Mariners Rumors

40-Man Moves: 7/31/19

By Connor Byrne | July 31, 2019 at 6:40pm CDT

This has been a trade-filled day across Major League Basbeall, leaving plenty of smaller moves somewhat unnoticed. Here’s a look at the DFAs, contract selections and other 40-man transactions that came along with today’s action…

The Blue Jays have claimed right-hander Brock Stewart off waivers from the Dodgers, Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Once a well-regarded prospect, the 27-year-old Stewart has only managed a 5.46 ERA/5.71 FIP in 84 innings since he debuted in the majors in 2016. Stewart has also experienced a nightmarish 2019 at the Triple-A level, where he has mustered a 7.34 ERA/7.22 FIP with 7.93 K/9 and 4.74 BB/9 in 76 innings.
The Nationals announced that they’ve designated righties Javy Guerra and Michael Blazek for assignment. The 33-year-old Guerra has divided the season between Washington and Toronto, combining for a 4.50 ERA/3.86 FIP with 7.36 K/9 and 3.07 BB/9 across 44 innings. Blazek, 30, threw just five innings for the Nationals before his designation. Prior to his addition to the Nats’ roster, Blazek recorded a 5.54 ERA/4.91 FIP with 9.69 K/9 and 3.46 BB/9 in 26 Triple-A innings.
The Athletics have designated righty Andrew Triggs and outrighted fellow righty Brian Schlitter to Triple-A Las Vegas, the club announced. The 30-year-old Triggs was a promising piece for the Athletics a couple seasons ago, but health issues – including September 2018 thoracic outlet syndrome surgery – have prevented him from making an impact of late. He hasn’t pitched in the majors at all this season. Schlitter, meanwhile, lost his briefly held 40-man spot with the A’s when they designated him Monday.
The Indians have designated infielder Eric Stamets, who opened the season as their starting shortstop on account of Francisco Lindor’s calf strain. Stamets, 27, struggled to a hideous .049/.149/.073 line in 48 plate appearances while filling in for the great Lindor. He has been better – albeit far from spectacular – at the Triple-A level, where he has hit .232/.313/.378 with six HRs and 12 steals in 262 PA this season.
The Brewers have designated left-hander Donnie Hart, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com tweets. The 28-year-old has thrown 6 2/3 scoreless innings with the Brew Crew this season, though he has totaled more walks (four) than strikeouts (three). Hart has enjoyed a relatively productive campaign at the Triple-A level, where he has posted a 4.10 ERA/4.28 FIP with 7.23 K/9, 3.13 BB/9 and a 55.4 percent groundball rate in 37 1/3 innings.
The Mariners have selected righty Zac Grotz from Double-A Arkansas, the team announced. The 26-year-old Grotz, whom the Mariners signed to a minor league deal in the offseason, has registered a strong 2.51 ERA/2.74 FIP with 10.83 K/9, 1.73 BB/9 and a 57.9 percent groundball rate in 57 1/3 Double-A innings in 2019.
The Cubs have designated righty Oscar De La Cruz, Patrick Mooney of The Athletic relays. The 24-year-old De La Cruz entered the season as the Cubs’ 15th-ranked prospect, per FanGraphs, and has since pitched to a 3.89 ERA with 9.4 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 in 81 innings divided between the High-A and Double-A levels.
The Diamondbacks have designated righty Joey Krehbiel, who had a brief MLB debut with the club last season. The 26-year-old has stumbled to an 8.25 ERA/7.25 FIP and notched 8.6 K/9 against 7.05 BB/9 in 52 1/3 Triple-A innings in 2019.
More on the Diamondbacks, who have transferred utilityman Blake Swihart to the 60-day injured list. Swihart has been on the IL with an oblique injury since the start of June, so this is just a procedural move on the D-backs’ part.

D-Backs To Acquire Mike Leake

By Jeff Todd and Ty Bradley | July 31, 2019 at 3:11pm CDT

The Diamondbacks have worked out a last-minute deal for Mariners righty Mike Leake, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter). Infield prospect Jose Caballero is going to Seattle in return, per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (Twitter link). Arizona is taking on only $6MM of Leake’s remaining obligations, according to John Gambadoro of ArizonaSports.com.

