Nationals Claim Richard Lovelady, Designate Mickey Gasper For Assignment
The Nationals announced that they have claimed left-hander Richard Lovelady off waivers from the Mets. New York designated him for assignment a week ago when they acquired Vidal Bruján. To open a spot for Lovelady today, the Nats have designated utility player Mickey Gasper for assignment.
Lovelady, 30, hasn’t found much major league success yet but has received a number of chances due to better numbers in the minors. He has 111 big league innings spread over multiple seasons and in various different jerseys. In that time, he posted a 5.35 earned run average, 21.1% strikeout rate, 8.7% walk rate and 50.9% ground ball rate.
Since he’s out of options, he bounced around the league via numerous transactions last year. He went from the Blue Jays to the Twins and then the Mets, the latter club bouncing him on and off the roster multiple times. He only made ten big league appearances around the transactions with an 8.49 ERA. But in Triple-A, he logged 38 innings with a 1.66 ERA, 26.3% strikeout rate, 8.6% walk rate and 52.6% ground ball rate.
He didn’t have a roster spot at the end of the season but the Mets quickly re-signed him in October to a split deal which would pay him $1MM in the majors and $350K in the minors. It might seem odd to sign a player and then put him on waivers a few months later but that was likely by design.
As mentioned, Lovelady is out of options, meaning he can’t be sent to the minors without first clearing waivers. If he were to clear, he would have the right to elect free agency, since he has at least three years of big league service time. But with his service time below five years, that means Lovelady would have to walk away from the money on his deal in exercising that right. The Mets likely signed him to that deal hoping that it would both disincentivize other clubs from claiming him and also motivate Lovelady to accept an assignment to Triple-A.
The Nationals have foiled that plan by swooping in with a claim. That’s understandable since their bullpen is one of the worst in the majors, if not the very worst. Washington relievers had a collective 5.59 ERA in 2025, highest in the big leagues. The Rockies were second-worst at 5.18.
Washington traded Jose A. Ferrer to the Mariners this winter, which thinned out the relief corps generally and also left them fairly light in terms of lefties. Before this claim, PJ Poulin was the only southpaw reliever on the roster, unless the Nats plan to move some of their starters to the pen. Poulin has only 28 big league games under his belt.
It’s possible the Nats try to pass Lovelady through waivers in the future and other moves could change the roster picture, but for now he has landed in a spot where he has a pretty good chance to earn an Opening Day job. If he still has a roster spot at season’s end, he can be controlled for another two seasons via arbitration.
Gasper, 30, hasn’t done much in the majors yet but has strong minor league numbers and defensive flexibility. He made his big league debut with the Red Sox in 2024 and appeared with the Twins last year, slashing .133/.250/.195 in his first 133 big league plate appearances.
He hit .285/.385/.531 in 208 Triple-A appearances last year. He was 29 years old at the time and that was his third season with at least some Triple-A action but the 137 wRC+ was nonetheless impressive. Even if that’s setting the offensive expectations too high, the defensive versatility is real. Gasper has experience behind the plate, at the three non-shortstop infield positions and left field.
The entire package makes him fairly attractive as a multi-positional bench piece, especially since he’s a switch-hitter. He also has options and doesn’t need to be guaranteed a big league roster spot. The Twins put him on waivers last week and he was claimed by the Nats, one of the clubs nearest the front of the waiver wire priority queue. Washington will now likely put him back on waivers at some point in the next five days.
Photo courtesy of Wendell Cruz, Imagn Images
D-backs To Sign Derek Law
The Diamondbacks and righty Derek Law are in agreement on a minor league contract with an invitation to major league spring training, as first reported by MLB Transactions Daily (on Instagram). Robert Murray of Fansided reports that the CAA client would earn $1.5MM if he makes the roster and has another $500K available to him via incentives. He can earn $50K for reaching each of 20, 25, 30, 35, 40 and 45 appearances. He’d then earn $100K bonuses at 50 and 55 games pitched.
Law posted strong results for the Reds and Nationals in 2023-24 but didn’t pitch in the majors this past season due to arm troubles. He opened the season on the injured list, and by mid-July the Nats had announced that he’d require season-ending flexor surgery. That procedure came with a projected recovery period of nine to ten months, which would put Law on track for a return in April or May.
