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Mariners Rumors

Minor MLB Transactions: 3/2/16

By Jeff Todd | March 2, 2016 at 9:41am CDT

We’ll keep tabs on the day’s minor moves in this post …

  • First baseman Efren Navarro has signed with the Mariners on a minor league deal, as Shannon Drayer of Seattle’s 710AM ESPN reports on Twitter. He had been acquired by the Orioles from the Angels earlier this winter, but was ultimately cut loose by Baltimore. The 29-year-old reached the majors with Los Angeles in four of the last five years, though he saw only 280 total plate appearances. All told, he owns only a .246/.303/.324 slash in the majors. But Navarro has a lengthy track record at the Triple-A level, where he’s compiled a .316/.378/.449 batting line.
  • The Rangers have reached a minor league deal with righty Anthony Carter that would pay him $600K at the major league level, MLBTR’s Steve Adams reports (Twitter links). Carter underwent shoulder surgery last summer, but is said to be healthy at present. The 29-year-old last saw competitive action in 2014 in Japan, where he turned in 45 1/3 frames of 3.95 ERA pitching with 6.6 K/9 against 4.8 BB/9.
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International Notes: Rays, Lazarito, Padres, La O, Rodriguez, Heredia

By Steve Adams | March 1, 2016 at 9:48pm CDT

Major League Baseball announced today that the Rays will play an exhibition game against the Cuban National Team in Havana, Cuba on March 22, thus marking the first time an MLB club has visited the island since the Orioles played an exhibition game there in March of 1999. (Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times first broke the news that plans had been finalized.) “During a time of historic change, we appreciate the constructive role afforded by our shared passion for the game, and we look forward to experiencing Cuba’s storied baseball tradition and the passion of its many loyal fans,” said commissioner Rob Manfred in a statement announcing the game. Added MLBPA executive director Tony Clark: “We thank the Cuban National Team and all involved in hosting this game, as we are very excited to return to Havana to continue our efforts to strengthen the ties between our countries through our love and passion for the game of baseball.”

As the Rays gear up for a historic trip to Havana, here are a few notes pertaining to some of the top Cuban talent in the world…

  • The Padres are now the favorites to sign Cuban prospect Lazaro Armenteros, according to Baseball America’s Ben Badler (subscription required but highly recommended), though he notes that the Braves and Dodgers both have some interest. However, Badler notes that the player known as “Lazarito” has been “the subject of some of the most extreme sensationalism in public reports,” and ranks the 16-year-old 11th on his list of the top 15 Cuban players available to Major League clubs. Lazarito would add to what appears to be a potentially significant class of 2016-17 international prospects for San Diego, as Badler and ESPN’s Eric Longenhagen have both previously reported the Friars as the favorites to sign 19-year-old outfielder Jorge Ona (fourth on today’s rankings from Badler) and 17-year-old lefty Adrian Morejon (10th). It’s worth noting, too, that Badler isn’t downplaying Lazarito’s talent entirely; he does write that Lazarito’s talent is “right up there” with the other top international prospects that have signed in the 2015-16 international class, so the implication is merely that the “phenom” labels that have been placed on Lazarito are an overstatement.
  • Third baseman Luis Yander La O, currently a bonus-pool-exempt free agent, did not perform particularly well at a February showcase that was also impacted by poor weather, Badler notes in his rankings. La O still landed eighth on Badler’s list, but he notes that La O may schedule another showcase in an effort to put on a better show for interested clubs.
  • The Reds have seemingly changed course in their pursuit of shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez and will convince him to wait until July to sign, Badler reports while ranking Rodriguez 12th on his list. Had Cincinnati signed Rodriguez for his the $6MM bonus that was reported back in January, they’d have been barred from signing international amateurs for any more than $300K in each of the next two signing periods. Badler notes that as compensation for making Rodriguez wait, however, the Reds might end up giving him an even more sizable bonus than that $6MM sum (which, of course, will come with a 100 percent luxury tax).
  • Guillermo Heredia’s previously reported deal with the Mariners became official today, per a club announcement. Heredia signed a one-year, Major League contract with the Mariners that will pay him the league minimum salary, as Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune reports. At the time of the signing, details on the contract were vague and did not specify whether Heredia had secured a Major League deal or a minor league deal. He’s been added to the 40-man roster, according to the Mariners, with Jesus Sucre being shifted to the 60-day DL in order to clear a spot. For what it’s worth, Badler noted in the aforementioned piece that the Mariners got “a terrific bargain” on Heredia, even with questions about his bat. Badler has previously noted that Heredia is a plus defender in center field with good speed.
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AL West Notes: Cano, Hamilton, Rangers, Astros

