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Mariners Sign Josh Fleming To Minor League Deal

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The Mariners have signed left-hander Josh Fleming to a minor league deal and assigned him to Triple-A Tacoma, as relayed by Tacoma Rainiers broadcast Mike Curto on X (link). Fleming elected free agency on the day of the trade deadline after being designated for assignment by the Pirates the week prior.

Fleming, 28, was a fifth-round pick by the Rays in the 2017 draft and spent his entire career in Tampa prior to the 2024 season. The southpaw made his big league debut back in 2020 and enjoyed a solid rookie season with a 2.78 ERA and 4.40 FIP in seven appearances, including five starts, that totaled 32 1/3 innings of work. Fleming struck out just 19.2% of opponents in that first season as a big leaguer but made up for that with an eye-popping 63.7% ground ball rate. Those strong results led the Rays to offer Fleming an expanded role the following year as he posted a career-best 104 1/3 innings of work in 2021. Unfortunately, the lefty struggled with the larger role and posted a lackluster 5.09 ERA, though it’s worth noting that his 4.27 FIP and 4.36 xFIP both indicate that he pitched better than that top-level run prevention number might otherwise suggest.

After his lackluster 2021 season, Fleming saw his role in Tampa reduced somewhat as he pitched just 35 innings for the big league club in 2022 followed by 51 2/3 innings of work in 2023. Once again splitting time between the bullpen and starting rotation, Fleming pitched to a combined 5.40 ERA with a 5.16 FIP, a 13.8% strikeout rate, and a 7.9% walk rate. He continued to generate grounders at an impressive 61.4% clip in those years until his 2023 season ended early due to a bout of elbow inflammation. The combination of injury concerns and ineffectiveness led the Rays to designate Fleming for assignment, and while he was snapped up off the waiver wire by the Phillies the lefty became a free agent not long afterwards when Philadelphia non-tendered him.

The southpaw ended up remaining in Pennsylvania despite that non-tender, however, as he eventually signed with the Pirates on a split contract back in February. Fleming made the club’s Opening Day roster out of Spring Training and pitched fairly well for Pittsburgh over the first month of the season. Things took a sharp turn for the worse in May, however, as Fleming allowed nine runs (eight earned) in just three innings of work across four appearances before eventually being outrighted off the club’s roster. He remained with the Pirates in the minors and eventually returned to the roster in mid-June. He pitched well for the club following his return with a 1.46 ERA in 12 1/3 innings of work, though he did so with questionable peripherals as he walked more batters (five) than he struck out (four). That led the Pirates to DFA him once again, though this time he decided to return to free agency rather than remain in the minor leagues with Pittsburgh.

Now, Fleming will join a Mariners organization that currently has just one left-handed pitcher (reliever Tayler Saucedo) on the active roster. Gabe Speier and Jhonathan Diaz are both lefty options in the minors already on the 40-man roster, though each has struggled at the big league level this year. That could leave a clear shot at a big league job for Fleming if he can impress Mariners brass with his performance at the Triple-A level, where he’ll have to contend with the inflated offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League.

Marlins Claim Brett de Geus

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The Marlins have claimed right-hander Brett de Geus off waivers from the Mariners and optioned him to Triple-A Jacksonville, per announcements from both big league clubs. Seattle had designated him for assignment last week when they claimed righty Jonathan Hernández off waivers from the Rangers. The Fish opened a 40-man roster spot earlier today when infielder/outfielder Nick Gordon was designated for assignment to open an active roster spot for Derek Hill, another waiver claimee.

de Geus, 26, signed a minor league deal with the Mariners in the offseason and was selected to their roster in the second week of April. He spent most of the season on optional assignment, only making four appearances for the big league club.

He also pitched for the Rangers and Diamondbacks in 2021 and the combination of those different MLB stints now gives him 53 1/3 big league innings with a 7.26 ERA. His 17.1% strikeout rate is subpar but his 9.9% walk rate is passable while his 51.4% ground ball rate is strong.

