THURSDAY: The Mariners have announced the signings of Wolf and Miner.
Wolf will earn $1MM if he makes the roster, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (links all to Twitter). The contract also includes a variety of incentives tied to appearances (as a reliever or starter), days on the roster, and innings pitched. If Wolf maxes out his deal, says Rosenthal, he could reach $4.25MM in earnings.
TUESDAY, 1:05pm: Miner will earn $750K if he makes the Major League team and has a June 15 opt-out date, tweets Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish.
10:54am: The Mariners have agreed to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training with veteran lefty Randy Wolf, tweets Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. Divish also tweets that the Mariners will sign right-hander Zach Miner to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training. Wolf is a client of the Wasserman Media Group, and Miner is represented by the Boras Corporation.
Seattle views Wolf as a potential bullpen option, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. The 37-year-old missed the entire 2013 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery late in the 2012 campaign. In that 2012 season, Wolf struggled to a 5.65 ERA with 5.9 K/9, 3.0 BB/9 and a 42.9 percent ground-ball rate (the highest of his career). Despite those struggles, he was solid for the Brewers the prior year, posting a 3.69 ERA in 212 1/3 innings out of their rotation.
Wolf owns a 4.20 ERA in 2268 career innings at the big league level and is a veteran of 14 Major League seasons with the Phillies, Astros, Dodgers, Brewers, Padres and Orioles.
Miner, 32 in March, pitched 28 1/3 innings for the Phillies in 2013 — his first Major League action since 2009. Miner turned in a 4.40 ERA with nearly as many walks (17) as strikeouts (20) in that time. However, there were a good deal of positives in Miner's game as well; his velocity was up more than a full mile per hour (91.8 mph average in 2013 compared to 90.7 in 2009), and he posted a strong 48.9 percent ground-ball rate.
Miner has a 4.25 career ERA in 385 1/3 innings between the Tigers and Phillies. Presumably, Seattle likes him as a potential swingman — a role he's had throughout the entirety of his Major League career to this point. Miner has appeared in 173 big league games, including 38 starts.
low risk potentially high reward so that is always good.
Who has this high reward you’re talking about?
Randy Wolf. Zach Miner dont know really.
How exactly is Randy Wolf a high reward option? What are you expecting from him?
Innings eater
Innings eater from a guy who wasn’t effective in the NL in 2012, the last time he pitched. Coming off TJ surgery at his age and with the article saying they view him as a reliever? Not really sure that makes sense.
Agreed, Not every minor league signing is a “low risk high reward.” Not sure how Wolf would even fit if Miner makes the bullpen.
thats why i said Potential high reward
Miner’s a right hander with an insane WHIP. He’s a longshot, given the multiple other right handed options.
The only left reliever in the Mariners pen that’s decent, is Furbush. Wolf would be competing with Beimel, LaFromboise and Luetge for one of two spots.
Thats why i said Potientally high reward doesn’t mean it will happen. that is also why It is a minor league deal.
But how? You give no legitimate reasons as to why he can be a possible high reward player. Innings eater was not a legitimate reason.
Innings eater and his strikeout rate…
To be fair, Perez was converted to relief, and that worked out fairly well.
I’m sure they’ll weigh the possibility of him starting, but asking him to just handle lefties isn’t a terrible idea.
Lots of pitchers do just fine after TJ surgery, though the M’s seem to be pushing their luck with several rebound pitching candidates.
I never said he couldn’t make a positive impact for the team. But that guy said he was a “low risk, potentially high reward” and I just don’t see it that way and wanted to see why he thought that way. And yes, pitchers can recover and be fine after TJ surgery. But Wolf’s 37 and he was very bad in 2012, the last year he pitched. So even without TJ surgery, I don’t see him being a high reward type guy. I think he can be a serviceable lefty out of the pen, which isn’t an awful thing.
I know what both of you said. It’s still on here! But you’re probably overreacting a bit.
If Wolf hadn’t had the surgery, the M’s probably wouldn’t be interested. You could argue his numbers stunk because he needed the surgery.
I don’t think this is a low risk, high reward deal either. But some people use that term in place of value, which is what I believe he was implying.
Very likely the two of you see things similar without realizing it.
Maybe, but I don’t even think he’s going to make the team to be honest. The guy hasn’t had a WHIP under 1.31 since 2009 which is pretty average and that was while pitching in the NL Central. I don’t think he’s going to all of a sudden get better while coming to the AL, with his age, coming off surgery. But I could be wrong so I guess we’ll see.
Again, his competition is another rebound candidate, plus LaFromboise and Luetge. It’s sad that this is the best LHRP options they can come up with, but this is all we have right now.
HOF
nothing major he is an innings eater and if he works out, he works out.