By Steve Adams | February 26, 2016 at 2:53pm CDT

Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano spoke to Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times and refuted a report from earlier this offseason which cited a source “close to Cano” that said his preference was to return to the Yankees because he was unhappy in Seattle. “I never said that,” Cano explained. “I don’t know where they find it. They always say the source or friend. … I will tell you guys, I’m happy to be here and happy to get my chance here to be able to play to the end of my career and have fun with the guys and a city that has treated me so nice.” Cano added that he feels “98 percent” after undergoing surgery to repair two hernias that plagued him over the final months of the 2015 season. Cano is swinging a bat without pain and is able to run as well. “There are days the doctor said you’ll wake up and feel some tightness,” said Cano. “That is part of the process.”

More from the AL West…

  • While many Rangers fans are somewhat panicked about the club’s left field situation, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reminds that Texas is in a considerably better spot with regards to left field than it was a year ago at this time. The Rangers entered Spring Training with a wide-open competition in left field last season, but Josh Hamilton “should be back by May 1,” and the Rangers have a solid platoon option in the form of Justin Ruggiano on the roster to help lighten his load. Texas also has a healthy Ryan Rua and non-roster invitee Drew Stubbs as options in left, and top prospects Lewis Brinson and Nomar Mazara are closer to the Majors than they were a year ago. Either of the two could conceivably become an option down the line.
  • In a separate piece yesterday, Grant reported that the Rangers have spoken to the agents for David Murphy and Austin Jackson, though that was before the club added Stubbs on a minor league deal this morning.
  • The Astros enter camp with six starting pitchers but only five rotation spots, writes Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle in a column highlighting their crowded rotation and bullpen scenes. Dallas Keuchel, Lance McCullers, Collin McHugh, Doug Fister, Mike Fiers and Scott Feldman already make for somewhat of a logjam, but the bullpen doesn’t offer many open spots, either. Ken Giles, Luke Gregerson, Pat Neshek, Tony Sipp, Will Harris and Josh Fields all appear to have short relief spots locked down, leaving one spot for a disposed starter and other candidates like Brad Peacock, Dan Straily and Asher Wojciechowski. As Drellich points out, Straily is out of minor league options, so he’d need to be exposed to waivers before the team could send him to Triple-A.
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Infield Notes: Desmond, Rox, Mariners, Yanks, Uribe, Alvarez, Freese

By Steve Adams | February 24, 2016 at 8:02pm CDT

The Washington Post’s Barry Svrluga spoke to a number of GMs to get their takes on how draft pick compensation for his latest piece on Ian Desmond  and other players that have been burdened by the qualifying offer. As Svrluga notes, former National Denard Span was able to secure a three-year deal despite playing in just 61 games last season and undergoing hip surgery late in the year. “Whether that pick is there or not is huge,” said Giants GM Bobby Evans, who signed Span to the aforementioned three-year, $31MM contract. “It just comes down to cost vs. benefit: How will that free agent benefit your club in the coming year and years ahead vs. the cost — which is not only financial now. It’s also a prospect. In that way, you have to think of it like a trade.” Svrluga also spoke to Padres GM A.J. Preller, White Sox GM Rick Hahn and Angels GM Billy Eppler, the latter of whom explained that while each club values draft picks slightly differently, every team assigns a monetary value to draft selections and stressed the importance of draft picks.

