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Mariners Not Ruling Out Re-Signing Tom Wilhelmsen

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  • The Mariners aren’t ruling out eventually re-signing reliever Tom Wilhelmsen, whom they designated for assignment Friday, general manager Jerry Dipoto told Greg Johns of MLB.com. Seattle was up against the 40-man roster limit when it parted with Wilhelmsen, and the club likely would have had to pay the arbitration-eligible right-hander in the $4MM neighborhood in 2017 had it retained him. It’s now possible the Mariners could re-up Wilhelmsen at a cheaper price in the coming months. “He did a good job, and I wish him well in free agency,” said Dipoto. “And this leaves something of an open door if something else arises and we want to bring him back.”

Mariners Release Stefen Romero

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  • The Mariners announced that outfielder Stefen Romero has been released so that he can pursue an opportunity to play in Japan.  Romero appeared in 72 games for Seattle in his 2014 rookie season but just 22 since, amassing a .195/.242/.307 career slash line over 233 plate appearances.  A 12th-round pick for the M’s in the 2010 draft, Romero showed some promise in the minors, posting an .875 OPS and an even 100 homers over 2567 minor league PA.

Players Added To The 40-Man

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We’ll use this post to keep track of the players being added to their teams’ respective 40-man rosters today, which is the deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 draft. Players must be added to the big league roster within either four years (if they were 19 or older at the time of their original signing) or five years (if 18 or younger) of their signing year in order to be shielded from selection.

MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo took a look at some of the biggest names who face roster decisions, though most of those won’t be much in question. At the fringes, teams must also consider the major league readiness of the player, since that factors heavily into whether they’ll be taken and kept. Any drafting team, of course, must keep a player on its active MLB roster for the full season (with certain exceptions relating to the DL) in order for their control rights to vest. Adding a player to the 40-man too early can have its own risks, because it limits flexibility and could require a team to expose that player to waivers if a need arises. With 26-man rosters reportedly under consideration, the Rule 5 draft could be quite intriguing this year, and that may bleed into today’s decisions as well.

Below is a division-by-division rundown of the names that were added to each team’s 40-man roster (plus the various waiver claims that spawned from teams trying to outright players to protect Rule 5-eligible prospects). We won’t delve into each player’s background, but if you’re looking to a little more about the names that were added, I’d highly recommend this tremendous, in-depth examination of each team’s additions by Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper. If you want to see how the moves look in the context of a team’s roster, head over to Roster Resource for your club’s depth chart.

Onto the moves…

American League West

American League Central

American League East

National League West

National League Central

National League East

Mariners Acquire James Pazos From Yankees, Designate Tom Wilhelmsen

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The Mariners announced that they’ve acquired left-hander James Pazos from the Yankees in exchange for minor league right-hander Zack Littell. Additionally, Seattle has designated veteran righty Tom Wilhelmsen for assignment and added lefty Paul Fry, corner infielder D.J. Peterson and right-hander Thyago Vieira to the 40-man roster.

Pazos, 25, has just 8 1/3 innings under his belt at the Major League level but has an impressive minor league track record. In 215 1/3 total innings in the minors, Pazos has a 2.30 ERA with 10.2 K/9 against 3.7 BB/9, and he’s worked to a minuscule 1.79 ERA with 78 punchouts in 60 1/3 innings at Triple-A. However, he’s also walked 34 batters in that time at Triple-A, indicating that his control could use some further refinement. Nonetheless, the Mariners are known to be looking for left-handed relief help, and Pazos will give GM Jerry Dipoto and manager Scott Servais an option that could conceivably break camp with the team in 2017 and, at the very least, should be an option later in the season.

Wilhelmsen, 33 next month, was traded from Seattle to Texas in last winter’s Leonys Martin deal but was rocked with the Rangers (10.55 ERA in 21 1/3 innings) and ultimately released in June. He quickly re-signed with Seattle and enjoyed a 180-degree turnaround, pitching to a 3.60 ERA with 6.1 K/9, 3.6 BB/9 and a 52.8 percent ground-ball rate in 25 innings to close out the season. However, the Mariners would’ve had to pay him a projected $3.8MM in his final trip through arbitration this winter.

Mariners Acquire Richie Shaffer, Taylor Motter From Rays

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The Rays have traded infielder/outfielder Richie Shaffer and infielder/outfielder Taylor Motter to the Mariners in exchange for minor league first baseman Dalton Kelly and minor league right-handers Andrew Kittredge and Dylan Thompson, the teams announced.

Richie Shaffer

The 25-year-old Shaffer (pictured) was the 25th overall pick in the 2012 draft but has yet to live up to cement himself as a Major League contributor. He’s spent parts of the 2015-16 seasons at the Major League level, hitting .213/.310/.410 in 142 plate appearances. He’s been considerably more productive at the Triple-A level, where he’s slashed .243/.338/.445 with 30 homers in 188 games. The right-handed-hitting Shaffer has experience at all four corner positions but has spent the majority of the time at first base. In his big league career, he’s actually been better against right-handed pitching than left-handers, but he doesn’t come with much of a platoon split looking back throughout his minor league career.