That’s generally been the recipe with de Geus. He has 32 Triple-A appearances this year with a 15% strikeout rate, 7% walk rate and 56.6% ground ball rate. The 6.60 ERA at that level this year isn’t pretty but a .365 batting average on balls in play and 59.4% strand rate have surely helped pushed some extra runs across the plate. He spent most of last year with the Double-A affiliate of the Royals, tossing 35 1/3 innings with a 2.80 ERA, 20.6% strikeout rate, 5.6% walk rate and 56.4% ground ball rate.

The Marlins have undergone a massive roster shakeup in the past two weeks. They traded away A.J. Puk, Jazz Chisholm Jr. Trevor Rogers, Tanner Scott, Bryan Hoeing, Bryan De La Cruz, Huascar Brazobán, Josh Bell and JT Chargois prior to the deadline. They brought back numerous prospects in those deals and also had open roster spots to claim Forrest Wall, David Hensley, Jesús Tinoco, Cristian Pache, John McMillon, Hill and de Geus off waivers.

de Geus will provide the Marlins with some depth in the minors who could be called upon whenever they need a ground ball specialist or just a fresh arm in general. He can still be optioned for the rest of this season and two additional campaigns. He also has just over one year of service time, meaning he could theoretically stick on the roster for a long time if he continues to justify his spot.

Mariners Prospect Felnin Celesten Undergoes Season-Ending Surgery

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Astros outfielder Kyle Tucker has been on the injured list due to a right shin contusion for nearly two months now, but it doesn’t appear as though he’s likely to join the club’s lineup anytime soon as they attempt to pull away from the Mariners in a tight race for the AL West crown. As manager Joe Espada told reporters (including Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle) earlier today, the club is not yet certain if Tucker will be able to contribute in the majors at any point in the month of August. Espada described the situation with Tucker as a day-to-day situation, adding that while it’s a “possibility” he could play at some point this month it would be “too aggressive” for him to commit to that timeline.

  • Mariners fans received some unfortunate news from down on the farm recently as Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports that shortstop Felnin Celesten underwent season-ending surgery to repair a preexisting hamate injury. Celesten, 18, is the club’s #5 prospect according to MLB Pipeline and was among the top prospects of the 2023 class of international amateurs. Signed out of the Dominican Republic to a $4.7MM bonus, Celesten is considered a high-floor prospect with a strong defensive reputation at shortstop and solid all-around tools. In his first taste of stateside ball this year, Celesten slashed an excellent .352/.431/.568 in 32 Arizona Complex League games before being sidelined by injury. It seems likely he’ll get his first taste of full-season ball sometimes next year once he’s returned from rehab.

Doug Creek Passes Away

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Former major leaguer Doug Creek has passed away, according to multiple sources, including The Journal out of Martinsburg, West Virginia. The left-hander died at the age of 55 due to the effects of pancreatic cancer.

Creek was born in Winchester, Virginia in 1969 and went on to attend Georgia Tech. He worked as a starting pitcher for the Yellow Jackets and was drafted by the Cardinals with a seventh-round pick in 1991. In the minor leagues, he continued working out of the rotation until he got near the majors and was then shifted into a relief role.

He was able to make his major league debut with the Cards in 1995, tossing 6 2/3 scoreless innings that year. Prior to the 1996 season, he was traded to the Giants alongside Rich DeLucia and Allen Watson for Royce Clayton and a player to be named later, who was later named as Chris Wimmer.

Creek made 63 appearances for San Francisco in 1996 but with a 6.52 ERA. In 1997, an attempt was made to get Creek stretched back out, though without success. He had a 6.75 ERA in three major league starts and a 4.93 ERA in Triple-A. He went overseas for the 1998 season, pitching for the Hanshin Tigers of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. He made six starts and one relief appearance with a 5.65 ERA.

