Mariners Rumors

Padres Acquire Jabari Blash From Mariners

By Jeff Todd | May 18, 2016 at 3:47pm CDT

3:47pm: Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune tweets that the Mariners will receive cash instead of a PTBNL in the deal.

3:06pm: The Padres have struck a deal to acquire outfielder Jabari Blash from the Mariners, per an announcement from Seattle. A player to be named later or cash will return to the M’s in the deal.

Blash, of course, has spent much of the year playing at the major league level for the Friars after being selected in the winter’s Rule 5 draft. San Diego designated him for assignment recently, and Blash evidently cleared waivers and was offered back to his original organization — the Mariners, who had declined to protect him in the offseason by adding him to their 40-man.

Clearly, the Padres are more enamored of Blash’s future prospects than is his former team. The 26-year-old will head to Triple-A to attempt to refine his hitting, which wasn’t possible when San Diego controlled his Rule 5 rights.

Blash struggled to a .120/.241/.160 batting line with 13 strikeouts in his first 29 trips to the plate in the majors. But he showed some promise last year in the upper minors compiling a .271/.370/.576 slash in 476 plate appearances in the upper minors.

AL West Notes: Mariners, Gomez, Gray, Madson

By Steve Adams | May 16, 2016 at 2:35pm CDT

The Mariners are off to a 21-16 start and currently sit a half game back in the AL West, and Bob Nightengale of USA Today spoke to a number of players on the roster as well as general manager Jerry Dipoto about the club’s early surge. As Dipoto explained to to Nightengale, his focus during his first offseason as the Seattle GM was to restructure the roster without compromising the impressive core he inherited. “I learned there really is no such thing as rebuilding in the major leagues,” said Dipoto. “You can rebuild organizations, but you’re here to win at the big-league level. We wanted to rebuild and replenish our player development, but when you have Robinson Cano and Felix Hernandez, and Kyle Seager and Nelson Cruz, why would you ever rebuild?” Dipoto praised ownership for allowing him to pursue creative opportunities to turn the roster over and also stressed the importance of building a winning culture, not merely accumulating talent. Acquired in the offseason, left-hander Wade Miley explained to Nightengale that said vision has paid off. “This is the most fun I’ve ever had,” said Miley, who came over in the Carson Smith trade with the Red Sox. “Well, since I was 12.” Miley is just one of many new faces, though, as Nightengale points out that there are only eight holdovers from last year’s disappointing roster — a testament to Dipoto’s aggressive winter maneuverings.

Latest On Interest In Tim Lincecum

By Steve Adams | May 12, 2016 at 12:44pm CDT

Tim Lincecum has yet to sign following last Friday’s showcase, which was attended by roughly two-thirds of the league, but a handful of reports today has at least eliminated a few teams from consideration. Per Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter), both the Padres and Mariners are out of the mix on Lincecum at this point. While some San Diego fans speculated that the Friars’ claim of Hector Sanchez, who caught Lincecum during the pair’s San Francisco days, could be related, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune squashed that notion in relatively short order last night, tweeting that the Sanchez claim was unrelated to any pursuit of Lincecum and was instead merely about adding catching depth to the organization.

Beyond all of that, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro tweets that the Marlins, too, are unlikely to make a play for the right-hander at this time. Those reports join previous word out of Baltimore and Arizona that the Orioles and D-backs, respectively, aren’t expected to pursue Lincecum, either.

Rosenthal adds (Twitter link) that the Angels, Giants and White Sox currently have the most interest in Lincecum, which is the same list of clubs reported to be most intrigued this past weekend, with the notable exclusion of the D-backs. Per Rosenthal, no decision is close. Any of the three make sense as a landing spot, though Giants manager Bruce Bochy said last week that the club was only interested in a relief role for Lincecum, and fallen ace Matt Cain delivered a strong showing in his most recent start, by dominating the Blue Jays over eight innings. The Angels, meanwhile, picked up one arm yesterday by acquiring Jhoulys Chacin from the Braves, and while it’s hard to imagine that lone pickup leaving the Halos feeling like they have sufficient depth in the rotation in the wake of all the injuries they’ve incurred, it probably does curb some of the urgency to seek further rotation help.