It’s been a precipitous drop for the 31-year-old Leake, who’s now accrued nearly 1,800 big-league innings since debuting straight from Arizona State in 2010. Leake’s walk and strikeout rates have remained mostly intact, but he hasn’t been able to withstand the league-wide homer onslaught this season, having allowed an easily-career-high 1.71 per nine in 137 IP thus far. His average fastball velocity’s cratered to a career-worst 88.3 MPH, though the always-crafty mix-and-match artist has adjusted: his cutter and changeup, long his go-to out pitches, have each seen an uptick in usage, with the former being deployed nearly 27% of the time at current.

Leake’s park-adjusted peripherals still place firmly in the fourth/fifth starter range – thanks mostly to a string of sterling outings in the latter half of this month – and his presence should stabilize the back half of a Diamondbacks rotation that’s leaned heavily on the mostly ineffective arms of Taylor Clarke and Merrill Kelly of late. After the trade of Zack Greinke to the Astros, Leake will line up with the newly-acquired Zac Gallen, the still-here Robbie Ray, and some combination of Clarke, Kelly, and rookie Alex Young, whose peripherals lag far behind the 2.51 ERA he’s posted in his first six big-league outings.

It’s perhaps a bit chastening for the M’s, who acquired the righty from the Cardinals in a now-defunct August swap two seasons ago, to recoup only $6MM from the some $25MM remaining (through 2020) on the his deal. Caballero, 22, didn’t assert himself as a top organizational prospect for the Snakes, so the swap mostly seems centered around the marginal amount saved and opportunity for the club to insert a young hurler, perhaps lefty Justus Sheffield, into its rotation for the remainder of ’19. Righty Matt Wisler, acquired after being designated for assignment by San Diego, should also be afforded a look: the one-time top prospect has finally flashed the bat-missing stuff that was so often absent from his repertoire in seasons past.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Nationals To Acquire Roenis Elias

By Tim Dierkes | July 31, 2019 at 1:41pm CDT

After first picking up reliever Daniel Hudson from the Blue Jays, the Nationals have reached an agreement to acquire lefty Roenis Elias from the Mariners. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic was first to report a deal was close, with Joel Sherman of the New York Post indicating that Elias had indeed been traded to the Nats. Minor leaguers Elvis Alvarado and Taylor Guilbeau will head to Seattle in the deal, according to Rosenthal.

Elias, 31 tomorrow, broke in as a starter with the Mariners in 2014 and was re-acquired by the club in April 2018 after a two-year stint with Boston. Working exclusively out of Seattle’s pen this year, he has a 4.40 ERA, 8.6 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 1.53 HR/9, and 34.1% groundball rate in 47 innings. He’s faced 60 left-handed hitters in 2019, and they’ve teed off to the tune of a .353/.441/.549 batting line. He’s been much more effective against lefties in the past. With Hunter Strickland going down with a lat injury in April, Elias was able to slide into the Mariners’ closer role and rack up 14 saves in 16 opportunities. Elias is earning $910K this year and is under team control through 2021.

The Nationals notoriously own the worst bullpen ERA in baseball, with their crew tallying a 5.97 ERA in 321 1/3 innings. Aside from closer Sean Doolittle, they’ve currently got Matt Grace and Tony Sipp coming out of the bullpen from the left side. Neither has been particularly effective. The Nationals signed veteran lefty Jonny Venters in late May and selected his contract a month later, but he’s on the IL with a shoulder strain.