He returned to North American ball and then spent the next few years as a journeyman left-hander, pitching for the Cubs, Devil Rays, Mariners, Blue Jays and Tigers. He finished his career with 289 1/3 innings pitched over 279 appearances. He had a 5.32 ERA, 22.2% strikeout rate and 15.1% walk rate. After leaving the baseball field, he headed out to the water. According to his obituary, he became a charter boat captain in Tampa Bay and competed as an angler on the Redfish Circuit.

We at MLBTR join the baseball world in sending our condolences to Creek’s family, friends, former teammates and coaches and all those mourning his passing.

Mariners Claim Jonathan Hernandez

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The Mariners announced they’ve claimed reliever Jonathan Hernández off waivers from the division-rival Rangers. Seattle designated righty Brett de Geus for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster. The M’s also announced that trade pickup JT Chargois has joined the team and will step into the MLB bullpen. Gregory Santos lands on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to August 1, with biceps inflammation.

Hernández, 28, changes teams for the first time in his career. He spent more than a decade as a member of the Rangers organization after signing in January 2013. Hernández reached the big leagues in the second half of the 2019 season, not long after his 23rd birthday.

The right-hander had a couple solid seasons to start his MLB career. He turned in a 2.90 ERA across 31 innings during the shortened 2020 schedule. He lost the entire following season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April ’21. Hernández returned for the second half in 2022 and looked to be picking up where he’d left off. He tossed 30 1/3 frames of 2.97 ERA ball for the stretch run. He picked up four saves and 10 holds while finishing 16 games as a medium-leverage reliever.

Things have gone downhill over the past two seasons. Hernández struggled to a 5.40 earned run average a year ago. Texas shuttled him back and forth between Triple-A on a few occasions, burning his final minor league option in the process. That meant the Rangers needed to keep him on the MLB roster this season.

Texas gave Hernández plenty of runway, affording him 41 innings across 26 appearances, but his results didn’t turn around. He allowed a 5.05 ERA with a career-worst 19.9% strikeout percentage and a lofty 14.4% walk rate. The Rangers pushed him out of their bullpen (and thus off the 40-man roster) on Tuesday with their deadline pickup of Andrew Chafin from the Tigers.

Seattle will try to help Hernández right the ship. They’ll also need to keep him on the big league roster unless they decide to designate him for assignment themselves. Hernández still averages nearly 97 MPH on his sinker and misses a decent number of bats with his slider. That solid raw stuff has too often been undercut by poor command, but there’s minimal cost for the M’s in taking a look. They’re assuming a little less than $400K on his $1.245MM salary for the stretch run. Hernández would be under arbitration control for another two seasons if he holds his bullpen spot in Seattle.

The Mariners added de Geus to their 40-man roster back in April. He has made four big league appearances, working 3 1/3 frames of one-run ball. Seattle has mostly kept the 26-year-old on optional assignment to Triple-A Tacoma, where he has allowed a 6.60 ERA across 30 innings in the Pacific Coast League.

de Geus is a former teammate of Hernández with the ’21 Rangers, who plucked him from the Dodgers in the Rule 5 draft. He combined for 50 innings of 7.56 ERA ball between the Rangers and Diamondbacks that season and didn’t get back to the big leagues until this year. Seattle will likely put him on waivers this weekend.

As for Santos, the offseason trade pickup missed most of the first half due to a lat strain. He returned to make six appearances before leaving Wednesday’s appearance with biceps soreness. He’ll miss at least the next two weeks, though Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times fortunately tweeted this afternoon that imaging came back clean.

Mariners Acquire JT Chargois

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The Mariners have landed right-hander JT Chargois in a deal with the Marlins, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (X link). In return, the Marlins will receive minor league right-hander Will Schomberg, as reported by Christina De Nicola of MLB.com (X link).