As for the White Sox, they have some options to replace the recently released John Danks (former Oriole Miguel Gonzalez is getting the first crack at the fifth spot), but the rotation is suspect beyond Chris Sale, Jose Quintana and Carlos Rodon. Mat Latos started the year strong, but his lack of strikeouts and considerable fortune on balls in play made him a clear regression candidate through his first several starts, and the wheels have begun to come off as of late.

Amid the considerable Lincecum chatter, it seems worth addressing that it’s been five years since he posted an ERA south of 4.00 in a season, making it likelier that he stabilizes the back end of a rotation than emerges as a revitalized top-of-the-rotation force. Lincecum did post a 4.37 ERA and come within arm’s reach of 200 innings as recently as 2013 even while averaging 90.4 mph on his fastball, so there’s certainly reason to express optimism that he can help a club in 2016 with the aid of improved health. However, fans hoping for a return to the levels displayed in his Cy Young heyday are probably overreaching.

AL West Notes: Mariners’ Payroll, Wilson, Stubbs, Alvarez

By Steve Adams | May 9, 2016 at 9:03am CDT

The new Mariners ownership group fronted is prepared to follow through on CEO John Stanton’s comments that “payroll matters” (made at the press conference announcing the ownership change) when the trade deadline approaches, reports Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times, citing a pair of sources that are “intricately tied to the ownership group.” As Baker writes, former CEO Howard Lincoln was required to run all decisions by representatives from Nintendo of America prior to their sale of the majority stake of the club, and the result was often lackluster acquisitions. Even though the sale won’t be formalized until August, however, Nintendo isn’t likely to intervene with payroll matters at this point, and Lincoln, who remains involved in a lesser role, is said to be on board with increasing the payroll as necessary in order to augment a roster that has produced a first-place record through the season’s first 31 games.

AL West Notes: Gattis, Trout, Calhoun, Hill, Felix

By Jeff Todd | May 6, 2016 at 11:19pm CDT

The Astros have optioned Evan Gattis to Double-A, where he’ll get comfortable behind the plate, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle reports (links to Twitter). Houston has yet to utilize the 29-year-old as a catcher, but he broke into the league in that position. With the organization one of several struggling with receiving depth, it seems he’ll have a chance to don the tools of ignorance once again. Gattis, who’s off to a rough start at the plate (.213/.269/.328), says that he’s excited at the development. Kaplan suggests that Gattis is unlikely to spend more than the requisite ten days on optional assignment.

Here’s more from the AL West:

Angels GM Billy Eppler made clear that the organization is not going to begin entertaining the idea of trading superstar Mike Trout after the awful pitching news received today, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports. The Halos are looking hard at options for the rotation, he says, and still believes in its chances. “This team was up against a lot of adversity last year and fought to the end,” says Eppler. “We’ve got a lot of character, a lot of the same guys on the club. They will not back down from a fight.” Some aren’t so sure that’s the right approach for the Angels. Dave Cameron of Fangraphs argues that the team’s near-term outlook, depleted farm, and continued payroll constraints provide cause to at least consider taking offers on Trout, who’d surely draw unprecedented trade interest. ESPN.com’s David Schoenfield, meanwhile, draws on that piece and looks at a few organizations that could plausibly make a run at a player whose immense productivity and appealing contract make him the single most valuable asset in the sport.
The Angels have another quality young outfielder in Kole Calhoun, and Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times profiles his unlikely path to the majors. Long overlooked despite his performances as an amateur, Calhoun has turned into an eighth-round hidden gem for the Halos. “I don’t know what all of professional baseball was thinking,” said former scouting director Eddie Bane. “We were just dumb.”
Former Angels prospect Hunter Green is sticking with his plans to retire, Mike DiGiovanna writes for Baseball America. The wiry lefty dealt with significant injury issues, and ultimately decided to hang ’em up after failing to get back on track. While the organization tried to convince him to stick with it, the former second-rounder has apparently decided to move on from the sport.
Having seemingly come from out of nowhere to where he is now — a quality starter for the Athletics — Rich Hill’s back story remains of interest. According to Orioles catcher Matt Wieters, Hill showed plenty of signs back when he caught the southpaw in the upper minors, as Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports. “The stuff for a left-hander, I always thought was something you don’t see much with the type of pitches he could throw,” said Wieters.
Felix Hernandez has provided the Mariners with typically productive innings, but there’s some cause for real concern, Jeff Sullivan of Fangraphs writes. The veteran righty has seen his velocity steadily decline in years past, but now he’s experienced a sudden drop-off that’s left him sitting below 90 mph with his average fastball. Meanwhile, he’s also struggling to hit the zone. While Hernandez has thus far managed to generate plenty of soft contact, the 30-year-old certainly doesn’t look like the same pitcher he has been in years past. Whether he can continue to put up ace-like results remains to be seen.