Some more notes on the infield market…

  • With the possibility of a Jose Reyes suspension looming, Rockies prospect Trevor Story has put himself in a position to potentially break camp with the club, writes Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. While service time considerations are often a factor when determining the timing of a player’s promotion to the Majors, GM Jeff Bridich tells Saunders that won’t factor into the team’s decision with Story. “That’s not really a consideration,” said Bridich. “I haven’t thought about that one second. I hope he, and every player, makes all of these decisions difficult.” As Saunders notes, with Story, Daniel Descalso, Christian Adames and Rafael Ynoa all serving as options, the Rox are content with their internal options.
  • MLB.com’s Thomas Harding further pumps the brakes on any Desmond/Rockies connection, tweeting that the Rockies haven’t really discussed pursuing a veteran option as an alternative to Reyes, and contact with Desmond’s camp has been minimal, despite prior reports.
  • The Mariners are checking in with veteran infielders that could potentially make the club and see some time at shortstop as a backup to Ketel Marte, reports Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. Seattle briefly reached out to Jimmy Rollins prior to his deal with the White Sox, Dutton adds. While the Mariners have Luis Sardinas and Chris Taylor as backup options to Marte, neither has much Major League experience, nor does Marte himself, although Marte was somewhat quietly excellent in his rookie season last year.
  • Joel Sherman of the New York Post feels that the Yankees are making a mistake by relying on Starlin Castro and Rob Refsnyder as backup options to Chase Headley at third base. Neither player has much in the way of experience at the position, he notes, and while Chase Headley played in 156 games last season, he’s played through a herniated disk in his back and would probably be better-suited to play something closer to 130 games per year, in Sherman’s opinion. Sherman lists some options that the Yankees could keep an eye on in Spring Training as teams evaluate players on the fringe of their 25-man rosters. Interestingly, he notes that New York made a minor league offer to Juan Uribe as well before Uribe took a big league offer to serve as Cleveland’s primary third baseman.
  • Pedro Alvarez will seemingly wait to if any additional opportunities present themselves during Spring Training before signing, as ESPN’s Buster Olney wrote in yesterday’s blog post (Insider required). Olney texted agent Scott Boras about his client and was met with the following reply: “Waiting for the best situation. As with all valued players the demand increases as spring training begins.” Interest in the defensively challenged Alvarez has been tepid thus far, but spring injuries often do create opportunities for players seeking a home. An injury to a club’s designated hitter or first baseman could create a suitor for Alvarez that doesn’t presently exist.
  • The Angels never presented David Freese with a formal offer when the two sides were discussing a potential reunion earlier this winter, reports MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez. Rather, the Angels shifted focus on picked up Yunel Escobar, whose fairly modest $7MM salary was a key to his acquisition, writes Gonzalez. Angels right fielder Kole Calhoun expressed some bewilderment that his former teammate hasn’t hooked on with a club yet, praising Freese as a positive not only on the field but in the clubhouse as well. “I don’t really know what’s going on,” Calhoun told Gonzalez. “It’s kind of crazy. … Good player, great in the clubhouse. It’s as surprising to me as it is to anyone around baseball.”
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Mariners Agree To Terms With Cuban Center Fielder Guillermo Heredia

By Steve Adams | February 23, 2016 at 8:59am CDT

TODAY: The contract is expected to be worth around $500K, MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez tweets.

MONDAY: The Mariners have reached an agreement with Cuban center fielder Guillermo Heredia, reports Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. Terms aren’t yet known, and the contract is still pending a physical, according to Dutton. The 25-year-old Heredia is old enough and has enough professional experience that he is exempt from international bonus pools, so the Mariners are free to sign him for any length of time and any dollar amount.