During that ’23-’24 run between Cincinnati and D.C., Law piled up 145 innings of relief work and notched a tidy 2.98 earned run average. His 20% strikeout rate was below average, but Law also kept his walks down nicely (8.3%), induced grounders at a sound 45% clip and deftly avoided hard contact: 87.7 mph average exit velocity, 34.2% hard-hit rate, 4.2% barrel rate, 0.81 HR/9. He tallied three saves and 20 holds across those two seasons.
When healthy in recent years, Law has sat 95 mph with both his four-seamer and sinker, but both of those pitches have taken a backseat to his 91 mph cutter and a slider sitting at 87 mph. He’s posted particularly impressive swinging-strike rates on that slider, especially in 2024, when the pitch flummoxed opponents to the point that they hit just .157 with a .220 slugging percentage against it.
Unless Law is quietly ahead of schedule, it doesn’t seem like he’ll be in the mix for an Opening Day bullpen spot. He’ll acclimate to his new organization and coaching staff while rehabbing with the big league staff this spring, however, and (again, based on that original timetable) it seems possible he could join the ‘pen at some point in the first few months of the year.
Bullpen depth remains an area of focus for the Diamondbacks, who’ll be without their two top relievers (A.J. Puk, Justin Martinez) for the first several months of the 2026 season after they underwent season-ending elbow procedures in 2025. Left-hander Andrew Saalfrank and righties Kevin Ginkel, Ryan Thompson, Taylor Clarke and Drey Jameson are all in the running for key relief roles. Longtime Yankees reliever Jonathan Loaisiga signed on a non-roster deal as well and will look to win a spot this spring. Arizona remains in the market for more bullpen arms, with recent reports indicating that GM Mike Hazen and his staff have been more active on the trade market as of late.
Padres To Sign Marco Gonzales To Minor League Deal
The Padres and left-hander Marco Gonzales have agreed to a minor league deal with an invite to major league spring training, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The CAA Sports client will make a salary of $1.5MM if he makes the team with an extra $1MM available via incentives.
Gonzales, 34 in February, spent many years as a solid mid-rotation starter in the majors but is coming off a few injury-marred seasons. From 2018 to 2022, he gave the Mariners 765 2/3 innings, allowing 3.94 earned runs per nine. His 17.7% strikeout rate was subpar but he also only gave out walks at a 5.8% clip.
In 2023, nerve issues in his forearm limited him to just ten starts. He required surgery in August of that year. Going into 2024, he was included in the Jarred Kelenic trade with Atlanta, seemingly as financial ballast. He was traded to Pittsburgh a few days later. Due to further forearm strains, he went on and off the injured list and only made seven starts for the Bucs that year. He underwent flexor tendon surgery that August.
The Pirates made the easy decision to turn down his $15MM club option for 2025 since he was looking at a lengthy surgery recovery. He didn’t sign anywhere else and didn’t pitch in any official capacity last year.
It’s anyone’s guess what he can provide after three straight issues more or less tanked by forearm problems. For the Padres, he’s a sensible flier to take as they certainly need pitching. Right now, their on-paper rotation is fronted by Michael King, Nick Pivetta and Joe Musgrove. There’s not a ton of certainty in there. King was injured for a lot of 2025. Pivetta has been in trade rumors. Musgrove missed all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Behind those top three, there are guys like Randy Vásquez, JP Sears, Kyle Hurt and Matt Waldron. Vásquez had a 3.84 ERA last year but that seems unsustainable since he only struck out 13.7% of batters faced. The other three all posted ERAs above 5.00 in 2025.
It’s unclear how much spending capacity the Padres have at this stage of the winter. RosterResource currently projects them for a $220MM payroll and $262MM competitive balance tax figure. At the end of 2025, those numbers were $214MM and $266MM.
If the budget is tight, that could explain why the Friars are open to moving Pivetta and his backloaded contract. He made a $3MM signing bonus and $1MM salary last year but his salary jumps to $19MM, $14MM and $18MM in the next three seasons, with an opt-out after 2026. Flipping him would save some money but further thin out the rotation.
Gonzales is hard to bank on after his injury odyssey but he would be nice value for money if he can return to something resembling his prior form. He will join Triston McKenzie as non-roster arms pushing for big league jobs with the Padres this year.