You just contradicted yourself by saying he’s a high reward possibility then saying nothing major.
actually I didn’t its not a major its not a franchise changing signing but its a low risk high potentional signing. Why do you continue to argue with me on the Internet of all places
Nice high reward. Guy just got cut.
If he does the same thing Oliver Perez did the past couple of years, I think it’s a… Well maybe not high reward, but a reward of some sort.
More like low risk, decent reward. I’m assuming your talking about Wolf, and he doesn’t exactly have high upside especially at his age.
I like the moves the Mariners have made this offseason.
Ryan Divish is with the Seattle Times now.
Ok, my comment looks silly now after the article was edited!
Better than signing Cruz.
still waiting to sign Cruz. I can’t wait unlike you I think it will benefit the Mariners. Unless you can explain to me what other options the Mariners can do
Stand pat and see what develops in ST and early in the season, Cruz does not have the type of bat that makes the M’s contenders. They are better off waiting till the season gets underway and seeing what becomes available via trade. M’s have enough poor defense/slightly above average hitters.
so what your saying to me is that the protection for Cano is just fine??? what kind of bat out there fits the mariners right now?????
No what Im saying is Cruz does not = protection for Cano. None of the FA bats fit the M’s needs. Stanton, if he is made available, or Kemp, if healthy and available, would be 100 times better and the M’s have the prospects to swing a trade for someone like that
I killed the rally money. respectfully i think Cruz will do a whole lot better if he is under Cano. See we don’t know what kind of numbers he can bring. I say we give him a chance
Cruz is a career .242/.299/.435 on the road. His career home OPS is .912 it dives down to .734 on the road. His ISO home career is .262 and it is .194 on the road. His LD% at home is 18.5 and it is 15.3%. It is very hard to be optimistic about him looking at those numbers.
The Marlins have made it clear they are not trading him. Kemp right now is behind schdule on his injury. I understand what your saying I do. but right now Nelson is the only option from that stand point
Free agency isn’t the only option. Cruz has alarming splits at three stadiums in the AL West–including Seattle, and his defense isn’t going to benefit the team any, so skepticism is warranted.
But he could be useful if they DH’d him, sticking Hart at 1B and having Guti and Saunders covering center and RF–at least against lefties. Cruz in the two hole should see better pitches, and pitchers would still have to deal with Hart if they tried to get around Cano.
Seattle needs a center fielder. Cruz makes the team better, but the price should be a concern because it may prevent them from being able to acquire a more useful outfielder in the short term.
Hi stevil always like talking to ya. I get what your saying I do. thats why we should go for Homer Bailey for Cin and Tabata for the pirates to solve the Cf Problem
what would you think of that?
There’s a lot of good options, but I think the M’s have singled-out right handed bats. Cruz may not even be seen as a starting outfielder for all we know, but it’s odd that they don’t seem very concerned with outfield defense.
Span and Revere are left handed hitters that would improve the outfield defense, and it shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg to acquire either of them. I’ve been a fan of Jennings (a RHB) and wondered if he might be acquirable, but it is looking more and more like they’re bent on Cruz.
I don’t think Tabata is acquirable. He’s good and he has a team-friendly contract that will keep him around. He’s important for the Pirates.
Bailey…. I don’t think the M’s should be trading for pitchers. Not expensive pitchers, anyway. He would cost a significant prospect or three, and an extension would be needed. He only has one more year of team control.
Even if Tabata were available, he’s not a CF. He’s strictly a corner OF.
McCutchen has a lock on center for the Pirates, no doubt, but he isn’t acquirable either.
Though a center fielder is a bigger priority, I’d love to see a solid corner outfielder added as well–which certainly wont happen if they sign Cruz.
Yelich was at the top of my list of corner outfielders that I felt were feasible.
I think Carlos Gomez would be a nice fit in CF for the M’s, but I doubt he’s going anywhere either.
What about Jon Jay? With Holliday entrenched in LF, adding Bourjos, Craig moving to RF, and Tavares ready to come up, jay may be expendable.
What price? A deal hasn’t been agreed on yet.
Hence the use of the word “if”. It’s speculation, but it’s reasonable speculation.
Here’s your words I was referring to:
“Cruz makes the team better, but the price should be a concern because it may prevent them from being able to acquire a more useful outfielder in the short term.”
Maybe you misspoke, and were indeed just speculating that they overpay to get Cruz, but like I say no deal has been agreed to yet. Cruz may in fact fall into our lap at a good price.
The placement of your comment through me off. But in this case, “may” is the keyword which dictates the entire sentence as suggestive. That was my intent, anyway. I would have cited contract numbers if he had signed and I certainly wouldn’t have missed something like that happening! I probably should have used “would” instead of “should”, but I thought my point was clear. Guess I was wrong.