AL West Notes: Zych, Butler, Rangers, Richards

By Steve Adams | May 5, 2016 at 12:18pm CDT

The Mariners will be without right-hander Tony Zych for four to six weeks due to the rotator cuff tendinitis that landed him on the disabled list earlier this week, reports Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. When the Mariners originally announced his injury, Zych had yet to have a followup examination back in Seattle. Those tests have now taken place and produced the timeline for which Seattle will be without its quietly excellent setup man. In 30 1/3 innings since being promoted to the Majors last season, Zych has posted a 2.67 ERA, 12.8 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 with a 51.5 percent ground-ball rate. He’s also averaged 95.7 mph on his fastball and has the 14th-best K-BB% among MLB pitchers with a minimum of 30 innings thrown dating back to last season.

Athletics designated hitter Billy Butler says he’s been left in the dark somewhat as to his lack of playing time, as Jane Lee of MLB.com writes. Butler was careful not to complain about his diminished role, but he did tell Lee that he’s in unfamiliar territory as a part-time player. “I’ve played every day of my life from when I was 7 years old, so this is something new,” he said. “I don’t even know how to exactly prepare for what I’m supposed to do because I’ve never had to do it, so I just try to treat it like I’ve treated everything else, like I’m a starter.” Butler, though, acknowledged the constant change and roster fluctuation that comes with any 162-game season and said he anticipates eventually being able to get another chance to prove he can still be an everyday bat. While he was initially told he wouldn’t be in a straight platoon, that’s how it’s played out for the most part thus far, resulting in just 38 plate appearances for the former Royals star. Butler is earning $10MM this year and has another $10MM coming his way in 2017 as part of a three-year, $30MM deal signed with Oakland.
The Rangers are flush with possibilities when it comes to their outfield alignment, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports in his latest notes column. Texas officials, according to Rosenthal, have discussed the possibility of shifting Ian Desmond to center field (where he’s already seen a bit of time) upon Shin-Soo Choo’s return from the disabled list, which would keep a spot open for impressive rookie Nomar Mazara. That could give the struggling Delino DeShields some time to work in the minors. Looking longer-term than 2016, though, Rosenthal notes that the Rangers have a plethora of outfield options, most notably including Lewis Brinson, as well as a pair of infield prospects in Joey Gallo and Jurickson Profar, that may not have clear-cut places to be placed on the roster. The Rangers, he concludes, are exceptionally well-positioned to make a major play at this summer’s trade deadline if need be.
Not that the Angels need any more injuries in their rotation, but there appears to be some form of issue with ace Garrett Richards, as the Orange County Register’s Jeff Fletcher writes in his latest column. Richards left his most recent outing after four innings due to dehydration, and he’s skipped his regularly scheduled bullpen sessions between starts. According to Fletcher, Richards said that he isn’t hurt but also acknowledged that something is a bit off. “I’m still a little fatigued,” said the Halos’ Opening Day starter. “The body is still tired. I’m still trying to bounce back. Everything doesn’t feel as crisp right now.” The Angels are already without C.J. Wilson and Andrew Heaney, and left-hander Tyler Skaggs has also seen his rehab from Tommy John surgery slowed by some biceps tendinitis. Richards, now, is questionable for his scheduled Friday outing.