Photo courtesy of Rafael Suanes, Imagn Images
Angels Acquire Jayvien Sandridge, Designate Osvaldo Bido
The Angels have acquired left-hander Jayvien Sandridge from the Yankees in exchange for cash, per announcements from both clubs. The Halos added that righty Osvaldo Bido has been designated for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster. New York had designated Sandridge for assignment a couple days ago.
The 26-year-old Sandridge made a brief MLB debut this past season, allowing a pair of runs in two-thirds of an innings with the Yanks. He spent the bulk of the 2025 season in Triple-A, where he pitched to a 4.55 ERA with a huge 33.1% strikeout rate but a 12% walk rate in 31 2/3 frames. Sandridge averaged about 95 mph on his four-seamer and logged an outstanding 15.3% swinging-strike rate during his time in Triple-A. He still has a pair of minor league option years remaining.
A former 32nd-round pick by the Orioles, Sandridge has bounced to five organizations since the 2018 draft, primarily doing so via minor league free agency. Baltimore released him in 2020, when most clubs throughout the game were making sweeping cuts to their minor league personnel during the early stages of the pandemic, and he’s since signed minor league deals with the Reds, Padres and Yankees.
Sandridge has pitched in parts of seven minor league seasons but totaled only 241 2/3 total minor league frames. He’s logged a solid 3.99 earned run average in that time and punched out nearly one-third of his opponents — but he’s also issued walks at a 17% clip and plunked another 22 of the 1099 batters he’s faced (2%). Coupled with a whopping 44 wild pitches, it’s more than fair to say that command is a major hindrance for the hard-throwing southpaw.
As for Bido, today’s move is the continuation of an all-too-familiar refrain. He’s already been on waivers four times this winter and now appears poised to head back to the wire for a fifth time. Bido began the winter on the Athletics’ 40-man roster but has since bounced to the Braves, Rays, Marlins and Angels via waivers.
Bido turned 30 this past October. He spent seven seasons in the minors with the Pirates prior to making his debut as a 27-year-old rookie in 2023, and he’s spent the past two seasons pitching with the A’s, who signed him to a big league deal in the 2023-24 winter after Pittsburgh cut him loose. The wiry 6’3″, 175-pound righty has had an up-and-down run in the majors across the past three seasons, posting ugly numbers in 2023 and 2025 but logging 63 1/3 innings of 3.41 ERA ball with solid rate stats in 2024.
Overall, Bido has pitched 193 2/3 innings as a big leaguer. In that time, he carries a collective 5.07 earned run average. Metrics like SIERA (4.60) and FIP (4.67) are a bit kinder. Broadly, he’s pitched like a serviceable swingman/sixth starter for much of his time in the majors.
Bido averages 94.7 mph with both his four-seamer and sinker. His strikeout rate (20.9%) and walk rate (9.6%) are both worse than league average, but not by much. He’s an extreme fly-ball pitcher but hadn’t been especially prone to home runs until the 2025 season — though that was surely due to the Athletics’ temporary home at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento playing like an absolute launching pad; Bido surrendered 13 home runs in 44 1/3 home innings but just six in 35 1/3 frames on the road.
The Angels can trade Bido or place him on waivers at any point within the next five days. Waivers are a 48-hour process. His DFA will be resolved within one week’s time.
White Sox Designate Bryan Ramos For Assignment
The White Sox announced that infielder Bryan Ramos has been designated for assignment. That’s the corresponding move to open a roster spot for right-hander Seranthony Domínguez, whose signing is now official.
Ramos, 24 in March, was an international signing out of Cuba back in 2018. He charged up prospect lists a bit in 2022. He stepped to the plate 519 times that year between High-A and Double-A, hitting 22 home runs. He produced a combined line of .266/.338/.455 and a 114 wRC+. The Sox added him to their 40-man roster that November to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. Baseball America ranked him the #3 prospect in the system going into 2023.
Things haven’t been going as well for the past few years, however. He still had decent numbers in the minors in 2023 but missed time due to injury, only getting into 81 games. Over the past two seasons, he has a minor league slash line of .228/.314/.392 and an 82 wRC+. He has also stepped to the plate 120 times in the majors with a dismal .198/.244/.333 showing.
Ramos used up his three options over the past three campaigns. Now that he’s out of options, it was going to be tougher for him to hold a roster spot going forward. He has dabbled at first base, second base and left field but has primarily been a third baseman in his career. The White Sox signed Munetaka Murakami to cover first base, which will likely leave Miguel Vargas as the regular at third. The Sox also have guys like Chase Meidroth, Luisangel Acuña, Brooks Baldwin, Curtis Mead and Lenyn Sosa as other options for the infield corners.
