THURSDAY: Coffey has passed his physical, making his deal with the Mariners complete, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (via Twitter). Coffey’s base salary upon making the Major League roster will be $750K, and his contract contains $350K of incentives. He’ll earn $15K per month in the minor leagues, Heyman adds.
TUESDAY: The Mariners are set to sign right-hander Todd Coffey to a minor league deal, reports Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune (Twitter links). The Beverly Hills Sports Council client’s deal is pending a physical, and he’ll fly to Arizona on Wednesday or Thursday to take that exam, Dutton adds.
Coffey missed the 2013 season after undergoing the second Tommy John surgery of his career. His most recent Major League action came in 2012, when he posted a 4.66 ERA in 19 1/3 innings. Coffey was in the midst of a strong 8 2/3 inning scoreless stretch that season but was hit hard in his final outing — his final appearance before undergoing surgery.
Coffey had posted a 3.62 ERA in 59 2/3 innings the year prior, and has had similar ups and downs throughout his entire career. He’s had fairly wild swings in his year-to-year ERA, but xFIP has consistently pegged him for something in the 3.90 to 4.00 range, while SIERA has been a bigger fan, suggesting marks between 3.50 and 3.80.
Coffey has averaged 93.2 mph on his heater throughout his career, and Yahoo’s Jeff Passan recently reported that he was sitting at 91-92 mph in his most recent workout for teams. The Mariners rank ninth in the Majors in bullpen ERA (3.29), and Coffey will provide them with a nice option, should one of their current arms go down to injury. Seattle also had interest in Heath Bell recently, so it does appear they’ve been actively pursuing additional depth.
