On Monday afternoon, the Mariners formally announced that they have reached agreement with reliever Steve Cishek on a two-year deal.  The pact, reportedly worth $10MM combined between 2016 and 2017, will help replenish a bullpen that has lost former temporary closers Tom Wilhelmsen, Carson Smith, and Danny Farquhar.  On a conference call with reporters just minutes ago, GM Jerry Dipoto confirmed that Cishek will be the Mariners’ closer in 2016.  For Cishek, that was pivotal as he shopped the open market.  I asked the veteran if he had other offers to pitch in the ninth inning.
“There were a couple other teams [with significant interest], but not too many closing opportunities out there. Â For me, Seattle was the No. 1 place I wanted to go when I heard that they wanted me to be their closer,” Cishek said.
Until today, Cishek spent his entire career in the National League, but he has gotten to play at Safeco Field in the past. Â His previous time spent in Seattle also played into his interest in signing with the M’s.
“When I was here, I loved the city and the stadium.  It was gorgeous.  I was able to confirm all of that again when I did the physical here a couple of days ago,” Cishek said.  “When my agent called me, he said that there are a couple of offers are on the table, but one in particular is really interesting.  He said the Mariners are looking for a closer and I said, ’Tell me more! Tell me more!’  I wanted to return to the back end of the bullpen and that’s something that I didn’t get to do too much in St. Louis because their bullpen was amazing.”
The addition of Cishek might not mark the end of the Mariners’ bullpen revamp, Dipoto says, but the signing will probably be the end of the team’s “heavy lifting” when it comes to relievers.  Dipoto fully expects Cishek and Charlie Furbush to hold down the back end of the bullpen and that’s cause for excitement from Cishek’s perspective.
Photo courtesy of Seattle Mariners Baseball Information department.
If Cishek returns to form, the M’s will have a 7th, 8th, and 9th inning combo that would be hard to score on. Charlie was ridiculous in bases loaded, one out situations that seemed impossible to get out of unscathed. I’m excited to see the M’s in action next year
I’m sorry, Furbush as the back end? Yes, but he won’t be the primary guy in the 8th. He’s a lefty specialist. You’re thinking of Benoit.
I have a feeling Scribner will do well here and we should have a solid 7-8-9 in Scribner, Benoit and Cishek, with Furbush available when we need a lefty.
I liked what Cishek stated about the Cardinals’s bullpen “their bullpen was amazing”. Good luck with the Mariners. It will be cool to see you as a closer again.
Confirms Dipoto is outta his mind, no other team even considered Cishek a closer. If he was that great he woulda commanded Neshek’s contract. Exact same situation.
M’s- super expensive 2B, expensive RF/DH, star 3B in his prime, bullpen blows leads all year.
I doubt Cishek has too long of a leash. Clearly Dipoto wanted someone with 9th-inning experience, and Cishek could provide that. Dipoto may also be of the mind that the team’s best reliever is better deployed in high leverage situations in the 7th or 8th innings. Personally, I’m not a huge Dipoto fan, but it doesn’t make a ton of sense to spend big on a closer when the team is coming off such a weak season. Baseball is flush with hard-throwers that can mow down hitters.
Cishek had one down year, with many good years before that? What’s the harm in signing a guy who used to be a closer, hoping he can find his stuff again and be good again. Outside of the trade market, I don’t think there are any other free agent closers. Mariners don’t have the prospects to give up for a big name closer as well. $5 million annually isn’t a terrible number to give to a guy if he can pitch like how he did in STL, even if he doesn’t become the closer.
I agree with your description of the M’s for last year but you are obviously forgetting the bullpen’s success from the year before. Best bullpen in AL and lowest bullpen ERA in the entire year. Can’t get much worse than last year- we’ve rid ourselves of the Fernando Rodney Experience!
Cishek looks like he needs to get some sleep
One thing that’s for sure is that Dipoto changed the look of the franchise quickly
I think Dipoto is being underestimated (by a lot) here. He has a team he inherited with Cano”, Nelson Cruz, and Kyle Seager at its offensive core, and Felix Hernandez as a top rate starter, with two very good young guys (Walker and Paxton) coming up behind him. But what he didn’t have was any offense after the top three that could even get on base (look it up; almost worst in the majors over five years), and no healthy and consistent veteran starters, and a bullpen that blew up last year after leading the majors the year before.
He laid out his plan: get on-base guys with athleticism; fill out the rotation with some guys with solid backgrounds, and remake the bullpen. He’s done it all, and I suspect there’s more than one opposing team in the league who’s more worried about the M’s than was the case three months ago.
Mariners are a good sleeper pick for a big comeback in 2016. And Dipoto is a good sleeper pick for GM of the Year.
Carson Smith was the best reliever in that bullpen, and Cishek is on the downslide. Dipoto made some good deals, but he’ll regret trading Smith.