Chargois began the 2024 season on the injured list due to neck spasms and did not make his 2024 debut until mid-June. Since his return from the IL, the 33-year-old has put up excellent surface-level numbers, having allowed just three earned runs over 16 2/3 innings. However, he has struck out only 12 batters (16.9% K%) while walking seven (9.9% walk rate), and all three runs he has given up have come on home runs. What’s more, he is inducing groundballs at just a 34.6% rate, well below his 52.9% career average entering the season. As a result, Chargois’s underlying numbers are not nearly as impressive as his sparkling ERA; he has a 4.74 SIERA and 5.21 xERA, both of which would be the worst of his career. Even more worrisome, his fastball velocity has decreased significantly. His sinker, which averaged 96.3 mph last season, is down to 94.4 mph this year.

With all that said, Chargois has been an effective reliever in the recent past. Over 211 2/3 career innings with the Twins, Dodgers, Mariners, Rays, and Marlins, he has a 3.40 ERA and 3.84 SIERA. He was particularly effective from 2021-23, following his return from a brief stint in NPB. Across those three seasons, the righty went 9-1 with a 2.89 ERA and 3.99 SIERA over 118 1/3 innings. Perhaps a return to Seattle – an organization known for developing excellent pitching – will help Chargois get back on the right track. After all, it was the Mariners who took a chance on him in 2021 after his difficult 2019 season with the Dodgers (6.33 ERA in 21 1/3 IP) and poor performance in Japan (4.58 ERA in 35 1/3 IP). He pitched to a 3.00 ERA in 30 IP with Seattle over the first four months of the season before he was traded to Tampa Bay at the deadline.

Chargois will presumably slot into a middle relief role in the Mariners’ bullpen. Seattle ranks 12th in MLB with a 3.76 bullpen ERA and sixth with a 3.54 bullpen SIERA this season. Every reliever currently on the team’s active roster has a SIERA under 3.70, but the Mariners surely understand that there is no such thing as too much bullpen depth down the stretch. Chargois, who is earning $1.285MM this season, will be eligible for arbitration one more time in 2025.

Schomberg signed with the Mariners organization as an undrafted free agent in July of 2023. He has split the 2024 season between Single-A and High-A, pitching to a 2.83 ERA and 4.23 FIP in 19 starts (92 1/3 innings). Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs included Schomberg among the “other prospects of note” beyond his top 34 prospects in the Mariners system earlier this month. Longenhagen praised the righty’s “elite breaking ball spin,” noting the success he had “throwing a lot of cutters and curveballs” before his promotion to High-A.

Mariners Outright Chris Devenski

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The Mariners announced that right-hander Chris Devenski has been sent outright to Triple-A Tacoma. There was no previous indication he had been removed from their 40-man roster but they evidently passed him through waivers in recent days. Their 40-man roster count drops to 39.

Devenski, 33, was signed by the Mariners at the start of July after being released by the Rays. Though he is a veteran with enough service time to decline an optional assignment, he apparently consented as he has been with Triple-A Tacoma for the past few weeks. He made six appearances there and allowed two earned runs.

The M’s presumably have other uses in mind for that roster spot, so they bumped Devenski off. They have already been aggressive in upgrading their offense and bullpen, having acquired Randy Arozarena, Justin Turner and Yimi García in recent days. They’ve been connected in rumors to guys like Tanner Scott and Yandy Díaz, so perhaps more roster shake-up is forthcoming.

As for Devenski, he has more than enough service time to reject this outright and elect free agency, though it’s not yet clear if he’s chosen to do so. Heading to the open market would make some sense, since plenty of clubs will have roster openings after the musical chairs of the deadline plays out.

He was once quite a dominant reliever with the Astros, though he’s a few years removed that performance now. Over 2016 and 2017, he had a 2.35 earned run average in 189 innings for Houston. He struck out 28.2% of batters faced and only gave out walks at a 6.4% clip. Injuries in the coming years, including Tommy John surgery, seemed to hamper his results. His ERA was a combined 4.56 in 2018 and 2019 then a ghastly 9.47 for the 2020-22 seasons.

