and he has only struck out 17.3 percent of opponents, well below the league-average mark of 23.8 percent. Still, there’s enough there to be an interesting arm for the Tigers to take a look at now that he’s back in Detroit. Generally speaking, he did a nice job avoiding barrels and limiting hard contact with a 93.5 mph four-seamer, slider, and change-up.
Mariners’ Evan White To Undergo Season-Ending Hip Surgery
JULY 16: White has indeed elected to undergo season-ending hip surgery, reports Corey Brock of the Athletic (Twitter link).
JULY 10: Mariners first baseman Evan White was placed on the 10-day injured list on May 14 due to a strained left hip flexor, and his recovery process has already involved one setback, a cortisone shot, and a shift to the 60-day IL. Now, White’s season is in jeopardy, as Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto told reporters (including The Athletic’s Corey Brock and MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer) that “the injury is more ominous than we thought.”
A season-ending surgery is a possibility, and whatever direction White and the team takes, “we are hopeful that we have a definitive answer on that in the next couple of days,” Dipoto said. “My guess is at some point tomorrow, or just after we come out of the break, we’ll have a news update. But I wouldn’t anticipate having Evan back, perhaps, for the remainder of the year.”
Such a procedure could have a longer-term impact than just the 2021 season. While obviously the surgery’s intent is to correct White’s hip issue for now and in the future, it can take a while for players to fully adjust and recover from major hip surgery. Perhaps the most famous recent example was Buster Posey, who had hip surgery late in the 2018 season and didn’t look right for the entire 2019 campaign (though Posey also had the additional physical toll of playing catcher).
Any way you look at it, the surgery is a rough development for the 25-year-old White, who has only 84 games and 306 plate appearances under his belt at the Major League level. White has hit only .165/.235/.308 in the majors, but he has already made a name for himself as a defensive standout, winning AL Gold Glove honors at first base in his 2020 rookie season.
The 17th overall pick of the 2017 draft, White posted some solid (though not overwhelming) numbers at the plate in his first three minor league seasons, which was enough for the Mariners to confirm him as part of their future by signing White to a six-year contract worth $24MM in guaranteed money. If all three club options are exercised, the contract maxes out as a nine-year pact worth $55.5MM through the 2028 campaign.
In short, there’s still plenty of time for White to get healthy and establish himself as a Seattle cornerstone, even if his first two seasons haven’t gone as planned. These types of “pre-career” contract extensions between teams and top prospects have become increasingly popular in recent years, and White’s situation could be used (for better or worse) as an example of why some youngsters might prefer to lock in a big payday at the risk of potentially limiting future earnings.