All of those factors have squeezed Ramos off the roster and into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Sox could take five days to explore trade interest. His out-of-options status won’t help him land with another club but perhaps some team out there is intrigued by his former prospect pedigree. If he does land somewhere, he has less than a year of service time and can therefore be controlled for six full seasons.
Photo courtesy of Jesse Johnson, Imagn Images
White Sox Sign Seranthony Domínguez
January 29th: The Sox officially announced their two-year, $20MM deal with Domínguez today, adding that it includes a $1MM signing bonus and a mutual option for 2028. According to The Associated Press, he’ll make a $7MM salary this year and $10MM in 2027. There’s a $2MM buyout on the option, which is valued at $12MM. Infielder Bryan Ramos was designated for assignment as the corresponding move.
January 23rd: The White Sox and right-hander Seranthony Domínguez are in agreement on a two-year, $20MM deal, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. Passan adds that the Epitome Sports Management is expected to be the closer for the Sox. Chicago has a full 40-man roster and will need a corresponding move to make this official.
Domínguez, 31, has mostly been an effective setup guy in his career. He debuted with the Phillies in 2018 and tossed 58 innings with a 2.95 earned run average. His 9.5% walk rate was a bit high but he struck out 32% of batters faced while inducing grounders on 55.7% of balls in play.
He missed most of the next three seasons due to injury, including a Tommy John surgery in 2020. Over the past four years, he has been back on track and his production has had a somewhat similar shape to his 2018 season. He has thrown at least 50 innings in each of those four campaigns. Put together, he tossed 222 1/3 innings for the Phillies, Orioles and Blue Jays with a combined ERA of 3.60, a 27% strikeout rate, 10.7% walk rate and 41.9% ground ball rate. He racked up 24 saves and 55 holds.
In 2025, he changed up his arsenal. He still featured a four-seamer and sinker in the upper 90s with a sweeper as one of his breaking balls, but he switched out his changeup and slider for a splitter and a curveball. That led to a career-high walk rate of 13.8% but his 30.3% strikeout rate was his best in a full season since his rookie debut. He became one of the top setup guys in Toronto’s bullpen, making 12 postseason appearances as part of that club’s run to the World Series. He had a 3.18 ERA in those, though with more walks than strikeouts.
It’s a bit of a volatile profile but the stuff is tantalizing and his results have mostly been good. Coming into the winter, there was a clear top tier of free agent closers which included Edwin Díaz, Devin Williams and Robert Suarez. Domínguez was in the next tier of solid setup guys, including Tyler Rogers, Luke Weaver, Brad Keller and others. MLBTR predicted Domínguez for a two-year deal worth $18MM and he has come in just a hair above that.
Domínguez was connected to clubs like the Red Sox and Twins in reported rumors but presumably had interest from other clubs as well. The White Sox are an interesting landing spot for him. The club is clearly in rebuild mode, having just finished their third straight 100-loss season. However, a few of their prospects had nice breakout seasons in 2025, including Colson Montgomery and Kyle Teel.
The Sox have responded with a somewhat active offseason. They bolstered their rotation by giving Anthony Kay $12MM over two years and Sean Newcomb $4.5MM on a one-year deal. Munetaka Murakami seemingly fell into their laps when no one else wanted to give him a long-term deal, so they signed him for $34MM over two years.
They did subtract Luis Robert Jr. this week, trading him to the Mets for Luisangel Acuña and pitching prospect Truman Pauley, but general manager Chris Getz said that the money saved from that deal would be reinvested in the team. Robert was set to make a $20MM salary this year, with a $2MM buyout on his $20MM option for 2027. Assuming the Domínguez deal is equally spread out across the two seasons, then he’ll be taking half of the money that was slated for Robert’s salary in 2026.
No one is likely to pick the White Sox to win the Central this year but the club is at least trying to make the roster more respectable, which is commendable. Perhaps there’s a scenario where things go especially well and they hover in the race for a few months. If not, all of their pickups have been for one or two years, keeping the long-term payroll wide open for whenever they do return to contention. Of the signees, anyone who plays well could be on the trade block this summer if the Sox are behind the pack.
