Mariners’ Evan White To Undergo Sports Hernia Surgery
Mariners first baseman Evan White will soon be undergoing surgery to address a sports hernia, Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports. It’s another big setback for White, who underwent a hip surgery last July that cut short his 2021 season.
Though White’s specific case may differ, most sports hernia operations result in roughly 4-8 weeks of missed time. It’s probably safe to project towards the higher end of that timeframe, given that White is also on the way back from his hip procedure, and he has barely played during Spring Training. With these factors in mind, White could be looking at closer to a midseason debut.
The 17th overall pick of the 2017 draft, White drew plenty of top-100 prospect buzz heading into the 2020 season, and his rookie season was highlighted by a Gold Glove Award for his work at first base. At the plate, however, White has remained a major work in progress, hitting only .165/.235/.308 over his first 306 plate appearances against big league pitching.
Between his injuries and the lack of a 2020 minor league season, White’s development has already hit some significant speedbumps, and it was already looking like he would be starting 2022 as either a backup or perhaps even in the minors to get some regular playing time. The Mariners can afford to take their time, as White was already been signed to a six-year, $24MM extension back in November 2019. Much of the money on that backloaded deal has yet to kick in, as White made $2.6MM in the first two years of the extension and is set to earn $1.4MM in 2022.
Ty France is Seattle’s top option at first base, with utilityman Abraham Toro and Luis Torrens also capable of handling the position. Divish also reports that new acquisition Jesse Winker has been working out at first base, which could represent an interesting way for the M’s to juggle their lineup (especially when star prospect Julio Rodriguez is eventually called up). Winker has never played first base in his pro career, though gaining a foothold at a new position could be helpful for Winker considering that defensive metrics haven’t been too fond of his work in the outfield.
Mariners To Sign Sergio Romo
The Mariners have agreed to a deal with free-agent righty Sergio Romo, tweets Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com. It’s a big league deal that comes with a $2MM base salary, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The deal is pending a physical. Romo is represented by Meister Sports Management.
The 39-year-old Romo spent the 2021 campaign with the division-rival A’s, where he posted a 4.67 ERA with a 23.2% strikeout rate against an 8.1% walk rate. It marked a downturn both in terms of ERA and strikeout rate for the 14-year big league veteran, but Romo continued to be among the game’s best in terms of limiting hard contact. His 84.9 mph average exit velocity ranked in the 98th percentile of big league pitchers, and Romo’s 23.3% opponents’ hard-hit rate was the best in the Majors.
A soft-tossing, sidearming slider specialist, Romo has long flummoxed right-handed opponents and kept lefties in check more effectively than most sidearm righties. He wasn’t quite as dominant against either in ’21 as he has been in prior seasons, but neither managed much to do much damage against him overall. Right-handed opponents posted a .240/.290/.420 batting line, while lefties hit .235/.330/.376 — both good for a .305 wOBA.
Romo’s spike in ERA this past season was due, at least in part, to an uncharacteristic dip in strand rate; after leaving 77% of runners on base throughout his career (and 78% in 2020 with Minnesota), Romo saw that rate drop to 69.3%. He also put himself at a disadvantage by throwing a first-pitch strike at just a 59.8% clip — the third-lowest mark of his career. If Romo can get ahead more frequently and maintain his outstanding levels of weak contact, that problematic strand rate will quite likely regress toward his career levels.
The Seattle bullpen was already strong, following a breakout from Paul Sewald and a resurgence from fellow righty Drew Steckenrider. The Mariners will also get both Ken Giles and Andres Munoz back from Tommy John surgery, giving them a pair of power arms capable of reaching triple-digit readings on the radar gun. Righty Diego Castillo was closing games in Tampa Bay before being acquired at last year’s trade deadline, and the club was surely encouraged by the progress made from starter-turned-reliever Erik Swanson.
