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Mariners Outright Matt Carasiti

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The Mariners have outrighted right-handed pitcher Matt Carasiti to Triple-A Tacoma, per an official team release. Carasiti will no longer occupy a spot on Seattle’s 40-man roster.

The 28-year-old Carasiti has tossed 9 2/3 innings for the Mariners this year, his first season pitching in the big leagues since 2016. He’s tallied ten strikeouts against five walks, posting an overall 4.66 ERA. He’s compiled solid numbers at the Triple-A level between the Mariners and Cubs organizations, pitching to a 3.53 ERA while striking out 8.3 batters per nine innings pitched.

Presumably, the Mariners are looking to clear room on the 40-man for potential call-ups from Double-A Arkansas, where the season has not yet ended.

AL West Notes: Angels, Laureano, Piscotty, Crawford

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The relationship between Scott Boras and Angels owner Arte Moreno is a notable subplot of the Halos’ plans to upgrade their starting pitching this winter, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal writes (subscription required).  There has been some level of friction between Moreno and Boras ever since the Angels came up short in their pursuit of free agent and Boras client Mark Teixeira in the 2008-09 offseason.  This isn’t to say that the two sides haven’t worked together since, as current Angels such as Noe Ramirez and top prospect Jo Adell are all represented by the Boras Corporation, and the Angels have signed Boras clients like Ryan Madson and Matt Harvey to notable deals in recent years.

Still, the modest Madson/Harvey contracts are a far cry from what it would take to sign one of the several Boras clients at or near the top of the free agent pitching market — i.e. Gerrit Cole, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Dallas Keuchel, and (if he opts out of his contract) Stephen Strasburg.  Even beyond the Boras clients, Rosenthal notes that Los Angeles also couldn’t come to terms with any upper-tier free agent arms the team pursued last winter, leading the Angels towards their ill-fated strategy of signing players like Harvey to one-year contracts.  Beyond free agency, Rosenthal wonders if the Halos could trade for pitching by offering from a farm system that is heavy on position-player talent, if not necessarily elite talent (besides Adell) in the eyes of most prospect rankings.

More from around the AL West…

  • Ramon Laureano is on track to return from the injured list during the Athletics’ upcoming series with the Tigers, A’s manager Bob Melvin told media (including Ron Kroichick of the San Francisco Chronicle).  A stress reaction in his right shin has kept Laureano out since July 28, cutting short a white-hot hitting streak that had seen the outfielder post a 1.264 OPS over his previous 93 plate appearances.  For the season as a whole, Laureano has a .284/.334/.518 slash line and 21 homers in 419 PA, and he’ll reclaim his usual center field role upon his return.  Laureano’s activation will help an Oakland outfield that has been further depleted by the loss of Stephen Piscotty to an ankle sprain.  Piscotty hit the IL on August 25 and has yet to begin baseball activities, Melvin said, so it isn’t known when Piscotty could return to the lineup. [UPDATE: Laureano will return on Friday, Melvin told the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser and other media members]
  • Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford will miss roughly two weeks due to a hamstring strain, GM Jerry Dipoto told the Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish and other media.  Crawford was diagnosed with a Grade 1 strain, which is the lowest level of severity, though “some areas of the strain [are] nearing a Grade 2,” Divish writes.  It isn’t out of the question that Crawford’s season could be over, as Dipoto said the M’s “won’t push” Crawford if any complications arise.  Acquired as the young centerpiece of the trade that sent Jean Segura to the Phillies last winter, Crawford has a .241/.322/.397 slash line over 338 plate appearances in his first season as a Mariner.

Kyle Seager’s Rebound Season

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Not much has gone right for the Mariners at the Major League level this season, as GM Jerry Dipoto’s ongoing plan to “re-imagine” the roster has cut a lot of payroll and brought a lot of young talent into the organization at the expense of big league wins.  Only five teams have fewer victories than the 56-78 Mariners, and every single team in the four major North American professional sports leagues (MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL) has reached the postseason more recently than the M’s, who last tasted the playoffs in 2001.