Heredia played professionally in Cuba from 2009-14, amassing exactly 1400 plate appearances and compiling a .285/.376/.418 batting line. Back in late January, Baseball America’s Ben Badler wrote that while Heredia is a standout defender in center field with plus speed and a strong arm, there are significant questions about his bat. Notably, Badler pointed out that Heredia doesn’t chase many pitches off the plate but dropped switch-hitting (in favor of batting solely right-handed) in his final pro season in Cuba and doesn’t show much power. (He hit 23 home runs in his Cuban career.)

Questions about his bat or not, a young, possibly plus defender in center field with a keen eye at the plate fits squarely into the mold that Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto has prioritized this season in placing an emphasis on outfield athleticism, defense and on-base percentage. Heredia may be viewed as more of a fourth outfielder than a starting option in center field, but such players have received fairly notable guarantees in the past, with Dian Toscano’s four-year, $6MM deal with the Braves serving as the most recent example. Certainly, that’s not said as a means of setting any type of expectation for Heredia’s ultimate contract — that will depend on how much the Mariners believe in his bat — but simply to illustrate that even a limited skill set can indeed bring in a relatively notable investment.

Given questions surrounding his bat and the fact that he hasn’t played regularly since the 2013-14 season due to his defection and lengthy free agency — Heredia was declared a free agent last July after defecting in January 2015 — Heredia could be ticketed for the minor leagues upon signing. Then again, if the deal is finalized and Heredia looks solid in camp, he could step in as a backup to countryman Leonys Martin in center field; Dutton writes that the Mariners have been seeking a viable backup option to Martin in center field, and Heredia’s strong defensive reputation fits that bill.

Heredia switched agencies this offseason, as Badler reports that he “recently” hired Magnus Sports — the same agency that has come under fire recently due to the human trafficking indictment of agent Bart Hernandez in connection with Martin’s free agency back in 2011. (Martin switched agents in 2013.) Heredia was also connected to the Cubs and Astros before reaching his apparent agreement with Seattle. Assuming a deal is completed, it’d mark the second Cuban free agent signed by the Mariners this month, as Seattle also inked infielder Dayner Moreira to a minor league deal on Feb. 1.

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AL West Notes: Weaver, Martin, Alvarez, A’s

By Mark Polishuk and Zachary Links | February 21, 2016 at 8:21pm CDT

We covered some Rangers news earlier today, so let’s look around the rest of the AL West…

  • Jered Weaver is looking to rebound from a rough 2015 season, and the Angels righty tells reporters (including MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez) that he focused on offseason flexibility and stretching exercises to help his durability for the coming year.  Beyond just keeping healthy and helping the Halos win, Weaver is also entering the last year of his contract and wants to ensure his career continues past 2016.  “I’d like to play for as long as I can. But if I go through another season like last year — with not just the frustration of the numbers but how my body felt — your heart and your mind can only do so much,” Weaver said.  “Sometimes, your body pulls the reins back and tells you you need to slow down a little bit.  That’s kind of what happened last year.  I was definitely motivated every time I would go out.  I was still competitive.  I still love pitching.  Sometimes your body’s just not on the same page.”
  • Leonys Martin of the ‪‎Mariners‬ has issued the following statement on the indictment of his former agent, Bart Hernandez (Facebook link via Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports): “I am obviously aware that Bart Hernandez was arrested yesterday by the United States government. The decision to arrest him was made by the government, not by me, and any questions about why he was arrested should be directed to the prosecutor in Florida. Out of respect for the judicial process, I will have no further comment on this matter, and I ask that the media respect my privacy and the privacy of my family. My total focus is on doing everything in my ability to contribute to a successful season for the Seattle Mariners.”
  • Henderson Alvarez is feeling good in his recovery from shoulder surgery and tells the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser that he is hoping to be throwing in minor league games by April.  That would project Alvarez for a May debut with the Athletics, or roughly a month ahead of his original schedule.  “If you watch him play catch, it looks like there’s nothing wrong with him….We want to make sure he’s healthy, but we’re really excited about having him,” manager Bob Melvin said.  Obviously, if Alvarez is able to return healthy and get back to his old form, that would make his buy-low signing a steal for Oakland.
  • In another item from Slusser, the A’s are hoping Stephen Vogt and Josh Phegley stay healthy since the club is otherwise quite thin at catcher.  Those two are the only catchers on the 40-man roster, though Oakland recently signed Bryan Anderson to a minor league contract.  Then again, as one AL executive tells Slusser, “The state of catching in the whole industry is scary.  It’s unbelievable how few good catchers there are, everyone is concerned.  Is Oakland in trouble?  Sure they are.  Is every else?  Yes.  It’s not unique.”
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AL West Notes: Scheppers, Nuno, Guerrero