For Domínguez, it’s possible he may have preferred a more surefire contender but landing in Chicago gives him a chance to close. As mentioned earlier, he has picked up a few saves in his career but has mostly been a setup guy. If he fares well in the ninth-inning job, perhaps that will help him land with a contender via trade and it could help his earning power when he returns to the open market two years from now.
He immediately becomes easily the most experienced arm in the bullpen. Newcomb, who will have a chance to earn a rotation job, is the only other pitcher on the roster with even three years of big league service time.
Last year, eight different pitchers recorded a save for the Sox. Jordan Leasure led the pack with seven, followed by Grant Taylor with six. Those two both have live arms but are still pretty inexperienced. They can work setup roles with Domínguez in the ninth. If the younger guys take a step forward or Domínguez ends up traded, then the roles could change over the course of a long season. It’s also possible the Sox make another move if Getz still has some powder dry.
With Domínguez now off the board, the relief market gets a bit more barren. Díaz, Suarez, Williams, Rogers, Weaver, Keller, Ryan Helsley, Emilio Pagán, Kyle Finnegan, Raisel Iglesias, Phil Maton, Pete Fairbanks, Kenley Jansen, Gregory Soto and others have all come off the board. The group of guys still available includes Danny Coulombe, Justin Wilson, Andrew Chafin, Evan Phillips, Scott Barlow and more.
Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro, Mitch Stringer, Imagn Images
Nationals Outright Riley Adams
The Nationals sent catcher Riley Adams outright to Triple-A Rochester, according to the MLB.com transaction tracker. Washington designated him for assignment last week when they claimed reliever Gus Varland from Arizona. The Nats announced that Adams has accepted the minor league assignment.
Adams has between three and four years of MLB service time. That gave him the right to elect free agency in lieu of an outright assignment but meant he’d have forfeited his salary to do so. Adams and the Nats agreed to a split contract in November to avoid arbitration. That pays him at a $1MM rate for time in the big leagues and $500K for his minor league work. It was unlikely that Adams would pass on that guaranteed half-million dollars when he’d be limited to minor league offers as a free agent.
Now that he’s staying in the organization, Adams will provide non-roster depth behind the plate. The 29-year-old is a .211/.287/.354 hitter in 263 MLB games spanning five seasons. Almost all of it has come in Washington, as the Nats acquired him from the Blue Jays 12 games into his rookie season. Adams has above-average power but strikes out far too often to be a productive hitter. Defensive metrics haven’t been keen on his receiving work, though he does have a strong arm and cut down 28.8% of attempted base stealers last year.
Washington acquired rookie catcher Harry Ford in the trade sending hard-throwing reliever Jose A. Ferrer to Seattle. Ford should get run as Blake Butera’s primary catcher. Former top prospect Keibert Ruiz hasn’t lived up to expectations and now looks ticketed for a backup job. Drew Millas and catcher/utility player Mickey Gasper are on the 40-man roster. The Nationals also reunited with Tres Barrera on a minor league deal that includes a non-roster invite to Spring Training last week.
Reds Sign Darren McCaughan To Minor League Deal
The Reds announced this afternoon that they’ve signed Darren McCaughan to a minor league contract. The righty will be in Spring Training as a non-roster invitee.
McCaughan is a 29-year-old swingman who has pitched parts of four seasons in the majors. He has a combined 20 appearances across four teams. The former 12th-round pick debuted with the Mariners in 2021 and has subsequently pitched for the Guardians, Marlins and Twins. He has a 6.02 earned run average with a 16.2% strikeout rate across 61 1/3 MLB innings.
The Long Beach State product spent the majority of the 2025 season with Minnesota’s Triple-A club. He started 12 of 26 appearances, tallying 97 frames of 5.10 ERA ball. McCaughan posted solid strikeout and walk numbers but was plagued by the longball, giving up 20 homers (nearly two per nine innings). Home runs have been an issue throughout his career, which isn’t surprising because he sits in the 89-90 MPH range with his sinker and four-seam fastball.
McCaughan has plus control and the versatility to pitch in different roles. He’s unlikely to break camp on a talented Cincinnati pitching staff but should be available as a non-roster depth option at Triple-A Louisville.
Nationals To Sign Sergio Alcántara To Minor League Deal
The Nationals and infielder Sergio Alcántara have agreed to a minor league deal, reports Francys Romero of Beisbol FR. The Movement Baseball client receives an invite to big league camp in spring training.