With so much focus on the Mariners’ newer faces, one of the more positive development of the team’s season has been the re-emergence of a cornerstone.  Thanks to hand surgery during Spring Training, Kyle Seager didn’t make his season debut until May 25, and thus the durable third baseman will appear in fewer than 154 games for the first time since his 2011 rookie season.  Even in abbreviated fashion over 324 plate appearances, however, Seager looks to have reversed a very worrisome decline at the plate.

Kyle SeagerSeager hit .268/.340/.457 with 103 homers for the M’s between 2013-16, culminating in an outstanding 2016 campaign that saw him finish 12th in AL MVP voting on the basis of a .278/.359/.499 slash line and 30 home runs (all career bests) over 676 plate appearances.  That great year was followed up, however, by a less-impressive 2017 and then a disastrous 2018.

After breaking his left big toe in June, Seager made an ill-fated attempt to try and play through the injury, leading to the worst full-season numbers of his career.  Seager’s production went from okay in 2017 to well below-average (107 wRC+ to 84, 109 OPS + to 86) , as he managed only a .221/.273/.400 slash through 630 PA, while still swatting 22 home runs.

It would’ve been easy to just write off 2018 as a result of the toe injury, though between the earlier dropoff in 2017 and then his late start to 2019, the Mariners didn’t really know what to expect from Seager this year.  While still not at his 2016 peak, Seager has nonetheless rebounded to once again become a force at the plate.  He has 18 homers and a .250/.327/.503 slash line over 324 PA, fueled mostly by a recent surge (1.183 OPS over his last 132 PA) that has made Seager one of baseball’s top hitters over the last five weeks of action.

While he may not remain quite this red-hot, Seager’s production looks mostly sustainable.  His .354 xwOBA actually outpaces his .350 wOBA (which has been a consistent trend for him since Statcast began measuring wOBA/xwOBA back in 2015).  His exit velocity and hard-hit ball percentage are both well above league averages, and Seager’s 38.9% showing in the latter category represents a new career high.  Always something of a fly-ball hitter, Seager’s improved contact has made him the latest batter to benefit from MLB’s homer-happy reality, as his 18% homer rate is by far the highest of his career.  He has also shown more patience, with a 9.9% walk rate this season after a career-worst 6.0% in 2018.

Beyond just a healed toe, Seager also took steps to improve his diet and offseason training last winter, and the early results bode well for him to remain a valuable player heading into 2020, his age-32 season.  His bounce-back performance in 2019 could also revive some trade value, though the terms of Seager’s contract will be a notable obstacle.

Signed to a seven-year, $100MM contract extension by former M’s general manager Jack Zduriencik prior to the 2015 season, Seager is still owed $19MM in 2020 and $18MM in 2021, with a $15MM club option for 2022.  That club option becomes guaranteed, however, in the event of a trade, effectively making it a poison pill rival teams are unlikely to swallow for a player who will be 34 on Opening Day 2022.  The Mariners have been willing to cover money in other trades of veterans over the past year, though between the contracts already dealt and Felix Hernandez’s big salary coming off the books after the season, the M’s have already significantly reduced their future financial commitments.  The team has just under $87MM committed to payroll in 2020.

Even the fact that Seager can again be considered something of a trade chip, however, represents a big step forward for the third baseman given his issues over the previous two seasons.  Since Hernandez is expected to depart, Seager will become the longest-tenured Mariner, and perhaps a veteran bridge to the team’s next window of competitive baseball.  Dipoto has insisted that his rebuilding efforts won’t be long-lasting, so there’s still a chance that Seager’s career revival could take him into a long-awaited postseason appearance while still wearing a Mariners uniform.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

West Notes: Flores, Laureano, Mariners

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Utilityman Wilmer Flores isn’t the most heavily deployed player in Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo’s stable, but it’s been nonetheless strange to see the veteran–who is hitting .421 in sixteen August games–sit out since Tuesday’s game against the Rockies. The Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro now sheds a little light on that curious state of affairs, as the scribe relays that Flores has been dealing with a back issue (link). Apparently, Flores doesn’t consider the ailment “overly serious”, and Lovullo informed Piecoro that the former Met has been available over the last few days.

That the club is exercising caution with Flores is interesting, considering that Arizona holds a $6MM option on Flores’s multidimensional services next year. It’s possible that the club is nursing Flores and his injured back with an eye on keeping him in the club’s employ next year–then again, it’s just as possible that the sliding club, with a 3-7 record in their last ten games, is simply playing out the string on what promises to be a developmentally oriented close to the 2019 season.

