Mariners, Jacob Barnes Agree To Minor League Deal
The Mariners and reliever Jacob Barnes are in agreement on a minor league contract. He’ll report to Triple-A Tacoma, according to an announcement from Rainiers broadcaster Mike Curto (Twitter link).
Barnes was recently released by the Tigers. The righty cracked Detroit’s Opening Day roster after signing a minors pact over the winter, but the 2022 campaign has been a struggle. He tossed 20 2/3 innings across 22 outings but managed only a 6.10 ERA. Barnes’ 11.2% strikeout rate was the third-lowest mark among relievers with 20+ frames, and Detroit designated him for assignment last week.
Rough start notwithstanding, he’s a sensible depth add for the Mariners. Barnes’ lack of swing-and-miss in Detroit was surprising, as he’s typically been solid at missing bats. He fanned 25.8% of opponents last season between the Mets and Blue Jays. He’s two years removed from punching out over 30% of batters faced on a massive 15.2% swinging strike rate with the Angels. Control inconsistency and a propensity for hard contact led to grisly ERA totals in both seasons, but the swing-and-miss potential made him an intriguing middle innings option.
Barnes is still throwing his fastball (95.3 MPH) and cutter (88.9 MPH) quite hard, and the latter offering continued to miss bats at a decent rate this year. The four-seam was a major issue for Barnes in Detroit, but the M’s will take a no-risk look to see if they can tweak that offering to find better success.
Mariners Release Sergio Romo, Joey Gerber
The Mariners announced this evening that relievers Sergio Romo and Joey Gerber have each cleared waivers and been granted their unconditional release. Both pitchers were designated for assignment in recent days and are now free agents.
Romo is the more accomplished and well-known of the duo. A 15-year MLB veteran, the righty has earned an All-Star nod and was part of three World Series teams with the Giants. He owns a career 3.20 ERA through 719 innings spread across seven teams. Romo’s low arm slot and wipeout slider have allowed him to particularly dominate right-handed opponents throughout his career, but he’s generally been quite good against batters from both sides of the dish.
That hasn’t been the case in 2022, however, as Romo’s stint in Seattle didn’t pan out. He allowed 13 runs in 14 1/3 innings as a Mariner, serving up six longballs in that limited time. Romo was tagged for homers in each of his final two appearances, and the M’s moved on from him on Monday. They’ll remain on the hook for the balance of his $2MM salary, with any signing club only responsible for the league minimum for any time Romo spends on their active roster (which would be subtracted from Seattle’s tab).
Gerber, 25, is in a much different spot of his career. He has just 17 MLB appearances to his name, all of which came back in 2020. The former eighth-round pick spent all of last season on the minor league injured list, and that’s more or less been the case this year as well. Gerber was dealing with a forearm strain in Spring Training; he made one rehab outing in rookie ball a few weeks back but hasn’t pitched since that point.
Injured players can’t be placed on outright waivers, so Gerber’s release was a formality once the M’s took him off the 40-man roster. It’s possible they’ll look to bring him back via minor league deal now that he’s passed through waivers, but he’s free to explore similar opportunities elsewhere.
Mariners Designate Sergio Romo, Roenis Elias For Assignment
The Mariners announced four roster moves Monday, reinstating righty Ken Giles from the 60-day injured list and recalling infielder Kevin Padlo from Triple-A Tacoma. In order to create roster space, right-hander Sergio Romo and lefty Roenis Elias were designated for assignment.
Romo, signed to a one-year, $2MM deal late in the offseason after it was learned that Casey Sadler required season-ending shoulder surgery, was sharp through his first month as a Mariner but has seen the wheels come off in dramatic fashion. The 39-year-old sidearmer yielded just one run through his first eight innings before the Orioles tattooed him for five runs in two-third of an inning back on June 1.