By charliewilmoth | February 20, 2016 at 12:16pm CDT

Rangers reliever Tanner Scheppers will have surgery on his left knee to repair torn articular cartilage, and he will be unavailable for the first half of the season, MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan writes. Scheppers suffered a bone bruise in his left knee last year, but the Rangers don’t think his current injury is related. “He woke up a few days ago and the knee was a little puffy,” says GM Jon Daniels. “He can’t think of a moment where he tweaked it.” Scheppers, 29, pitched 38 1/3 innings last season, posting a 5.63 ERA with 7.5 K/9 and 5.4 BB/9. Here’s more from the AL West.

  • Mariners manager Scott Servais says lefty Vidal Nuno will pitch only in relief this Spring, MLB.com’s Greg Johns tweets. (Servais also notes that the same is true of Danny Hultzen, although that had previously been reported.) Nuno arrived from Arizona in the Mark Trumbo / Welington Castillo deal last June and posted a 4.10 ERA, 7.5 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 in four months in Seattle. The 28-year-old was far more successful (1.91 ERA) in 37 2/3 innings in relief than he was in 51 1/3 innings as a starter (5.08 ERA), and he had a large platoon split, so he might ultimately prove most useful to the Mariners coming out of the bullpen.
  • Longtime Expos and Angels star Vladimir Guerrero will return to the Halos this spring as a guest instructor, Guerrero himself tweets. The 41-year-old Guerrero has been out of affiliated baseball since playing briefly in the Blue Jays’ minor league system in 2012. He signed, but never played, with the independent Long Island Ducks in 2013 before officially retiring with the Angels in 2014. He has, however, remained on the periphery of the game, with his son Vladimir Jr. now a top Jays prospect.
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Moreno: “It Has Never Been About” Luxury Tax

By Steve Adams | February 20, 2016 at 12:18am CDT

The Angels have taken quite a bit of flak for a seeming unwillingness to exceed the luxury tax threshold, but owner Arte Moreno strongly denied to MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez that he is firmly against exceeding that $189MM threshold. “It has never been about that,” Moreno told Gonzalez. “It has never been with the threshold. …We have a budget, and every year, I’ve overspent our budget.” Moreno says that his operating budget has typically been in the $140-150MM range, but he’s consistently exceeded that mark to the point where he suggested to Gonzalez that the team is barely avoiding debt. Moreno, though, seemingly conceded to the fact that the possibility of exceeding the tax barrier played some role in the club’s offseason, as Gonzalez goes on to mention that the owner “wasn’t confident that the Angels would be able to comfortably get back under the threshold given their potential holes,” which prompted them to pass on high-profile free agents. It would seem, then, that his assertion is that while he wasn’t entirely resistant to the notion of exceeding, the proper situation didn’t present itself this winter. The Angels do have a record payroll for the 2016 season, Gonzalez points out, even with a Craig Gentry/Daniel Nava platoon in left field and Johnny Giavotella/Cliff Pennington in line for most of the second base at-bats. Just as importantly, though, he adds that the Angels are about $2MM shy of the luxury tax threshold at present. Notably, Moreno denied an interview to the Los Angeles Times, as Pedro Moura writes.