More notes from around the left coast…

  • Athletics outfielder Ramon Laureano will get at-bats in Arizona in the next several days, according to information from manager Bob Melvin relayed to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser (link). Laureano has been out since July 28th with a leg injury, and previous reports indicated that he would get some at-bats with High-A Stockton before ultimately being activated. In his first extended big league look, Laureano provided the club with 419 at-bats of .284/.334/.518 production in 2019 while doing some nice things on the outfield grass (his 8 outfield assists rank him 3rd among centerfielders).
  • Mariners great Felix Hernandez returned to big league confines on Saturday, drawing standing ovations from fans while dialing up 5.2 innings of two-run ball in a 7-5 loss to the Blue Jays. While it was a welcome return for M’s fans, it did mean that lefty Wade LeBlanc would be transitioning back into a multi-inning relief role. LeBlanc has gamely offered the Mariners 8 starts and 21 appearances in 2019, although the 5.52 ERA he’s amassed in 109.1 innings goes a long way toward explaining his demotion back to a bullpen-only role moving forward.

Health Notes: Carrasco, B. Lowe, R. Hill, Tigers, Mariners

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The Indians and right-hander Carlos Carrasco are gaining hope he’ll be able to help their bullpen this year, Ryan Lewis of Ohio.com reports. Carrasco’s amid a remarkably encouraging recovery from leukemia, an illness that put a stop to his season in late May. Since beginning a rehab assignment at the Double-A level, the 32-year-old has tossed 2 2/3 innings of no-hit, five-strikeout ball, showcasing solid velocity in the process. The Indians will now move Carrasco’s rehab stint to Triple-A Columbus, where he’ll throw around two innings Sunday, according to manager Terry Francona.

  • Rays infielder Brandon Lowe’s season is seemingly over, but he’s not giving up on a return, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times relays. Lowe, who has dealt with shin and quad injuries over the past couple months, explained Friday that he’s aiming to rejoin the Rays during the postseason. A playoff berth isn’t a certainty for the Rays, but at half a game up on the AL’s top wild-card spot, they’re on track to earn a spot. Although he hasn’t played in a while, Lowe’s among the reasons for the club’s success. The 25-year-old rookie wrapped up his regular season with a terrific .276/.339/.523 line, 16 home runs and 2.5 fWAR in 307 plate appearances.
  • Dodgers lefty Rich Hill will throw a bullpen session Saturday for the first time since landing on the IL on June 20 with a flexor tendon strain, Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Hill estimates he’ll rejoin the Dodgers’ staff in two weeks, per Castillo, though it’s doubtful he’ll start for them again this season. The 39-year-old could at least be an asset out of LA’s bullpen heading into the playoffs, however.
  • The Tigers have placed utilityman Niko Goodrum on the IL with a left groin strain, the team announced. Goodrum, one of the few reasonably effective hitters in the Tigers’ lineup, has put up a .248/.322/.421 line with 12 homers and a dozen stolen bases across 472 plate appearances. Not only that, but the versatile 27-year-old has totaled double-digit appearances at first, second, short and in the outfield.
  • The Mariners have shut outfielder Mitch Haniger’s rehab down temporarily as he deals with a back issue, according to Greg Johns of MLB.com. It’s a new injury for Haniger, who suffered a ruptured testicle June 6 and hasn’t suited up for a major league game since. He appeared in three rehab games before the back problem cropped up.

Chasen Bradford Underwent Tommy John Surgery

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Mariners reliever Chasen Bradford recently underwent Tommy John surgery, according to Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (via Twitter). That makes it unlikely that he’ll return to action before the end of the 2020 campaign.

Bradford missed time earlier this year with a shoulder injury and then a forearm strain. Indication was at one point that he wasn’t expected to require any sort of surgery, but that obviously proved optimistic.

The 30-year-old Bradford has thrown in each of the past three MLB campaigns. He turned in a productive 2018 effort, working to a 3.69 ERA in 53 2/3 innings, but only made it through a dozen appearances this year before hitting the shelf.