That marked the beginning of a monumental meltdown that has seen the three-time World Series champion and former All-Star serve up a dozen runs in his past 6 1/3 frames. Romo has allowed runs in five of his past nine appearances, giving up multiple runs in an outing four times during that calamitous stretch.
Given the extent of those struggles and the fact that he’s on a guaranteed salary (albeit a fairly modest one), Romo is quite likely to go unclaimed on waivers and become a free agent. Any team that wants to speculate on helping him right the ship would only owe him the prorated league minimum for any time spent in the Majors at that point. Romo hasn’t experienced a velocity drop — he’s still sitting at 85.6 mph with his sinker and in the 77-78 range with his signature slider — and is still inducing chases off the plate at a huge 37.8% clip. Given that context and his broader track record, he ought to have another opportunity out there — particularly if he’s willing to take a minor league deal somewhere.
As for the 33-year-old Elias, he’s pitched far better with the Mariners in 2022, albeit in a smaller sample of 7 2/3 innings. During that time, the veteran lefty has fanned six of 33 opponents (18.2%) while walking three (9.1%) and inducing grounders at a robust 50% clip. That marks Elias’ first big league action since the 2019 season, as he was sidelined for much of the 2020-21 seasons due to arm injuries — culminating in Tommy John surgery last March.
Elias has been similarly solid in Triple-A this year, notching a 3.63 ERA with a 17.6% strikeout rate against a sharp 6.8% walk rate and a 44.6% grounder rate in 17 1/3 innings. It’s possible he’ll hold some appeal to bullpen-hungry clubs, particularly those in need of a lefty. In 395 2/3 innings at the MLB level, Elias has a 3.96 ERA — although that mark is at 3.30 dating back to a 2017 move to the bullpen.
Giles, 31, will be activated for his team debut. Signed to a two-year, $7MM contract knowing he’d miss the first year of the deal recovering from 2020 Tommy John surgery, Giles brings a a triple-digit heater and 115 career saves to the Seattle bullpen. His minor league rehab assignment, however, was grisly. The former Phillies, Astros and Blue Jays closer logged 7 1/3 innings between High-A and Triple-A but was shellacked for 16 runs (11 earned) on 15 hits and eight walks in that time. Giles also served up four long balls in that stretch.
Some rust after a long layoff is to be expected, but those minor league struggles are nevertheless eye-opening. However, it’s worth noting that in addition to that 2020 Tommy John procedure, Giles suffered a strained tendon in his pitching hand back in Spring Training, which sent him back to the IL for the first two-plus months of the season.
At his best, Giles has shown the ability to be one of the game’s very best relievers. He tallied 53 innings of 1.87 ERA ball as recently as 2019 with Toronto, striking out 40% of his opponents along the way. And in 351 career innings, Giles boasts a 2.74 ERA with a huge 33.3% strikeout rate against a better-than-average 7.7% walk rate. Time will tell which version of the righty the Mariners are getting, but if he’s back to form, Giles could either be a key bullpen piece down the stretch or, if the Mariners continue to struggle, an appealing trade chip in six weeks’ time.
Mariners Select Tommy Milone, Designate Joey Gerber
The Mariners announced some roster moves in between games of today’s doubleheader. They have selected the contract of left-hander Tommy Milone, with right-hander Matt Festa being optioned to create room on the active roster. In order to make space on the 40-man roster, righty Joey Gerber has been designated for assignment.
Milone, 35, is a veteran who appeared in each season from 2011 to 2021. As soon as he gets into a game here in 2022, it’ll mark his 12th straight MLB season. He’s appeared for many teams in that time, including a previous stint with the Mariners in 2019, as well as spells with the Nationals, Athletics, Twins, Mets, Orioles, Braves and Blue Jays. One of the softest throwers in the league, Milone is able to survive by limiting free passes. His 17.7% career strikeout rate is certainly low, given that this year’s league average is around 22%. However, his 5.6% walk rate is a few ticks below this year’s 8.3% league average.