I’m not confident at all that Cruz will come at a good price, though, and I still don’t see him as a good fit, even if the team views him more as a DH. That doesn’t mean I wont cheer for him and wish him the best when/if he does end up in a Mariner uniform, though.
They better get wolfs personal catcher kottaras lol
I woke up for this? Bleh, don’t wake me up again until the Mariners inevitably spend too much on Nelson Cruz.
I guess Wolf is worth taking a quick look at but he doesn’t have much in the way of upside.
I don’t really see any reason to grab Miner. He’s never been any good.
Miner maybe a bullpen piece. not too familar with him
I don’t believe there is an upside to either of these players. Low risk yes but high reward…NO. Both will be cut before the season starts. On another Mariners note….Signing Cruz will be a mistake unless they get him for a 1yr deal (DUH). If he signs a multi year deal you are looking at the next Chone Figgins. OUCH!!!
Now that this has taken to talking about Cruz, I am torn. Looking at the available FA’s next year, none of the bats really scream “impact”. So a 2 year deal with Cruz and maybe a 3rd Yr Option would be alright. Looking at the splits for him between Arlington and Away, and there is cause for concern. However, I would hate for the M’s to try nothing over the next two years in regards to protecting Cano with another decent bat. At this juncture, it won’t kill me if they sign Cruz and roll the dice on a 2 year pact, unless there are some trade options not made public that make more sense.
The Mariners give minor league invitations to Scott Baker, Randy Wolf and Zach Miner then hope at least one makes a contribution. No one is counting on any one pitcher to have an impact.
I endorse the strategy.
The M’s are getting desperate and know they better fix their bullpen or else. I would be happier if they signed a starter like Santana, their starting pitching after Felix and Iwakuma is weak. They can’t rely on rookies to fill out the other starting positions.
Walker and Paxton are weak? Unproven, yes. But by no means weak.
Walker and Paxton are going to be rookies. A large number of the rookies that have come through the Mariners system in recent years have either failed miserably or been mediocre. There are certainly reasons to be worried. I’d prefer to pick up someone like Jimenez and leave one of these young guys in AAA.
Walker has a great fastball and a good cutter but his offspeed pitches still need a lot of work. I think he’ll start off strong but opposing batters may be able to figure him out by mid-season if he can’t get his curve or change over consistently.
Paxton struggled with his control throughout most of last year. A 4.45 ERA and 1.483 WHIP in AAA scares me. Just because he had a few good outings with Seattle doesn’t mean he’s figured everything out.
Both of these guys have a lot of potential but I’m not sure if either are quite ready so it would be nice to have a backup plan other than Maurer, Noesi, or Wolf.
I’ve expressed similar concerns. Paxton worries me a little more, given the added durability issues.
Big reason why I’ve wanted to see the M’s land two solid starters. But so far, we have two rehab projects, Ramirez, Beavan, and Maurer to fallback on. Noesi’s out of options, so I’m assuming he disappears.
I suppose it’s possible they’re still in on Santana or Jimenez, but I’d like them to land someone like Capuano as well, despite his durability concerns.
You can never have too much starting pitching. The M’s should know that as well as anyone, given the collective performance they got from their 3-5 starters for the better part of last season.
I completely agree, while Walker and Paxton are great talents, they are also largely unproven on the MLB stage. A rotation should be viewed as a whole, as by the time July rolls around, #1 guys are facing #3’s and #2 guys against #5’s or spot starters, so actual slotting goes out the window for the most part. Felix and Iwakuma will only start 40% of games if they stay healthy all year. The way it is slotted now, the remaining 60% would be started by rookies and vets looking for one last shot. That doesn’t sound like a recipe for a team looking to get back into the postseason, regardless of the talent of the two rookies in question. I’m all for the M’s doing 2-3 year deals on guys like Santana and Jimenez (sp?), and before he signed, Arroyo. Add a little more proven success to the equation.
I am shocked that Randy Wolf is only 37. It feels like he has been in MLB forever.
he was 22 when he got called up
Now the M’s need to hire Eddie Bane for the FO so they can have both “The Wolfman” and “The Wofie” with the organization. Who knows what would happen under a full moon with the roof retracted during games ehhh??
Randy Wolf is only high reward if he becomes anything like Ollie Perez was.
More Mariner news… That doesn’t involve a Cruz signing??? I take that as a good sign, that Z isn’t giving in and going all Bavasi-esque on us.
I didn’t even know Randy Wolf was still around.
Walker and Paxton aren’t weak, they’re rookies. They have little major league experience. They could stand out and have great rookie seasons, sort of like the Oakland starters had last year. But they are rookies, and will likely make rookie mistakes. But their futures are bright. You shouldn’t rely on 2 rookies in your starting rotation, but who knows they may be outstanding.
Saw release for Wolf; haven’t seen Miner announcement yet.
Wow!!! Wolf brings back some great memories.