He then had a pretty unimpressive start to his 2023 season, with a 5.08 ERA with the Angels. But that season finished strong as he had a 2.08 in nine appearances for the Rays. That prompted Tampa to re-sign him but he then had a 6.75 ERA this year, leading to his release and then his deal with the Mariners.

Mariners Acquire Justin Turner

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The Mariners have acquired Justin Turner and cash considerations from the Blue Jays, per announcements from both clubs, with outfield prospect RJ Schreck going to the Blue Jays in return. Turner was playing for the Jays at the time the trade was reported but was removed from the game.

Turner has remarkably continued to be an above-average hitter as he approaches his 40th birthday, which is in November, though he has unsurprisingly tailed off a bit from his peak. With the Dodgers from 2014 to 2022, Turner hit .296/.375/.490 for a wRC+ of 137. He signed with the Red Sox last year and slashed .276/.345/.455 for a 114 wRC+, a noticeable drop-off from his work in Los Angeles but still 14% above average.

He signed with the Jays coming into 2024, a one-year deal with a $13MM guarantee plus bonuses based on plate appearances. His offense has taken another small dip but is still decent. He is drawing walks at an 11.2% clip this year while limiting his strikeouts to a 17.2% rate. His .253/.348/.370 batting line translates to a 109 wRC+.

The Mariners are 56-51 and battling the Astros and Rangers in the American League West. Their pitching has been great this year but the offense has been a disappointment. Collectively, they are hitting .218/.300/.368 for a wRC+ of 95, which places them in the bottom third of the league. Their 27.7% strikeout rate is easily the worst in the majors. On top of those season-long struggles, they recently lost Julio Rodríguez and J.P. Crawford to the injured list.

The club has been actively trying to reconfigure the offense in recent days, acquiring Randy Arozarena from the Rays and now Turner from the Jays. Given the club’s punch-out problem, it’s perhaps not a coincidence that Turner has always been tough to strike out. He has a 15.4% strikeout rate in his career and has never been higher than 17.6% in a full season. For context, the major league average is 22.3% this year.

Turner has played all around the infield in his career but the expectations of his glovework have naturally diminished as he has pushed further into his late 30s. He has dabbled at second base in recent seasons but the Jays haven’t put him there this year. He’s still made some appearances at third base this season but only five starts, with his last regular playing time there coming in 2022. He only has 11 starts at first base this year but that might just be because Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is there most days, as Turner got into 41 games there for the Sox last season. Divish relays on X that Seattle manager Scott Servais said Turner will likely play first in Seattle more than he did in Toronto.

The Mariners recently traded Ty France to the Reds, opening up their first base spot. They’ve been using Tyler Locklear and Jason Vosler there in recent days, but now Turner could jump into that mix. The club had initially planned for Mitch Garver to be something close to an everyday DH this year but his underwhelming season has nudged him into more of a traditional backup catcher role. That means there could also be DH at-bats to be shared between Turner, Vosler and Locklear.

The Jays have been in sell mode for a while, having already flipped Yimi García, Nate Pearson and Danny Jansen in recent days. Now they have flipped Turner for Schreck, a 24-year-old who the M’s selected in the ninth-round of last year’s draft. He started this year in High-A and performed very well at the plate. In his 344 plate appearances, he drew walks at a 16.6% rate while only striking out 13.7% of the time. He also hit 12 home runs, leading to a slash of .261/.401/.464 and a 148 wRC+. On top of that, he added seven steals while playing all three outfield slots.

He then got bumped to Double-A and has a brutal slash of .143/.294/.250 there, but in a tiny sample of eight games with a .190 batting average on balls in play that is surely not sustainable. The Jays will perhaps bring him over to their own Double-A club in the coming days and hope for better help from the baseball gods.

Beyond the prospect, the Jays are likely happy to unload some of of Turner’s contract. There’s about $4.3MM left to be paid out and some part of that amount will be subtracted from the competitive balance tax calculation. The Jays are reportedly paying down $2MM in the deal.