Guilbeau, a lefty reliever who was promoted to Triple-A earlier this month, ranked as the Nationals’ 15th-best prospect according to MLB.com. The site rated him as a 40 grade prospect, suggesting he can ride a mid-90s heater and above-average slider to a career as a left-handed specialist. Alvarado was signed as an international free agent for $700K out of the Dominican Republic in 2015. He played right field regularly in 2017 in the Dominican Summer League, moving to the mound in 2018-19 in the Gulf Coast League.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Nationals To Acquire Hunter Strickland

By Connor Byrne | July 31, 2019 at 1:35pm CDT

The Nationals will acquire reliever Hunter Strickland from the Mariners, according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Lefty Aaron Fletcher’s going to Seattle in return.

Strickland’s the third reliever of the day heading to the bullpen-needy Nationals. He’s the second on his way from the Mariners, who previously traded lefty Roenis Elias to the Nationals. The Nats also landed righty Daniel Hudson from the Blue Jays.

Strickland, a former Giant whom the Mariners signed to a $1.3MM guarantee in the offseason, has barely pitched this year. A lat strain kept him out of action from the end of March until earlier this week. Strickland made his first appearance in almost four months last Sunday, throwing a clean inning against the Tigers.

Considering the 30-year-old Strickland has totaled just 3 1/3 frames this year, there’s not much to glean from his performance. But he was largely an effective option with the Giants from 2014-18, a 226-inning span in which the hard thrower notched a 2.91 ERA/3.40 FIP with 8.4 K/9 and 3.15 BB/9. Strickland also had a memorable dustup with then-Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper during that period, though that’s obviously not a concern now with Harper a member of the Phillies.

Strickland could be a multiyear piece for the Nationals, who will have a chance to control him via arbitration for two seasons after this one. Meanwhile, the hope for the Mariners is that Fletcher will be around for much longer. The 23-year-old, whom the Nationals chose in the 14th round of the 2018 draft, has divided this season among the Single-A, High-A and Double-A levels, pitching to a sterling 1.79 ERA with 10.3 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in 60 1/3 innings. Fletcher ranked as the Nationals’ 21st-best prospect prior to the trade, according to MLB.com, which sees him as a potential major league reliever.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Brewers, Rangers Among Teams With Interest In Mike Leake

By TC Zencka | July 31, 2019 at 10:12am CDT

10:12am: Both the Brewers and Rangers have shown some degree of interest in Leake, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets. It’s not clear whether either of those two clubs is the team about which thee Mariners approached Leake last night. Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times further reports that Texas’ interest hinges on whether the deal Mike Minor.

While the Rangers have begun to operate as sellers, it’s also clear that Texas isn’t interested in a full-scale rebuild. President of baseball ops Jon Daniels and ownership surely want to field a competitive club as they open a new stadium next season, and while no one’s mistaking Leake for a top-of-the-rotation arm, he’d give them a stable option to take the ball every fifth day with generally competitive innings.

As for the Brewers, they’ve already picked up righty Jordan Lyles but have further rotation needs with Brandon Woodruff, Jhoulys Chacin, Jimmy Nelson and Corbin Burnes all sidelined. (Burnes has worked more in relief this season anyhow.) Chacin and Lyles will be free agents at season’s end, so there’s reason to look at adding an arm with additional control, even if the upside is limited.

6:41am: As a highly compensated member of a cellar-dwelling team, Mariners righty Mike Leake is a rather obvious trade candidate. But his full no-trade rights have complicated attempts to move him, and it has long been unclear whether a deal might be struck.

There was some anticipation that Leake could be shipped out in advance of his start last night. Indeed, as MLB.com’s Alyson Footer reports, Leake says that the Seattle front office actually brought a trade possibility to his attention before he took the ball. While details remain unclear, it seems that Leake was not the obstacle to the completion of the negotiations. Rather, the veteran righty indicates that he never heard word of a completed deal and instead made his start as scheduled.

With the trade deadline now just hours away, Leake’s assumption is that he’s staying put — though that doesn’t mean he has been given any assurances. “There’s still a possibility, I’m sure,” says Leake. “Right now, I look at it as I’m not getting traded. At this point, I think I’ll plan on being a Mariner for the rest of the year.”

The Seattle organization has spent much of the season re-shuffling its roster, finishing the work it started in the prior offseason. With intentions of a quick rebound to relevance, it’s possible to imagine Leake staying on as a member of the 2020 rotation. But he may still be dealt — if not today, then over the winter.