Signed to a minor league deal in the offseason, Milone has made seven starts for Triple-A Tacoma this year. In 32 innings, he has a 1.13 ERA, with a 24.8% strikeout rate and 6.8% walk rate. That tiny ERA is certainly nice, but is likely being depressed by a .208 BABIP and 100% strand rate, neither of which are sustainable. Nevertheless, the Mariners will give him a shot to see if he can replicate those kinds of results at the big league level.
As for Gerber, 25, he was an eighth round selection of the Mariners in the 2018 draft. A pure reliever, he’s never made a start in his professional career. He pitched well in the lower levels of the minors and earned his way up to Double-A in 2019. In 22 2/3 innings there that year, he put up a 1.59 ERA with a whopping 31.3% strikeout rate, 7.3% walk rate and 37.5% ground ball rate. In 2020, the minor leagues were wiped out by the pandemic, but he was able to reach the majors, throwing 15 2/3 innings for the Mariners that year. Despite always racking up Ks in the minors, he only struck out 9.7% of hitters he faced in the bigs, though in a small sample size.
Despite those promising minor league numbers and making his MLB debut at the age of 23, he has since hit a wall due to injuries. Back surgery prevented him from pitching at all in 2021, either in the majors or minors. This year, a forearm strain has kept him out of action, except for a single-inning appearance in the Complex League on June 11. His current health situation isn’t publicly known, but will certainly have a bearing on next steps. Since injured players can’t be placed on outright waivers, it’s possible that Gerber ends up on release waivers in the coming days.
Mariners Recall Justin Upton
The Mariners have recalled Justin Upton before tonight’s game against the Angels. Utilityman Sam Haggerty has been optioned to Triple-A Tacoma in a corresponding move. Upton, who signed a one-year deal with Seattle last month, is in position to make his M’s debut tonight against his former team.
Upton will step right in against his former club. The Angels made the somewhat surprising decision to release the four-time All-Star coming out Spring Training, electing to turn the corner outfield over to Brandon Marsh and Taylor Ward. The decision has panned out, as Ward has been one of the sport’s top breakout performers. Marsh has cooled after a hot start but is one of the sport’s better defenders in left field.
After being cut loose, Upton lingered on the open market for a while. He eventually signed a big league deal with a Seattle club that lost Mitch Haniger to injury and seen Jarred Kelenic perform poorly enough to be optioned back to Triple-A Tacoma. He took some time at the team’s Arizona complex and with the Rainiers to get into game shape, but he’s now apparently ready for his first MLB action of the 2022 season. He’ll pair with the lefty-hitting Taylor Trammell and Jesse Winker in the corner outfield mix.
Mariners, Jesse Winker Agree To Two-Year Deal
The Mariners and outfielder Jesse Winker have avoided arbitration, coming to terms on a two-year deal that will take Winker through his last two seasons of arbitration eligibility before free agency, per the team. The Mariners have no more remaining arbitration cases.
Winker’s deal is worth $14.5MM, per Robert Murray of FanSided (via Twitter). The deal does not change Winker’s trajectory for free agency. He will make $6.25MM this year and $8.25MM next year before hitting the open market following the 2023 season, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter). The deal also includes $400K in potential bonuses next season.
For the Mariners, this timeline makes a fair amount of sense as they wait for their host of young outfielders to establish themselves as big league regulars. Kyle Lewis, Jarred Kelenic, and Julio Rodriguez may own the grass in Seattle’s future, but they’ll need to play Winker off the field in the short term.
Unfortunately, the 28-year-old Winker has yet to find his stroke this season, despite leading the American League in walks. He currently boasts a .214/.326/.308 line through 264 plate appearances while mostly holding court in left field.
Winker was an All-Star for the first time last season, starting the game in left field after a monster first half. Injuries limited him to 110 games, but he still finished the year with a robust .305/.394/.556 line. Despite Winker’s stellar campaign (or maybe because of it), the Reds shipped Winker with Eugenio Suarez to the Mariners for Jake Fraley, Justin Dunn, Brandon Williamson, and a player to be named later that became Connor Phillips.