A former 35th-round pick, Bradford will end the present season with just over two years of MLB service. He won’t yet be eligible for arbitration, but it seems unlikely he’ll hang onto his 40-man spot throughout the offseason.

Mariners Call Up Justus Sheffield

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As expected, the Mariners have called up lefty pitching prospect Justus Sheffield, per a club announcement. He’ll take the roster spot that the team opened by dropping Cory Gearrin.

Sheffield, 23, has seen brief MLB action in each of the past two seasons. But he hasn’t yet made his first start — a milestone he’ll reach this evening when he takes the ball against the Blue Jays.

While Sheffield’s early appearances in the bigs haven’t been laden with promise, he has long been considered a significant talent. Drafted in the first round back in 2014, he has since headlined a pair of major trades (from the Indians to the Yankees and then on to the Mariners).

At the same time, the lefty hasn’t quite sustained the top-100 prospect hype he carried for the past four seasons. He just doesn’t seem to be showing quite the upside that had once been posited, with some command issues and stagnant K/BB rates over multiple seasons in the upper minors.

The consensus still seems to be that Sheffield will turn into a solid MLB starter, which would work just fine for the M’s. He struggled quite a bit at Triple-A to open the year, allowing a dozen home runs with a middling 48:41 K/BB ratio in 55 innings there. But Sheffield has turned it up since in a dozen Double-A starts, over which he carries a 2.19 ERA with 9.8 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9.

If all goes well, it’s possible Sheffield will position himself for a spot in the 2020 Seattle rotation. It remains to be seen how many innings he’ll be allowed to accumulate down the stretch. Sheffield is already at a career-high 133 in the present campaign, though he’s probably in position to build up further after averaging more than 120 frames per season in the prior three campaigns.

Yankees Claim Cory Gearrin, Release Domingo Acevedo

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The Yankees have claimed righty Cory Gearrin from the Mariners, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). In a corresponding move, the New York club announced that it has released fellow right-hander Domingo Acevedo.

Gearrin is a well-established hurler who has seen action in eight MLB campaigns. He has long been effective despite uninspiring peripherals, with a career 3.59 ERA. That’s much the story again in 2019, as he owns a 3.92 ERA in 41 1/3 innings while carrying 8.5 K/9 against 4.6 BB/9 and a 46.6% groundball rate.

[RELATED: So, What Can Teams Do In August?]

As we explained in our recent listing of possible August waiver candidates — which included Gearrin and others — teams have a variety of possible motivations for exposing players to waivers at this time of year. With respect to a player such as Gearrin, who wasn’t dealt at the deadline, it’s likely the club considered factors such as salary savings, roster space for younger players, and a desire to allow a veteran a chance to play in a postseason race.

Acevedo, 25, has at times been considered a significant prospect. But he has had some health issues and was moved into a relief role this year. Evidently, the Yanks didn’t really love what they saw. Acevedo has maintained 9.4 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9 in his 51 2/3 total innings over 32 appearances, but has also allowed 11 long balls and 4.35 earned runs per nine in that span.

Mariners Place Domingo Santana On IL, Select Outfielder Jake Fraley

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The Mariners have a fresh face joining their outfield mix. Jake Fraley has been selected from Triple-A and will be available for today’s game. Domingo Santana has been placed on the injured list with right elbow inflammation, the team announced. Santana’s IL stint is retroactive to yesterday on August 19th, though the elbow discomfort is something he has been dealing with for close to a month now. With the addition of Fraley, Seattle’s 40-man roster still has two spots remaining – with one seat presumably saved for Felix Hernandez should his rehab assignments go smoothly.

Santana has quietly become one of the more potent bats in the Seattle lineup this season. It was at least a little surprising that Trader Jerry didn’t field further trade calls for him at the deadline, but with two more years of arbitration eligibility and plenty of near-term financial flexibility, the Mariners felt no pressure to move him. For his part, Santana is better suited for regular at-bats on a non-contender like Seattle until he can add some dimensionality to his game.

The hulking 6’5″ outfielder has DH’ed on occasion, but mostly splits his time evenly between left and right field. Defensive metrics are slightly more enamored with his work in right, but it’s a negligible difference in the grand scheme of things (-8 DRS to -7 DRA, -23.7 UZR/150 to -17.8 UZR/150). Regardless of where they stick him, Santana has not provided any additional value with the glove.