Leake is employed by the M’s but still being paid in part by the Cardinals, who signed him as a free agent before shipping him to Seattle. The veteran hurler is earning $16MM this year, $5MM of which is covered by the St. Louis org, and $15MM in 2020, with $4MM the responsibility of the Cards. There’s also a $5MM buyout on a 2021 mutual option.

While those hefty obligations pose a theoretical barrier to a deal, the Mariners have shown a willingness to eat salary in other recent swaps and have obviously found willing trade partners. For those contenders looking for some stability in the back end of their rotation, few hurlers come with more stamped-and-sealed credentials as Leake. With eight more starts this season, he’ll hit the 30-start mark for the eighth-straight season.

It’s not exactly an exciting profile, but Leake remains a useful pitcher. He turned in a middling performance following the pre-game distraction yesterday, surrendering 10 hits and 5 earned runs in 5 2/3 innings. On the season, the 31-year-old has been about as steady as he’s always been, with a 4.40 ERA through 137 innings. His strikeout rates remain fairly pedestrian at 6.6 K/9, but Leake has never been better at limiting free passes and presently carries a league-best 1.2 BB/9 mark.

Quick Hits: Domingo S., Rays, Molina, Red Sox, Jays

By Connor Byrne | July 30, 2019 at 1:02am CDT

Although Mariners outfielder Domingo Santana has come up as a potential target for the Rays, it doesn’t look as if the two teams will reach a deal for the slugger. Tampa Bay has “cooled on” Santana, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reports. Divish cites the elbow problems that have bothered Santana over the past few weeks as a potential reason the Rays have backed off their pursuit. The 26-year-old has endured his worst month of the season, perhaps on account of his elbow, having batted .246/.310/.354 with 25 strikeouts in 71 plate appearances. July has marred Santana’s offensive numbers to an extent, though he has still slashed a solid .273/.342/.475 with 20 home runs in 446 plate appearances.

Dodgers Acquire Kristopher Negron

By Mark Polishuk | July 28, 2019 at 11:36pm CDT

The Dodgers have announced the acquisition of utilityman Kristopher Negron from the Mariners in exchange for minor league infielder Daniel Castro.

Originally acquired from the D’Backs last August, Negron has appeared in 27 total games for Seattle, including nine outings this season. The 33-year-old has a career .216/.289/.328 slash line over 357 career MLB plate appearances in parts of six seasons, though his ability with the bat is much less important to the Dodgers than the versatility that Negron brings in the field.

Negron has started multiple games at every position on the diamond except pitcher and catcher over his career, making him a fit for a Dodger roster that just lost Enrique Hernandez to the injured list. With both Hernandez and Chris Taylor injured, L.A. was in need of a short-term backup behind Corey Seager at shortstop.

Castro joined the Dodgers on a minor league contract over the offseason, and has hit .241/.304/.295 over 185 Triple-A plate appearances this year. Castro is another player who can play all over the field, with extensive experience as a shortstop and second baseman, plus some time as a right fielder and third baseman. He is a veteran of 98 big league games with the Braves and Rockies from 2016-18, with a .505 OPS over 286 PA in the Show.

Rays, Indians Interested In Domingo Santana

By Mark Polishuk | July 28, 2019 at 10:14pm CDT

Domingo Santana has been drawing some attention as the trade deadline approaches, and MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link) reports that the Rays and Indians are two of the teams showing some interest in the Mariners outfielder.

Santana has rebounded from a down year in 2018 to hit .273/.342/.475 over 446 plate appearances for the Mariners, and he recorded his 20th homer of the season in today’s 3-2 win over the Tigers. Despite the impressive 120 wRC+, however, Santana has also struck out a league-high 135 times, and is a significant defensive liability as a corner outfielder.