Injury Notes: Zych, Perez, Diaz, Orioles, Skaggs

By Steve Adams | May 3, 2016 at 6:00pm CDT

The Mariners announced tonight that right-hander Tony Zych has been placed on the disabled list due to right shoulder tendinitis (retroactive to May 2). In his place, Steve Johnson’s contract has been selected from Triple-A Tacoma. The loss of Zych is significant for the Mariners, as the 25-year-old has quietly been a dominant relief arm in the Majors since being recalled last season. In 30 1/3 innings at the Major League level, Zych has posted a 2.67 ERA, 12.8 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 with a 51.5 percent ground-ball rate. While he’s far from a household name, Zych has averaged 95.7 mph on his heater in the Majors and rates 14th among MLB pitchers (min. 30 innings) in terms of K%-BB% dating back to last season. There’s yet to be any word on the length of his absence, and manager Scott Servais said today (via the Tacoma News Tribune’s Bob Dutton, on Twitter) that Zych is returning to Seattle to have his shoulder examined. A corresponding 40-man roster move was not necessary due to yesterday’s outright of right-hander Joe Wieland.

Some other notable injury news from around the league…

Indians catcher Roberto Perez suffered a fractured thumb while making a tag at the plate on Odubel Herrera over the weekend, and he now faces the possibility of surgery, writes MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. The team will wait three days before having Perez’s hand re-evaluated, which will let the swelling around the thumb subside and lead to a clearer analysis of the injury. Manager Terry Francona offered a somewhat optimistic outlook, telling the media that a surgical procedure might not come with a considerably lengthier recovery timeline than a simple rest-and-rehab approach. Adam Moore has been called up from Triple-A to serve as the backup to Yan Gomes in the meantime, and if Cleveland is on the lookout for additional catching depth, Texas did designate former Indians backstop Chris Gimenez for assignment earlier today.
The Pirates will lose one of their top prospects, catcher Elias Diaz, to right elbow surgery, per a club announcement. As Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes, the club didn’t disclose the type of operation, though he notes that Diaz has previously been dealing with pain on the lateral side of his right (throwing) elbow. Both the club and Diaz himself have said previously that they don’t believe his ulnar collateral ligament is an issue, which would take Tommy John surgery off the table. Diaz, it would appear, had the surgery earlier today, as he shared a post-op photo with Dr. James Andrews on his Instagram.
Neither J.J. Hardy nor the Orioles are publicly putting a timeline on his recovery from a fractured left foot, writes CSN Mid-Atlantic’s Rich Dubroff. Per Dubroff, Hardy will be in a walking boot for the next two to three weeks, which would seem to make the shorter end of the reported four to eight week recovery timetable seem a bit aggressive. As Hardy explains to Dubroff, he didn’t initially believe the injury to be serious after fouling a ball into his left foot. However, as the game progressed, his foot tightened up and the pain worsened.
Also of note for Orioles fans: Dubroff tweets that left-handed reliever Jeff Beliveau, signed to a minor league deal this offseason while recovering from shoulder surgery, has been activated and assigned to Baltimore’s Class-A Advanced affiliate to begin his progression back to consideration for the big league roster. Beliveau, 29, posted a 2.63 ERA in 24 innings with the division-rival Rays back in 2014 but has scarcely pitched since that time due to a torn labrum. The Orioles believe he can help the big league club later this year, Dubroff adds.
Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times tweets that an examination of Angels left-hander Tyler Skaggs confirmed that the rehabbing southpaw is dealing with tendinitis in his biceps. Skaggs, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, won’t throw for a week and will be re-evaluated at that time to see if he can begin his rehab work.

Minor MLB Transactions: 5/3/16

By Jeff Todd | May 3, 2016 at 5:08pm CDT

We’ll track the day’s minor moves right here:

The Cubs announced that they’ve placed outfielder Matt Szczur on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right hamstring and selected the contract of outfielder Ryan Kalish to take his place on the active roster. In order to clear a spot for Kalish on the 40-man roster, the club has transferred infielder Christian Villanueva to the 60-day disabled list. Kalish, 28, was long a top-rated Red Sox prospect and is, as such, quite familiar to president of baseball operations Theo Epstein and GM Jed Hoyer. Excellent production in the minors has earned Kalish his first taste of the Majors since 2014 (also with the Cubs). In 20 games (70 plate appearances) at the Triple-A level thus far, Kalish is batting a ridiculous .368/.471/.509 with four doubles, a pair of triples, three steals and more walks drawn (10) than strikeouts (nine).
The Mariners announced that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Steve Johnson from Triple-A Tacoma and placed right-hander Tony Zych on the 15-day DL with rotator cuff tendinitis. Johnson, 28, has a fair amount of big league experience — all coming with the Orioles between the 2012-15 seasons. In 59 1/3 innings at the big league level, he’s worked to a 4.25 ERA with 10.5 K/9 against 5.5 BB/9. However, he’s posted a 20-to-2 K/BB ratio in 16 innings with Tacoma this season, so the Mariners will undoubtedly hope that they’ve helped iron out his longstanding control problems. Zych, meanwhile, had a 3.00 ERA in 12 innings this season and had punched out 19 batters against eight free passes (one intentional).