A bit more from Gonzalez’s column and several more Angels notes on an evening with plenty of news coming out of Anaheim…

  • Regarding the possibility of eventually looking to trade Mike Trout — a notion that stemmed from a fairly innocuous comment in Keith Law’s farm system rankings at ESPN — Moreno shot down the possibility in definitive fashion. “One hundred percent we are not trading Mike Trout,” Moreno told Gonzalez. “…It’s not even in the thought process.” Honestly, it’s fairly surprising to me that this even reached the point where the owner felt the need to comment, but Moreno’s firm denial merits a brief mention.
  • While the Angels didn’t make the big deadline splash that many fans were hoping for this past July, it wasn’t for lack of trying, Gonzalez tweets. According to Gonzalez, the Halos “tried hard” to pry Yoenis Cespedes from the Tigers, but Detroit wouldn’t budge on its asking price of Sean Newcomb. Eventually, the two sides scrapped the talks and, of course, Cespedes was traded to the Mets for right-handers Michael Fulmer and Luis Cessa. Newcomb was later traded alongside right-hander Chris Ellis and shortstop Erick Aybar to bring Andrelton Simmons to the Halos. For those wondering why the Angels didn’t make a run at Cespedes this winter, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register got the sense that Cespedes preferred the East Coast and didn’t want to sign with the Angels, who would’ve had to drastically overpay in order to sign him (links to Twitter).
  • Another interesting note from Fletcher, who writes in a full column that left-hander Hector Santiago said his agent called him in November to inform him that he was on the verge of being traded to the Orioles. A deal (clearly) never came to fruition. The Orioles are known to have been seeking rotation help all winter, and Santiago was an oft-speculated trade candidate when the Angels were seeking ways in which to bolster their outfield situation. Specific parameters of the apparent near-deal aren’t known, though  if the agent and player are being informed that something is close, that would signify rather advanced discussions.
  • Also within that piece, Fletcher writes that setup man Joe Smith would like to remain with the Halos beyond the expiration of his contract at season’s end, although there have been no extension talks between the two sides. “I would love to (re-sign) but there were a few more important things this winter to be keeping our eye on,” said Smith.
  • Former Angels GM and current Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto discussed his relationship with Moreno and manager Mike Scioscia candidly in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (audio link). Dipoto praised Moreno’s willingness to spend and called Scioscia a likely Hall of Famer, but he admitted that there were challenges. “There were times where it was very difficult to the job that I was asked to do, but that was because I was caught in between, perhaps, two different dynamics,” said Dipoto. “And I would say the same of them. I had some different ideas that maybe they weren’t as comfortable with…” Dipoto went on to say that Mariners ownership has been more receptive to his ideas. “…And, as importantly, I have a manager now in Scott Servais who I do see eye-to-eye with,” Dipoto continued. “We have discussed every move, we have disagreed on many ideas as we’ve gone through this offseason, but in a really productive way. And, fair or unfair, that was not always the case with Mike. … Healthy disagreement is a good thing, and sometimes in Anaheim as you saw played out nationally multiple times over the four years, it wasn’t quite as healthy.”
  • Scioscia was made aware of Dipoto’s comments, Moura notes in his aforementioned column, though the longtime Halos skipper didn’t seem to take much umbrage with anything that was said. “I think there were certainly times that you are not going to agree on everything,” Scioscia explained. “I think there were times when the communication was there, maybe times where it wasn’t what it could have been. But I’m not looking back.” Scioscia said he operated similarly under former GMs Bill Stoneman and Tony Reagins. “I think you have to have that free-flowing of ideas,” he continued. “I think at times, we did.”
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Mariners Sign Joel Peralta To Minors Deal

By Jeff Todd | February 16, 2016 at 2:06pm CDT

FEBRUARY 16: Peralta can earn a hefty $2.5MM in incentives, Heyman tweets.

FEBRUARY 9, 5:21pm: Jon Heyman reports that Peralta’s contract comes with a $1.25MM base salary, should he make the club (Twitter link). That figure can increase based on performance incentives.