Alcántara, 29, has generally been a light-hitting but sure-handed utility player in his career. He has appeared in 193 big league games dating back to his 2020 debut, suiting up for the Tigers, Cubs, Diamondbacks, Padres and Giants. He has 506 plate appearances between those clubs with a .207/.278/.340 batting line.
Defensively, he has played all three infield spots to the left of first base. The plurality of his playing time has been as a shortstop, with 532 innings there, plus 300-350 innings at both second and third base. His grades at short have been strong, with three Defensive Runs Saved and seven Outs Above Average. His grades at second and third aren’t as good, which is a bit odd since most plus shortstops can easily handle the other infield spots.
Teams must feel pretty good about his glovework as he’s not hitting his way into his opportunities. His numbers at the plate have been a bit better in the minors but not by much. Over the past three years, he has a .263/.377/.387 line and 94 wRC+ at the Triple-A level.
There’s plenty of uncertainty in the Washington infield. CJ Abrams has been the club’s shortstop for a few years now but he has appeared in some recent trade rumors. Even if he’s not dealt before the beginning of the upcoming season, he would be a trade candidate at the summer deadline. The top shortstop options behind him are Tsung-Che Chung, Nasim Nuñez and José Tena, who haven’t done much to impress in the big leagues thus far.
There are also question marks at the other spots. Luis García Jr. has been the regular at the keystone but the Nats moved him to first base late last year. That will put more pressure on his bat, which has been subpar. Even if he plays well, he would be a midseason trade candidate like Abrams.
Nuñez may be the heir apparent at second base. Brady House hasn’t seized the third base job as hoped. Both of those two still have options. Andrés Chaparro is in the mix at the corners and also has options. Abimelec Ortiz, just acquired in the MacKenzie Gore trade, is another first base candidate with options. The Nats have former prospect Orelvis Martinez aboard as some non-roster depth, though he hasn’t played shortstop in a few years.
It’s possible there’s a decent amount of shuffling throughout the season as the rebuilding Nats experiment with the guys in that group, with the whole picture potentially changing due to some future trades.. Alcántara adds some glove-first depth on the infield, particularly at shortstop, without taking up a roster spot. If he’s eventually added, he is out of options.
Photo courtesy of Dennis Lee, Imagn Images
Mariners Outright Jhonathan Díaz
The Mariners announced that left-hander Jhonathan Díaz has been outrighted to Triple-A Tacoma, indicating that he cleared waivers. He had been designated for assignment last week when Seattle acquired Cooper Criswell from the Mets. Díaz has the right to elect free agency but the Mariners did not indicate whether or not he would do so.
Díaz, 29, has appeared in five big league seasons but with limited action in each one. He pitched 15 1/3 innings or less in each, bringing him to a combined total of 46 1/3 innings, with 4.66 earned runs allowed per nine.
Some websites list Díaz as still having a minor league option but he was optioned for extended stretches throughout the 2022, 2024 and 2025 seasons. Teams are sometimes granted a fourth option on a player but only if they don’t have five “full” professional seasons, where a “full” season is defined as 90 active days. Díaz first reached full season ball way back in 2017 and has been fairly active since then, so he shouldn’t qualify for a fourth option.
Regardless of his option status, he was facing a tough path to a rotation gig in Seattle. The Mariners have a strong front five consisting of Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryan Woo, Luis Castillo and Bryce Miller. The depth isn’t amazing but the M’s added Criswell and also have Logan Evans, Emerson Hancock and Blas Castano on the roster. They have added Dane Dunning and Randy Dobnak via minor league deals.
Díaz would have been somewhere in that mix but got squeezed out and the other 29 clubs passed on the chance to grab him off waivers. His minor league numbers aren’t bad, considering that he has been pitching in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. Over the past three years, he has thrown 343 1/3 innings in that league with a 4.33 ERA, 21.2% strikeout rate, 8% walk rate and ground balls on roughly half the balls in play he allowed.
The lefty has a previous outright in his career, which means he has the right to reject this assignment and elect free agency. Since he just cleared waivers, it’s apparent that no club is willing to give him a 40-man spot, so he would be limited to minor league offers. With spring training just around the corner, it’s possible he decides to simply stick with the Mariners, which would give them some extra rotation depth.
Photo courtesy of Steven Bisig, Imagn Images