That said, the Mariners also lost a key arm in recent days when right-hander Casey Sadler underwent a shoulder procedure that will cost him the entire 2022 season. Sadler, 31, posted a comical 0.67 ERA in 40 1/3 innings last year, and while he would never have been expected to replicate that level of dominance, he was surely viewed as a vital member of manager Scott Servais’ bullpen. Romo gives the M’s a veteran replacement for Sadler — one who’ll provide quite a different look than some of his new power-armed teammates. Going from Romo’s 85-86 mph “fastball” to triple-digit heaters from Giles or Munoz in the late stages of a game won’t be an easy transition for opponents.
With Romo on board, the Mariners’ projected payroll ticks up to about $106MM — its highest point since 2019 but still miles shy of the franchise-record $158MM. It’s still possible they’ll boost that total a bit further with another free-agent pickup — though the market has been largely picked over by now — or via a trade acquisition, though much of the team’s heavy lifting appears complete this winter. The M’s were known to be eyeing an experienced option to round out the rotation and have yet to make such an addition, however, and there’s always some room for even further bullpen depth to be added — particularly with expanded 28-man rosters to begin the season.
Mariners Sign Sal Romano To Minor League Contract
The Mariners announced this afternoon they’ve signed reliever Sal Romano to a minor league deal with an invitation to big league Spring Training. Seattle will be the right-hander’s fourth different organization in the past twelve months, as he bounced around the league fairly frequently last season.
Romano began the year with the Reds but found himself outrighted off the roster in mid-May after a rough start to the year. He signed a minor league deal with the Yankees and was selected onto their big league roster in July, but he found himself designated for assignment within two weeks. This time, the Brewers claimed him off waivers, but they outrighted him themselves after he made just one appearance. Upon electing free agency, Romano returned to the Yankees, where he remained until being released in September.
Between the three clubs, the former 23rd-round pick tallied 25 innings over 19 appearances. The bulk of that work came during his first month and a half in Cincinnati, and he finished the season with a 6.12 ERA. Romano’s 14.4% strikeout percentage and 5% swinging strike rate were each among the lower marks in the league for relievers.
The past few seasons have been a struggle for Romano. After breaking into the majors with a 4.45 ERA over 16 starts for the Reds in 2017, he owns a 5.59 mark in 188 1/3 MLB frames over the past four years. Romano has moved to relief in that time, and while he’s yet to find much success in the role at the highest level, he did post a 3.56 ERA over 30 1/3 innings with the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last season. Romano also averaged nearly 95 MPH on his heater during his big league time, so he’d add a live arm to the middle innings mix for skipper Scott Servais if he can crack the big league club.
Mariners Sign Billy Hamilton To Minor League Deal
The Mariners have agreed to a minor league deal with center fielder Billy Hamilton, tweets Corey Brock of The Athletic. Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times tweeted earlier that Hamilton was in the Mariners’ clubhouse. The Wasserman client will surely be in big league camp and compete for a roster spot over the next few weeks.
Hamilton, 31, is one of the game’s fastest players and best defensive players but has never managed to provide much in the way of value at the plate. He did swipe at least 56 bases in four straight seasons with the Reds early in his career, even in spite of a dismal .297 OBP in that time, but his lack of production makes it difficult to plug him into an everyday lineup.
Hamilton spent the 2021 season with the White Sox, logging 135 plate appearances over the life of 71 games. Primarily used as a late-game sub, Hamilton walked in a career-low three percent of his plate appearances while striking out at a career-high 34.8% clip. He hit .220/.240/.378 overall in Chicago and is a career .240/.293/.397 hitter in 3260 plate appearances.
Lack of offense notwithstanding, there’s still a chance Hamilton could wind up making the Mariners’ roster. The starting trio of Jesse Winker (left field), Jarred Kelenic (center) and Mitch Haniger (right) isn’t exactly a standout defensive group, and while Taylor Trammell would give them a strong glove off the bench, the Mariners could want the former top prospect getting regular reps in Triple-A in hopes that he can rebound from a disappointing 2021 campaign.