Mariners Claim Drew Ellis From D-Backs
The Mariners announced they’ve claimed third baseman Drew Ellis off waivers from the Diamondbacks and optioned him to Triple-A Tacoma. Outfielder Mitch Haniger has moved from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.
A former second-round pick, Ellis is a career .248/.352/.455 hitter in parts of five minor league seasons. He’s had brief looks at the big league level in each of the past two years but struggled mightily, mustering a .134/.268/.207 line in 34 games. Ellis has spent the bulk of this season with the D-Backs top affiliate in Reno, where he’d posted a .217/.369/.399 mark in 179 trips to the plate. He walked in a massive 18.4% of his plate appearances with the Aces, but he’s run slightly elevated strikeout totals for much of his career.
The D-Backs designated Ellis for assignment over the weekend, eventually ending his tenure in the organization. The M’s will take the opportunity add a right-handed bat to the upper minors. Ellis is in his second minor league option year, so the team can bounce him between Seattle and Tacoma through the end of next season if they keep him on the 40-man roster.
Haniger’s IL transfer is a formality. He’s been out since April 30 due to a right high ankle sprain. The 60-day window is backdated to his original placement, meaning he’ll first be eligible to return at the end of this month. Haniger isn’t likely to be ready by then anyhow, as his recovery was always expected to linger into July.
Mariners Outright Drew Steckenrider
The Mariners announced Tuesday that righty Drew Steckenrider, who’d been designated for assignment last week, has cleared outright waivers and been assigned to Triple-A Tacoma. He’ll remain with the club but will not hold a spot on the 40-man roster.
Steckenrider has enough service time to reject the assignment in favor of free agency, but doing so would require forfeiting the remainder of this year’s $3.1MM salary. Players gain the right to reject outright assignments beginning with three years of service time, but they can only reject an outright and retain the remainder of their salary once they have five-plus years of service. Steckenrider, 31, entered the season with four years and 94 days of service, meaning he needed another 78 days of service to reach five years. He’s still 10 days shy of reaching that five-year service milestone, so Steckenrider figures to accept the assignment so he can retain the $1.935MM yet to be paid out on his deal.
A minor league signee with the Mariners in Dec. 2020, Steckenrider was a revelation for Seattle’s bullpen in 2021 when he pitched to an even 2.00 ERA with a 21.7% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate over the life of a team-leading 67 2/3 bullpen innings. Steckenrider tallied seven holds and eventually got the nod as one of manager Scott Servais’ preferred ninth-inning option, going 14-for-17 in save opportunities. With that showing, Steckenrider looked to have shaken off an injury-marred 2019-20 stretch that saw him pitch to a 6.28 ERA in 14 1/3 innings with the Marlins, for whom he’d previously been a quality setup man.
However, the 2021 season has again been a struggle for the former eighth-rounder. Steckenrider appeared in 16 games with the Mariners this season, pitching to a 5.95 ERA with a dramatically reduced 14.7% strikeout rate against a slightly elevated (but still solid) 7.4% walk rate. His average fastball velocity hasn’t dropped (94.4 mph in 2022, 94.2 mph in 2021), but hitters have teed off on the pitch so far in 2022 after floundering against it a year ago. Opponents batted just .216/.275/.346 last year in plate appearances ending in a heater, whereas they hit .333/.415/.528 in 2022.
Steckenrider had already been optioned to Triple-A Tacoma and made four appearances, allowing three runs on five hits and three walks with three strikeouts. He’ll continue working to get back to his 2021 form with the Rainiers in hopes of an eventual return to the MLB roster. If he does make it back to the big leagues, he’d be arbitration-eligible for the final time this winter. If not, he’ll be able to become a free agent at season’s end (as is the right at the end of the season for any player with three-plus years of service who’s been outrighted and not added back to the 40-man roster).