With the trades of Turner, Jansen, García and Pearson, the Jays have made significant progress towards ducking under the tax line this year. RosterResource estimates that they are currently just under $242MM, putting them less than $5MM away from the $237MM base threshold, though the cash going to Seattle in the Turner trade should alter that calculus.

Between now and tomorrow’s deadline, they could still move rentals Yusei Kikuchi, Kevin Kiermaier and Trevor Richards. They could also consider deals for guys like Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Chad Green or Chris Bassitt, who are each making notable salaries through 2025. If they manage to reset their CBT status this year, it would mean they could pay the tax in 2025 as a “first-time” payor instead of a “third-time” payor while also having lower penalties for signing free agents that rejected qualifying offers. MLBTR explored Toronto’s CBT situation a couple of weeks ago.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported on X that Turner was going to the Mariners. Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times first relayed that a prospect was involved that it was Schreck (X link one and two). Ronald Blum of the Associated Press reported the cash considerations.

Reds Acquire Ty France

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The Reds announced Monday that they’ve acquired first baseman Ty France and cash from the Mariners in exchange for minor league catcher Andruw Salcedo. Seattle designated France for assignment last week. Cincinnati also placed catcher Austin Wynns on the 10-day injured list due to a lat strain, selected the contract of catcher Eric Yang from Triple-A Louisville and transferred righty Graham Ashcraft to the 60-day IL to open a 40-man spot. Their 40-man roster is now at capacity. Seattle is reportedly sending around $1.29MM to cover part of France’s remaining salary.

Entering the season, the notion of the Reds acquiring a first baseman would’ve seemed silly. Cincinnati had an infield surplus and a particular glut of first basemen, with Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Spencer Steer and offseason signee Jeimer Candelario all standing as options at the position. However, Encarnacion-Strand’s season ended early due to wrist surgery, while Steer has seen significant time in the outfield. Candelario has spent much of the year at third base but has been at first base more frequently since Noelvi Marte returned from an 80-game PED suspension. France figures to slide in at first base — certainly against left-handed pitching — while Candelario could see increased time at designated hitter.

Originally drafted by the Padres, France went to Seattle alongside Andres Munoz in the 2020 trade that sent catcher Austin Nola from Seattle to San Diego. He broke out immediately with the M’s and for several seasons was one of their most productive hitters — even earning a well-deserved All-Star nod in 2022. From 2020-22, France posted a combined .285/.355/.443 batting line. He belted 42 homers despite playing in the game’s most pitcher-friendly park, adding 68 doubles and three triples along the way. He didn’t walk much (6.5%) but also went down on strikes in only 16.7% of his plate appearances.

France’s bat took a step back in 2023, when he hit .250/.337/.366 with a dozen homers. His bat-to-ball skills remained strong, however, and his batted-ball metrics remained in line with those that he’d posted during that strong 2020-22 run. A dip in his homer-to-flyball rate was at least partially to blame, and the Mariners tendered France a contract despite the down year, understandably betting on his track record and the ostensibly fluky nature of his ’23 downturn.

The rebound the M’s had expected never manifested, unfortunately, and this year’s struggles are more alarming. France’s contact skills have dipped noticeably. After making contact on 91.2% of pitches in the strike zone in the three preceding seasons, his contact rate on balls in the zone has dropped to 87%. He’s chased off the plate less but also swung less in general as well, dropping from a 52.5% swing rate to a 48% mark. As he’s gotten more passive and made contact in the zone less often, pitchers have attacked him more (58% first-pitch strike rate in 2021-23; 61.2% in ’24). The change in approach hasn’t worked out, as France’s strikeout rate has spiked to a career-worst 24.4%.