President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto told reporters at the time of the Winker acquisition that former AL Rookie of the Year Kyle Lewis isn’t likely to be ready to begin the season as he continues to rehab a knee injury, which only creates further opportunity for a player like Hamilton. Seattle, of course, has one of the game’s top all-around prospects in outfielder Julio Rodriguez, but he’s yet to even take a plate appearance at the Triple-A level and only has 206 (dominant) plate appearances of Double-A ball under his belt. High as the ceiling with Rodriguez is, it seems likely that he’ll begin the year in Triple-A Tacoma.
Mariners, Andrew Albers Agree To Minor League Deal
The Mariners have agreed to a minor league pact with veteran left-hander Andrew Albers, MLBTR has learned. It’ll be the second stint with the Mariners for Albers, a client of True Gravity Baseball.
The 36-year-old Albers, originally a tenth-round pick by the Padres back in 2008, Albers has pitched in parts of five Major League seasons in addition to three years spent in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball and one in the Korea Baseball Organization. He appeared in five games with the Twins in 2021, logging 19 innings but yielding 16 runs during that time.
In signing with the Mariners, Albers returns to the organization with which he’s had the most success at the MLB level. The 2017 Mariners acquired Albers from the Braves in exchange for cash in August and plugged him right into the big league pitching staff. He responded with 41 innings of 3.51 ERA ball across nine appearances (six starts, three relief outings) while posting a 20.8% strikeout rate and an excellent 5.6% walk rate.
All in all, Albers has pitched 139 2/3 innings at the big league level, during which he’s notched a 4.58 ERA with a 14.9% strikeout rate, a 5.6% walk rate and a 40.2% ground-ball rate. He’s also logged a 3.60 ERA in parts of five Triple-A campaigns — a total of 563 innings.
The Mariners’ rotation, as currently constructed, has four arms locked into spots: Robbie Ray, Marco Gonzales, Chris Flexen and Logan Gilbert. Prospects Matt Brash, Levi Stoudt and George Kirby could all be in line to make their debuts this season, though Brash’s presence on the 40-man roster might give him the inside track on a spot out of camp. In addition to those prospects, the Mariners can now have both Albers and fellow veteran Asher Wojciechowski as depth options in Triple-A Tacoma.
Mariners’ Casey Sadler To Undergo Season-Ending Shoulder Surgery
6:13PM: Sadler will undergo shoulder surgery and miss the entire season, Servais told Ryan Divish and other reporters.
4:40PM: Mariners right-hander Casey Sadler is dealing with soreness in his throwing shoulder and is “going to be down for quite some time,” manager Scott Servais told reporters (including MLB.com’s Jesse Borek and The Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish). Sadler is apparently taking time to decide on what his next step will be, which could be an indication that surgery is being considered to address the issue.
Seattle’s lockdown bullpen was one of the main reasons the M’s recorded a surprising 90 wins in 2021, and Sadler was a major part of that relief corps. The righty had the lowest ERA of any pitcher in baseball with at least 40 innings pitched last season, as Sadler posted a tiny 0.67 number over 40 1/3 frames. After being charged with an earned run in an appearance against the Athletics on July 25, Sadler then held opponents scoreless over his next 29 appearances and 28 innings, a streak that is still ongoing.
Sadler is a grounder specialist, and thus obviously benefited from a .188 BABIP after generating a 62.9% groundball rate last year. Still, ERA predictors (3.06 SIERA, 3.25 xFIP) also liked his work, as Sadler posted a solid 25.5% strikeout rate and 6.9% walk rate, and his 0.22 HR/9 was also the third-lowest of any pitcher in the 40+ innings club. Sadler has also posted excellent spin rates on his fastball and curve in each of the last three years.
A veteran of six MLB seasons, Sadler’s performance has been inconsistent, which isn’t unexpected for a pitcher who relies so heavily on grounders. Of Sadler’s 125 2/3 innings, 86 2/3 of those frames have come in his two best seasons — last year with the Mariners, and his 2019 season when he had a 2.14 ERA over 46 1/3 combined IP with the Rays and Dodgers.