The lack of glovework is particularly ill-suited to a Tampa Bay team that prioritizes defensive versatility, particularly since Tommy Pham and Austin Meadows have been so productive as the regular corner outfielders. That said, the Rays may simply be willing to overlook Santana’s defensive shortcomings in the name of getting some extra pop in their lineup, which is middle-of-the-pack is most offensive categories leaguewide. Santana and Meadows could more or less split the right field and DH duties, with prospect Nate Lowe perhaps returning to the minors until rosters expand in September. It isn’t a perfect fit, on paper, though Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto and Rays GM Erik Neander have been such frequent trading partners that it isn’t a shock to see Tampa linked to any potentially-available Seattle player.

The Indians also aren’t strangers to trading with the Mariners, as they joined with the Rays for last December’s three-team that saw Carlos Santana go to Cleveland and Edwin Encarnacion to Seattle. As with the Rays, Santana would give the Tribe’s offense a shot in the arm, especially since Cleveland is still looking for some consistent production from its outfield. Rookie Oscar Mercado has solidified center field, and Tyler Naquin and Jordan Luplow have both hit well in limited action, though adding Santana as an outfielder/DH would certainly help matters. Of particular note, Santana’s right-handed bat would greatly help a lineup that hasn’t done much damage against lefty pitching this season.

Santana’s struggles with the Brewers last year led to his modest $1.95MM 2019 salary in his first year of arbitration, so even though he’ll undoubtedly get a big raise this winter, he won’t earn enough to break the bank for the low-payroll Rays or Indians. Since Santana has two-plus remaining years of control, of course, Seattle will be looking for a quality return in any trade.

Pirates Claim Parker Markel

By Dylan A. Chase | July 27, 2019 at 5:54pm CDT

The Pirates have claimed right-handed pitcher Parker Markel off waivers from the Mariners, per announcements from both clubs. Markel had previously been designated for assignment by the Mariners on July 23rd. To accommodate the addition of Markel to their 40-man roster, the Pirates have transferred righty Rookie Davis from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list; Markel will be optioned to Pittsburgh’s Triple-A affiliate in Indianapolis.

For the Pirates, Markel represents an intriguing, nearly cost-free addition to their organizational relief corps. For one thing, the 6’4 hurler is a graduate of Yavapai College–a community college in tiny Prescott, Ariz., which has produced several big leaguers, including Curt Schilling, Kirby Yates, Ken Giles, and both Willie and Kole Calhoun. That interesting bit of trivia aside, Markel’s play in AAA this year has offered some signs of a player who may end up as a useful MLB reliever.

Selected by the Rays in the 39th round of the 2010 draft, Markel toiled for nearly a decade in the minors before signing a minor league deal with Seattle this offseason. Subsequent stints in AA Arkansas and AAA Tacoma indicated a changed man: the formerly groundball-oriented Markel struck out 62 batters in 35.1 innings before receiving a big league audition with the M’s in May. Though he was thoroughly knocked around in that cup of coffee (and in a subsequent one-game July callup), Markel’s slider-based, suddenly overpowering repertoire could possibly aid the Pirates beleaguered bullpen in short order.

Mariners Claim Keon Broxton

By Ty Bradley | July 27, 2019 at 3:17pm CDT

The Mariners have claimed OF Keon Broxton, reports Greg Johns of mlb.com. The 29-year-old was designated for assignment Sunday by the Orioles.

It’s the third team this season for Broxton, who was acquired in the offseason by Mets and jettisoned after a miserable to start to the season. In 142 plate appearances for New York and Baltimore, the righty’s slashed .188/.244/.289 with a shocking 43.0% strikeout rate. Swing-and-miss has always been the undoing for the speedy outfielder, who again has posted stellar, if not elite, defensive and baserunning numbers.

Broxton’ll look to squeeze his way into a hobbled Mariner outfield that’s currently without Mitch Haniger and Domingo Santana. Centerfielder Mallex Smith hasn’t been able to replicate his breakout 2018 campaign, so perhaps Broxton will be in the mix there. A corner spot may also be up for grabs – rookie Dylan Moore hasn’t offered much in his sporadic action, either.

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