The Reds, in dire need of an offensive jolt, will send a low-level catching prospect to the Mariners in hope of turning France around. He’ll move from one of the worst settings for a hitter (Seattle’s T-Mobile Park) to one of the best (Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park) — and that swap alone should help France in the power department. The Reds will hope that the change in scenery and some new coaching input and new data from their front office can help France get back to his prior form. They’ve received an awful .215/.266/.363 slash from their first basemen this season, so France will have a low bar to clear when it comes to providing an upgrade..

If France is indeed able to return to form — or at least more closely approximate his peak form — he’ll be a multi-year option for Cincinnati. He’s not currently signed to a contract for the 2025 season but is arbitration-eligible one final time this winter. The Reds would owe him a raise on this year’s $6.775MM salary, though his early struggles in Seattle should tamp down the weight of any salary increase and keep him shy of $10MM. If not, France would be a trade or (likelier) non-tender candidate in the offseason.

As for the Mariners, they’ll bring in a 21-year-old catcher who’s played parts of four seasons in the Reds’ system. Salcedo carries a .246/.347/.330 batting line in a still-small sample of 98 professional games. He’s fanned in 27.5% of his plate appearances but also walked at a hearty 11.4% clip. He’s not regarded among the Reds’ top prospects, but that sort of low-level lottery ticket return is to be expected for a veteran player on a notable salary. In the meantime, they’ll continue to give regular playing time at first base to top prospect Tyler Locklear while also scouring the market for an additional bat to add to the mix after acquiring Randy Arozarena from the Rays last week.

Ronald Blum of the Associated Press reported the specifics of the cash considerations.

Diamondbacks, Mariners Interested In Tanner Scott

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The Diamondbacks and Mariners are among the teams “thought to be vying for” Marlins closer Tanner Scott, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post.  At least a dozen clubs have reportedly shown some level of interest in Scott’s services, with the D’Backs and M’s now joining the Orioles, Dodgers, Phillies, Yankees, and Royals as publicly known suitors.

Scott threw another scoreless inning in Miami’s 6-2 win over the Brewers last night, extending his scoreless innings streak to 17 2/3 frames.  For the season as a whole, Scott has a superb 1.18 ERA over 45 2/3 innings, with a 28.7% strikeout rate and similarly excellent numbers almost across the board — with the glaring exception of his 14.8% walk rate, which sits just a few decimal points away from being the very worst in baseball.

While these control problems make Scott less than an automatic lock in the ninth inning, this is his second consecutive season of tremendous results as the Marlins’ closer.  Since Miami is in seller mode and Scott is a free agent after the season, the left-hander is one of the most obvious players to be moved by the July 30 trade deadline, and several contenders are naturally reaching out to the Marlins about Scott’s services.

Arizona, in fact, already completed a deal with Miami about another southpaw reliever just two days ago, picking up A.J. Puk for two prospects.  Heyman’s report doesn’t specify the timing of the Diamondbacks’ inquiries about Scott, so it does seem possible that the D’Backs might’ve pivoted to Puk as a backup plan if the Marlins’ asking price for Scott was too high.  On the flip side, an argument can easily be made that Arizona’s shaky bullpen needs more reinforcements than just Puk, so it is easy to imagine that trade as perhaps laying some groundwork for future talks, once the Marlins explore what other clubs are willing to give up for Scott.

Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen told reporters (including Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports) that the Snakes could add more relievers, and the team was continuing to focus on acquiring pitching before turning to acquire any position players.  “We’re still gonna stay engaged in every market, you never know when an opportunity is gonna come up,” Hazen said.

The Mariners are another team who has already been very active in advance of July 30, as Seattle has acquired both Randy Arozarena and Yimi Garcia in respective trades with the Rays and Blue Jays.  Like with the D’Backs and the Puk trade, Seattle’s acquisition of Garcia probably doesn’t close the door on the possibility that the M’s might also aim to land Scott, though the Mariners have a far more glaring need for offense than pitching.  Depending on how much prospect depth or financial flexibility the M’s have, Seattle could opt to focus its upcoming moves towards adding more bats, rather than bring Scott into what is already a pretty solid bullpen.

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