Motter, 27, made his big league debut with Tampa Bay in 2016 and hit .188/.290/.300 in 93 plate appearances while seeing time at all four infield positions and both outfield corners. The bulk of his work came in left field and at the two middle-infield slots, but Motter’s versatility is undoubtedly an appealing factor to the Mariners, especially when considering the fact that he carries a fairly solid .266/.338/.437 slash with 27 homers and 45 steals in parts of two seasons at the Triple-A level (215 games).

Thompson rated as the Mariners’ No. 22 prospect, according to MLB.com, whose scouting report gives the former fourth-round pick (No. 125 overall, 2015) a chance to develop three average-or-better offerings. His fastball currently sits in the low 90s and touches 93 mph, though there’s some room for further growth, according to MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis, so he could add some heat down the line. He also has the makings of at least an average slider and changeup, though they’re both inconsistent, the MLB.com duo notes. Thompson just turned 20 in September and has a 2.87 ERA with 8.9 K/9 against 3.4 BB/9 in 31 1/3 professional innings — all of which have come with the the club’s Rookie-level affiliate.

Kittredge, 27 next March, split this season between Seattle’s Double-A and Triple-A affiliates, posting a 3.50 earned run average with 10.5 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 72 innings of work. He made five starts but worked primarily out of the bullpen.

Kelly, 22, was a 38th-round pick by Seattle in 2015 but turned in a strong 2016 season despite that modest draft pedigree. In 564 plate appearances in the Class-A Midwest League, Kelly batted .293/.384/.416 with seven homers and 21 stolen bases. The UC Santa Barbara product sports a .384 OBP through parts of two professional seasons, having slashed .219/.385/.333 in 31 games after being drafted in ’15.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Cubs Claim David Rollins

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The Cubs have claimed lefty David Rollins off waivers from the Mariners, per a team announcement. He can be controlled at the league minimum salary.

It could be that Chicago intends to try to slip Rollins through waivers itself. After all, the Cubs are at the end of the line for waiver claims, meaning that every other organization passed on a chance to snag the 26-year-old.

There’s plenty to like about the numbers Rollins has posted at Triple-A over the past three years. Over 60 2/3 innings, he owns a 2.82 ERA with 7.1 K/9 against just 1.2 BB/9. But things haven’t quite worked out yet in the majors. He owns a grisly 7.60 ERA in 34 1/3 frames over the past two years, and struggled in particular in 2016 — with 12 hits and seven walks against just six strikeouts in his 9 91/3 innings. Rollins also showed a drop in average fastball velocity in 2016 (91.1 mph) as against his debut year (92.4 mph).

Clearly, though, the Cubs are intrigued enough by Rollins to place a claim. Whether or not he’ll have much of a shot there, or whether he’ll instead largely serve as depth, remains to be seen.

M's Could Turn To Trades For Lefty Reliever; Watson A Potential Name Of Interest

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  • The Mariners may not feel comfortable spending enough to compete with the Blue Jays for the services of free-agent lefty Brett Cecil, which could lead them to the trade market, writes Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. Per Dutton, Pirates left-hander Tony Watson is one name to monitor as Seattle looks for a late-inning lefty, noting that Watson is “believed to be available.” The 31-year-old stepped into Pittsburgh’s closer role last year following the trade of Mark Melancon and performed well, as he’s done in virtually every role he’s been used over the past several seasons. Dating back to 2012. Watson boasts a 2.40 ERA with 8.0 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and a 45 percent ground-ball rate in 345 1/3 innings. He’s lefties to a downright pitiful .190/.253/.273 slash but also more than held his own against righties, yielding a collective .214/.280/.346 batting line in that time. Watson has one more year of club control and is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $5.9MM in his final trip through the arbitration process.

Mariners Remain Interested In Zack Cozart

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The Mariners nearly acquired Reds shortstop Zack Cozart prior to the non-waiver trade deadline, and their interest in the veteran infielder has persisted into the offseason, reports Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. Dutton has previously reported that back on Aug. 1, the Mariners and Reds were in talks that would’ve sent Cozart and a minor leaguer to Seattle in exchange for minor league left-hander Luiz Gohara and another prospect, but the deal never materialized, as Dutton suggested that Cincinnati simply ran out of time to complete the deal after dedicating so much effort to completing its Jay Bruce trade with the Mets.

Seattle still holds interest in Cozart, according to Dutton, but the team seemingly considers a shortstop upgrade more of a luxury than a necessity. “We don’t need a shortstop,” one Seattle exec told Dutton. “We have [Ketel] Marte, and we think he’s going to be fine in the long term. Now could he benefit from some additional development time in the minors? Yes. We did that with [Mike] Zunino, and we think that really helped him. But it’s not the same. Zunino absolutely needed that development time. With Marte, we think it would be beneficial, but it’s not a must.”