The 31-year-old reached arbitration eligibility for the first time this winter, and agreed to a $1.025MM salary for the 2022 season. Unfortunately for both Sadler and the M’s, it now seems as though it will be some time before he can continue his scoreless-innings streak or perhaps even get back onto a mound. Sadler also missed over two and a half months on the injured list last season due to shoulder inflammation, and he also had a major injury setback earlier in his career as a member of the Pirates organization, when Tommy John surgery cost Sadler the entire 2016 season.
Most of the Mariners’ 2021 bullpen is returning, though they’ll now have Ken Giles in the mix, after Giles missed all of 2021 recovering from his own Tommy John procedure. Left-hander Ryan Buchter was also signed to a minor league deal earlier today, adding another veteran arm to the mix.
Mariners Sign Ryan Buchter To Minors Deal
The Mariners have signed left-handed pitcher Ryan Buchter to a minor league deal, per Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. The southpaw has been invited to big league camp.
Buchter, 35, has 285 MLB games under his belt, having taken the mound for the Braves, Padres, Royals, Athletics, Angels and Diamondbacks. At the end of the 2019 season, he had a career ERA of 2.86, but was somewhat surprisingly non-tendered by the A’s. Although he kept his ERA to 2.98 that year, his walk rate climbed up to 11.6% and he also had an unsustainable 91.4% strand rate, evidently concerning the club enough that they cut ties.
He made the Angels’ roster in 2020 but was optioned to the team’s alternate training site. Due to the pandemic wiping out the minor league season, he was only able to pitch six innings on the year. In 2021, he bounced on and off the D-Backs roster, throwing 16 1/3 fairly ineffective innings in the majors. His ERA was 6.61, along with a 20.5% strikeout rate and alarming 16.7% walk rate. He was much better in 16 Triple-A innings last year, however, logging an ERA of 3.38 with a 29% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate.
The Mariners are a bit thin on lefties, with Anthony Misiewicz and Justus Sheffield the only two on the 40-man roster that are projected to be both healthy and in the bullpen to start the year. With Buchter around, they’ll have a veteran fallback option. Despite his age, he has less than five years of MLB service time, meaning he could be retained for another year if he can regain his pre-2020 form and earn a roster spot.
Mariners Sign Chance Sisco To Minor League Deal
The Mariners have announced that they’ve signed catcher Chance Sisco to a minor league deal with an invite to Major League Spring Training. They also announced the previously reported deal with Steven Souza Jr.
A second round pick of the Orioles back in 2013, Sisco got some attention from prospect evaluators as he worked his way towards the majors. Baseball America ranked him the #57 prospect in the league in 2017 and #68 the following year, with the expectation being that he would serve as a bat-first catcher in the majors. Unfortunately, his time in the big leagues hasn’t quite lived up to that hype just yet.
Since making his MLB debut in 2017, he’s played in 196 games and stepped to the plate 608 times, hitting just .197/.317/.337, wRC+ of 82. Evaluations of his defense haven’t been especially kind to him either. He was designated for assignment by the Orioles in June of last year and claimed by the Mets, getting DFA’d again in September when Noah Syndergaard returned from the injured list.
For the Mariners, there’s no risk in taking a chance on a backstop who was once considered one of the better prospects in the game. Sisco just turned 27 and has just over three years of MLB service time. There were also minor signs of hope last year, as Sisco dropped his strikeout rate to 25.3%, after being above 30% in each of his previous seasons. The club’s catching depth was dinged recently when Jose Godoy was claimed off waivers by the Giants. Tom Murphy projects to be Seattle’s first string catcher, with Cal Raleigh and Luis Torrens also on the 40-man and available for backup duty. However, Torrens played catcher less and less as last year wore on, making his last appearance behind the plate July 9th. Adding Sisco into the fold gives the club an experienced option in the minors who could step up should a need arise.