Earlier Moves

The Reds have purchased the contract of catcher Rafael Lopez from the Bridgeport Bluefish, the indy league club announced. He’ll head to Triple-A Louisville, providing another depth option for an organization that is filling in for injured MLB starter Devin Mesoraco. Lopez, 28, has only appeared briefly at the major league level. He spent last season at Triple-A in the Cubs and Angels systems, slashing .266/.339/.335 over 246 plate appearances.
Righty Matt Buschmann has been outrighted to Triple-A by the Diamondbacks, MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert reports on Twitter. The 32-year-old was designated recently as Arizona continues to cycle through relief pitchers to keep its pen fresh. He surrendered only one earned run in his first 4 1/3 big league frames, but will for head back to Triple-A once again to wait for another shot. Buschmann had been working as a starter in the minors, as he has for much of his minor league career, but it remains to be seen what role he’ll take upon his return to Reno.

Mariners Outright Joe Wieland

By Steve Adams | May 2, 2016 at 3:31pm CDT

The Mariners announced on Monday that they have outrighted the contract of righty Joe Wieland off the 40-man roster. Wieland, who passed through waivers, remains at the Triple-A level, while Seattle’s 40-man roster now sits at 39 players.

Seattle acquired Wieland from the Dodgers in exchange for minor league infielder Erick Mejia this offseason. Wieland was originally a fourth-round selection of the Rangers back in the 2008 draft but was dealt to the Padres in the 2011 Mike Adams trade and was then flipped to the Dodgers in the Matt Kemp blockbuster of the 2014-15 offseason. Wieland looked to be a potential rotation option in San Diego back in 2012 when he posted a 4.55 ERA with 7.8 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 in five starts (27 2/3 innings) as a 22-year-old, but he underwent Tommy John surgery that season and missed the entire 2013 campaign. A stress reaction and eventual arthroscopic surgery on his elbow cost Wieland much of the 2014 campaign, making the 2015 season the first in which he was fully healthy in two years.

Last year, Wieland worked to a 4.59 ERA in 113 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level with the Dodgers organization and also tossed 8 2/3 innings at the Major League level, though he surrendered eight runs in that brief big league stint. The 2016 season has been a disaster for the now 26-year-old Wieland, however, as he’s allowed an unthinkable 25 earned runs on 36 hits and eight walks with 10 strikeouts in just 13 innings at the Triple-A level. Perhaps even more amazing is the fact that Wieland actually looked sharp through his first two outings of the year, surrendering a total of three runs with a 7-to-1 K/BB ratio in nine innings. He’s made a trio of starts since that time, though, and failed to escape the second inning while allowing at least five runs in each of the three.

AL West Notes: McBride, Manaea, Zunino, Wilson, Heaney

By Steve Adams | April 27, 2016 at 8:26pm CDT

The Athletics have called up catcher/first baseman/outfielder Matt McBride in order to prevent the 30-year-old from signing with a club in Japan, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. McBride received an offer from the Yokohama DeNa BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball, Slusser reports, and his contract contains a clause that would’ve allowed him to opt out and pursue the deal. Rather than allow the versatile McBride to leave the organization, Oakland added him to its 25-man and 40-man roster (Felix Doubront was transferred to the 60-day DL). “I’m happy to be here,” McBride told Slusser following the promotion. “I knew it would be one or the other, and I think everyone wants to get the chance to play in the big leagues.” McBride does have some Major League experience, having spent parts of three seasons with the Rockies. In 158 plate appearances in the Majors, he’s batted .199/.228/.305. The A’s, then, will hope that his production can more closely resemble his lifetime .315/.351/.527 line at the Triple-A level (1418 PAs).

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