With the bat, Santana looks the part of middle-of-the-order slugger. Towering presence is a check, home run output is a check (21 on the year), and his overall batting line of .256/.332/.449 sticks the landing with an above-average 110 wRC+ – right in range of his career average (112 wRC+). When he connects, Santana does damage (above-average 42.5% hard-hit percentage), but getting bat-to-ball remains a struggle. Santana, 27, tops the league with 159 strikeouts, striking out in 32.1% of his at-bats – the highest percentage in the majors.

Fraley, 24, will prepare for his major league debut. A native of Frederick, MD about 45 miles north of Washington DC, Fraley is a former 2nd round selection of by Tampa Bay and the current #8 ranked prospect in Seattle’s system per MLB.com. Speed and defense are his calling cards, but after injuries slowed his progress in 2017, power has begun populating in-game for Fraley. His isolated power has increased with each new rung of the minor league ladder, from .200 ISO in High-A to .226 ISO in Double-A to .276 ISO across 168 plate appearances for Triple-A Tacoma this season. Fraley joined the Mariners this past winter as part of the Mike Zunino deal.

Fun fact for your trivia guides from MLB.com’s Greg Johns (via Twitter), Fraley will be the 17th Mariner to debut in the major leagues this season.

West Notes: Felix, Oberg, Dahl

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Erstwhile Mariners ace Felix Hernandez toed the rubber for the Tacoma Rainiers on Monday night and it shouldn’t be long before he’s donning a Seattle uni once again, according to a report from Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. Hernandez, out since May 12th with a lat-strain, threw 69 pitches and was largely effective in Tacoma, utilizing an 88-90 mph fastball to limit the Salt Lake Bees to one run over three-plus innings pitched. Indications are that the living legend would slide into the M’s rotation come Saturday, which would end the weeks-long four-man rotation dance that manager Scott Servais has had to orchestrate since the club’s trade of Mike Leake at the MLB trade deadline. For what it’s worth, Hernandez is looking at this return as a moment to savor, saying: “It’s going to be my last year. I don’t know what’s going to happen next year so I need to go out there and show them that I still love the fans and still love Seattle.”

It has been a long time since Hernandez flashed the kind of dominance that he displayed during a halcyon 2009-2014 run, but his return should be a welcome reprieve for M’s faithful during a “step-back” 2019 season. Though they may not be able to count on him to pitch in vintage form, Hernandez’s return–along with expected promotions for prospects Justus Sheffield, Justin Dunn, and Jake Fraley–should help add some intrigue to Seattle’s September frames. Hernandez has a 5.75 ERA since 2018’s outset and is playing in the final year of a 7-year/$175MM accord.

More news from around the left coast…

  • The blood clot complications experienced by Rockies relief ace Scott Oberg last week were a perspective-granting moment for those in-and-around the game of baseball. Though the Colorado org was looking to the veteran to handle save situations in the wake of Wade Davis’ dissolution, Oberg’s emergency hospital admission and subsequent surgery were a late-season reminder of the relative triviality of the game played between the lines. To their credit, Colorado is doing what’s necessary to ensure the long-term health of the righthander, as Oberg will travel with the team to St. Louis to see a specialist regarding his medical issue, per a tweet from Nick Groke of The Athletic (link). Primarily, the team wants to determine the danger involved with this recurrence of a blood clot for Oberg, who dealt with a similar issue in 2016.
  • In less heavy news for the purple-and-black outfit, Rockies outfielder David Dahl was with the team in the visiting clubhouse of Chase Field on Monday, according to a report from Jake Rill of MLB.com. Dahl, who has been rehabbing at a team complex since he went on the injured list with a high right ankle sprain on Aug. 3, will also travel with the team to St. Louis, where he will continue a rehab regimen largely based around activities like underwater treadmill running and throwing. The 25-year-old lefty swinger made the All-Star team this year on the strength of a .302/.353/.524 batting line that is somewhat undercut by his park-adjusted wRC+ figure of 108. Dahl does expect to have a chance to return and improve upon that line before season’s end, although he likely won’t go on a rehab assignment due to the minor league season’s imminent closure.
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