Mariners, Mike Ford Agree To Minor League Contract
The Mariners are in agreement on a minor league deal with first baseman Mike Ford, as was first reported by MLB Transactions Daily (on Twitter). Ford has since confirmed the agreement on Instagram.
It’ll technically be Ford’s second stint with Seattle, as the M’s selected him out of the Yankees organization in the Rule 5 draft over the 2017-18 offseason. He partook in Spring Training with the Mariners but ultimately failed to crack the roster. Seattle returned him to New York a few days before Opening Day, and he spent that year with the Yankees’ top affiliate in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Ford would eventually get a big league look, though, as he was selected to New York’s MLB roster in April 2019. The left-handed hitter played in 50 games as a rookie and had an excellent showing. He popped 12 home runs in 163 plate appearances, posting a cumulative .259/.350/.559 slash line. He hasn’t managed to follow up on that strong start to his big league career, though. Over the past two years, he’s combined for just a .134/.250/.276 mark in 156 trips to the plate.
Amidst those recent struggles, the Yankees designated Ford for assignment last June. He was traded to the Rays but didn’t appear in the majors before Tampa Bay designated him themselves two months later. The Nationals claimed him off waivers and stashed him in Triple-A for the rest of the season. He struggled to a .202/.284/.337 line with their top affiliate, though, and never earned a big league call in the nation’s capital. Washington non-tendered the Princeton product at the end of the season.
Ford now needs to try and play his way back onto a 40-man roster. He’ll get a look in Seattle, which is set to open the year with Ty France at first base. Former top prospect Evan White remains on the 40-man but seems likely to start the season in Triple-A, where he’ll need to right the ship offensively. The 29-year-old Ford, owner of a .258/.350/.488 line in parts of four years at the minors’ highest level, adds some experienced depth to that first base/designated hitter group in camp.
Seiya Suzuki Weighing Interest From Several Teams
6:41pm: Suzuki and his reps are expected to meet with Cubs brass tonight, reports Sahadev Sharma of the Athletic (Twitter link).
4:45pm: Suzuki himself shot down rumors of a decision having been made, via Instagram story. “There are several reports that I’ve made my decision, but none of that is true,” writes Suzuki.
2:28pm: Suzuki has not chosen a team yet, according to Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times, who says six to seven teams remain under consideration. Jon Heyman of MLB Network names the Padres, Dodgers, Red Sox, Giants, Mariners, and Cubs as some of the teams still involved.
TODAY, 1:43pm: “It appears Seiya Suzuki’s decision is not far away,” tweets Acee.
YESTERDAY, 11:53pm: The Padres are known to be making a push for Seiya Suzuki, and the outfielder worked out in front of Padres executives at Petco Park this weekend, The Athletic’s Dennis Lin reports (Twitter link). Suzuki’s time in San Diego also included a visit with Padres righty Yu Darvish and Darvish’s family.
Now that the lockout is over, Suzuki is finally free to partake in normal free-agent recruitment tours, which are particularly key for players coming to Major League Baseball for the first time. Lin notes that it isn’t known if Suzuki visited any other teams this weekend or what his other travel plans may entail, though given the number of teams interested in Suzuki, he could have quite a few stops to make before his posting period is up. Suzuki now has 17 of his 30 posting days remaining, as the lockout interrupted this process and kept Suzuki from any contract with big league clubs.
Suzuki has seemingly become an increasingly important figure in the Padres’ roster-building efforts, as Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune said earlier today that obtaining Suzuki was part of a “Plan A” scenario for the team. That outline included signing Suzuki and Nelson Cruz, and then trading one of Eric Hosmer or Wil Myers to open up payroll space, though one element of that plan has now been scuttled since Cruz signed with the Nationals.
With Cruz now off the board, it could only intensify the Padres’ pursuit of Suzuki. Since Cruz is limited to DH duty, adding Suzuki would arguably be a better fit for San Diego anyway given the team’s needs in the outfield. Suzuki could be easily slotted right into the Padres’ right field spot, as Myers (if he isn’t traded) could be moved across the grass to fill San Diego’s left field vacancy.