1:02pm: The Mariners have signed veteran righty Joel Peralta to a minor league deal, per a club announcement. A client of Mark Gilling, he will receive an invitation to Major League camp.

Peralta will be entering his age-40 season after a subpar campaign with the Dodgers in which he battled through shoulder and neck issues. He ended with a 4.34 ERA over just 29 frames with 7.4 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9. Peralta has never induced many groundballs, which continued last year, and he struggled to prevent the long ball (1.86 HR/9, 14.6% home run per flyball rate).

That marked a significant downturn from his prior years’ efforts. Dating back to a breakout 2010, in which he emerged as a quality pen piece for the Nationals at 34 years of age, Peralta averaged a 3.34 ERA (with an identical 3.34 FIP) and 9.7 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9 for a five-year stretch.

If there’s hope for a return to that lofty standard, it may lie in the fact that Peralta has never been reliant upon velocity and still works with something close to the same average fastball speed that allowed him to succeed previously. By measure of Pitch F/X pitch values, the veteran’s heater and splitter remain quality offerings, with his curveball turning suddenly into a huge negative. If that can be fixed, then perhaps he reverse a sharp drop in his swinging strike rate (from 11.7% to 7.9%, year over year).

A glance at the incredible Brooks Baseball database shows some inconsistency in the breaker. Peralta’s release speed on the hook was much lower than usual to start the year, with the offering losing a bit of vertical movement as he increased his arm action. It is worth noting that Peralta allowed just two earned runs in his final ten frames, including one postseason appearance, while logging a dozen strikeouts without permitting a free pass.

If nothing else, Peralta provides some depth — if not some upside as well — to a re-worked Mariners pen. As ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark notes on Twitter, he joins Steve Cishek, Joaquin Benoit, Justin DeFratus, Evan Scribner, and others in a unit that lost players like Fernando Rodney (free agency), Carson Smith (trade), and Tom Wilhelmsen (trade).

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Minor MLB Transactions: 2/8/16

By Jeff Todd | February 9, 2016 at 9:48am CDT

Here are the day’s minor moves:

  • The Mets announced the signing of outfielder Roger Bernadina to a minor league deal that includes an invitation to major league camp. He’ll earn $750K if he makes it to the MLB roster, Jon Heyman tweets, and receives a June 15 opt-out. Bernadina, 31, has accumulated nearly 1,500 MLB plate appearances, with the bulk of that action coming between 2010-13 with the Nationals. He’s also spent time with the Phillies, Reds, and Dodgers. Last year was his first without any action in the majors since he broke in with the Nats in 2008. Bernadina put up a .276/.383/.466 slash with 15 home runs and 20 steals in 447 plate appearances for the Rockies’ Triple-A affiliate in 2015.
  • Infielder Danny Worth has caught on with the Astros, per Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. The 30-year-old owns a .230/.293/.295 slash in 292 big league plate appearances, all of which came with the Tigers between 2010-14. He played at Triple-A last year in the Diamondbacks organization, slashing a rather robust .314/.394/.469 in 399 trips to the plate.
  • The Dodgers brought back right-hander Chin-hui Tsao on a minor league pact, according to Eddy. Now 34, the Taiwanese reliever (and former top prospect) has seen 95 1/3 MLB innings spread between 2003 and 2015. He spent most of last year with the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate, working to a 2.77 ERA in 39 frames with 9.7 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9.
  • Backstop Steven Lerud recently inked with the Mariners, per a club announcement. The 31-year-old has minimal MLB experience, but has been in the upper minors since 2008. Most recently, in 2015, he posted a .238/.320/.301 slash over 231 plate appearances at Triple-A Syracuse in the Nationals organization.
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Houston Astros Los Angeles Dodgers New York Mets Seattle Mariners Transactions Chin-hui Tsao Danny Worth Roger Bernadina Steven Lerud

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