Braves Claim Mike Ford, Designate Joe Dunand
June 12: Dunand cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Gwinnett, per David O’Brien of The Athletic.
June 10: The Braves announced they’ve claimed first baseman Mike Ford off waivers from the Mariners and optioned him to Triple-A Gwinnett. Infielder Joe Dunand has been designated for assignment to clear 40-man roster space.
It has been a roller-coaster of a season for Ford, who’s now on his third different organization of the year. He signed a minor league deal with Seattle, then was selected onto the big league roster in April. Seattle designated him for assignment and traded him to the Giants fairly quickly, then acquired him back from San Francisco two weeks later once the Giants DFA him themselves. Ford held his second 40-man roster spot in Seattle for a few weeks, but the M’s again took him off the roster this past weekend.
Through it all, Ford has appeared in 17 MLB games. He’s compiled a rather bizarre .182/.357/.212 slash line, the product of eight walks but 12 strikeouts in only 42 plate appearances. It’s the fourth consecutive year in which he’s logged some big league time, with all of his pre-2022 MLB work coming in a Yankees uniform. The left-handed hitter broke in with an excellent .259/.350/.559 showing with 12 home runs in 50 games as a rookie, but he owns a .144/.273/.263 line in just shy of 200 plate appearances since the start of the 2020 camapign.
The 29-year-old adds a left-handed hitting depth option to the organization. Matt Olson obviously has first base accounted for, but the Braves have gotten subpar work (.252/.328/.360) out of their designated hitters. Ford is in his final minor league option year, meaning the Braves can keep him in Gwinnett for the rest of the season if they’re willing to carry him on the 40-man roster. He’s hit .271/.417/.417 in 14 Triple-A games this year.
Dunand was a recent waiver claim himself, coming over from the division-rival Marlins last week. His time in the organization may now be coming to close without a big league game, as the 26-year-old has just appeared in five games with Gwinnett. He did make a brief cameo in Miami earlier in the year, logging three appearances.
A former second-round pick, the right-handed hitting Dunand has a .209/.295/.376 line in 328 Triple-A plate appearances. He’s struggled with strikeouts throughout his minor league tenure, but the 6’2″ infielder has drawn praise in the past for his raw power potential. Dunand has played mostly on the left side of the infield in the minors, with a bit more work at shortstop than at third base. The Braves will have a week to trade him or look to run through waivers themselves.
Mariners Claim Kevin Padlo Off Waivers From Giants
The Mariners have claimed third baseman Kevin Padlo off waivers from the Giants, per the team. In a corresponding move, right-hander Drew Steckenrider was designated for assignment.
Padlo, 25, is primarily a third baseman, now on his way to a second stint in Seattle. Originally drafted in the fifth round of the 2014 draft by the Rockies, Padlo only made it as high as Single-A with the Rockies before being traded with Corey Dickerson to the Rays for German Marquez and Jake McGee. That deal, obviously, turned into a fruitful transaction for Colorado, who turned Marquez into an All-Star.
Padlo would rise the ranks of the minors in Tampa’s system, making his Major League debut in 2021. The Mariners claimed him off waivers in August. He had exactly one plate appearance with the Mariners, spending the rest of the year in Triple-A with Tacoma. The Giants claimed him off waivers in April, but he returns now to Tacoma for a second time this season. He has hit for power this season, but not enough to earn a regular stint in the Majors. Padlo takes a .235/.327/.492 line in Triple-A combined from his time with Seattle and San Francisco.
Steckenrider, 31, made 16 appearances with the Mariners this season. Over the past couple of years, he has at times even been a high-leverage option for Seattle. This year, however, he picked up a 5.65 ERA/4.60 FIP over 14 1/3 innings. Just last season, Steckenrider saved 14 games while making 62 appearances covering 67 2/3 innings with a 2.00 ERA/3.35 FIP.