If the Mariners do feel that Marte would benefit from additional time in the minors, then Cozart, on paper anyway, would seemingly be an excellent stopgap. The 31-year-old is somewhat OBP-challenged (.309 OBP over the past two seasons) but is one of the game’s premier defenders at shortstop and has demonstrated considerably improved power numbers in the past two seasons as well. Cozart hit 15 homers as a rookie in 2012 but saw that number dip to 12 in 2013 and just four in 2014. He belted nine long balls in just 53 games in 2015, though (his season was cut short by a knee injury), and connected on a career-best 16 homers last year despite playing in just 121 games.

The abbreviated nature of those past two seasons illustrates a potential area of concern when it comes to Cozart: his durability. Cozart suffered a torn ACL and LCL that ended his 2015 season in mid-June, and on multiple occasions in 2016 he missed a handful of games due to knee problems that didn’t necessitate a trip to the disabled list. However, his season did ultimately come to an end in September when his right knee forced him to the disabled list. Cozart’s final game of the year came on Sept. 10.

As for Marte, the 23-year-old looked to have solidified his place in the Mariners’ lineup with a terrific rookie season (2015) during which he slashed .283/.351/.402, but his offensive production cratered in 2016. In 466 plate appearances for Seattle this past year, Marte hit just .259/.287/.323 and saw his walk rate plummet from 9.7 percent to 3.9 percent. On top of that, he drew negative marks for his defense at shortstop. Marte debuted as a 21-year-old and played the entire 2016 season at the age of 22, so recommending some additional minor league time would hardly mean the organization has given up on him.

Even if the Mariners aren’t the team to ultimately acquire Cozart, it does seem like there’s a solid chance he’ll be moved this offseason. Cincinnati general manager Dick Williams said at last week’s GM Meetings that a Cozart trade was “something we’d have to consider” if it could put the club in a better position for the 2018 and 2019 seasons. And the Reds have a pair of intriguing middle-infield prospects in Jose Peraza and Dilson Herrera that the team would like to work into the lineup in 2017, which should lead to plenty of chatter about both Cozart and second baseman Brandon Phillips as the winter progresses.

Mariners Re-Sign Ryan Cook To Minor League Deal

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  • The Mariners have re-signed righty Ryan Cook to a minor league deal, writes MLB.com’s Greg Johns. Cook signed a one-year, $1.1MM deal with the M’s last offseason but never actually pitched for them, sitting out the season due to injury. He had Tommy John surgery last month and will miss the 2017 season as well. Cook has pitched parts of five seasons in the big leagues, pitching the majority of his innings with the Athletics, and has a career 3.43 ERA, 9.1 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9.

Jerry Dipoto, David Forst On Danny Valencia Trade

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The Mariners’ acquisition of utilityman Danny Valencia from the Athletics in exchange for right-hander Paul Blackburn is likely to end the Seattle tenures of two free agents – first baseman Dae-ho Lee and outfielder Franklin Gutierrez – general manager Jerry Dipoto revealed Saturday (via Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune).

“There’s very little likelihood that both (Valencia and Lee) will fit on the same roster,” Dipoto said. “I (also) don’t think we have to go out and focus on getting a right-handed-hitting outfielder just to have one.”

Valencia expects his role with the Mariners will be “to play first base, probably some right field,” which would make both Lee and Gutierrez superfluous to the club. All three are right-handed hitters, and barring more moves, Valencia is a strong candidate to complement lefty-swingers Dan Vogelbach at first base (previously Lee’s role with now-free agent Adam Lind) and Seth Smith in the outfield (fomerly Gutierrez’s job). Valencia seems likely to see most of his action at first, as Dipoto said Saturday that August acquisition Ben Gamel is slated to start in one outfield corner and Nelson Cruz and Guillermo Heredia will join Valencia in platooning with Smith. However, given that it’s so early in the offseason, Dipoto unsurprisingly isn’t ruling out further acquisitions.

“If we see a good fit, or the ability to go acquire a player who makes us better, we’re not going to hesitate. Valencia’s flexibility allows that,” he commented.

Oakland, having traded an outfielder in Valencia, will now look to strengthen the area, GM David Forst said in the wake of the trade (per Joe Stiglich of CSNBayArea.com).
“We need major league outfielders,” Forst stated. We have to be open to any means of acquiring, whether it’s free agents or trades. It’s certainly not our history to be aggressive at the top end of the free agent market, but we have money to spend and we have some good options. Mark Canha coming back will help fill this gap.”
Canha missed nearly all of 2016 with a hip injury, but he did slash a respectable .254/.315/.426 with 16 home runs and seven steals in a 485-plate appearance 2015 campaign. Oakland also has left fielder Khris Davis, who swatted 42 home runs this year, but the rest of its outfield class is decidedly less impressive. Current options include Brett Eibner, Matt Olson and Jake Smolinski, all of whom are coming off poor seasons. Valencia was far better than those three from an offensive standpoint this past season, though he’s defensively challenged and had clubhouse issues in Oakland. Forst spoke well of Valencia, but he didn’t think the team could pass on a chance to acquire Blackburn.
“He did a nice job in our lineup,” Forst said of Valencia. “This was about an opportunity to get a young starting pitcher we really like.”
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