The Mariners have talked to the Padres about acquiring a right-handed reliever, with Nick Vincent, Kevin Quackenbush and Jon Edwards all being mentioned in discussions, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune reports. The M’s are looking to add some depth to a pen that has been thinned out by injuries to Charlie Furbush, Evan Scribner and Ryan Cook, while the Padres have a bit of a surplus in their own relief corps.
As A.J. Cassavell of MLB.com notes, Fernando Rodney, Carlos Villanueva and Brandon Maurer are locked into spots in San Diego’s bullpen, leaving Vincent, Quackenbush and Edwards and others vying for the three open spots. Drew Pomeranz is a key figure in this race since he’ll make the roster as either a starter or a reliever, so the number of available bullpen spots could shrink if Pomeranz doesn’t make the rotation.
Padres manager Andy Green noted early in camp that Vincent and Quackenbush were favorites to win jobs, which makes sense given how impressive both righties have been during their time in San Diego. Vincent has a 2.63 ERA, 9.6 K/9 and 4.13 K/BB rate over 150 2/3 relief innings since 2012, while Quackenbush has a 3.28 ERA, 9.1 K/9 and 3.00 K/BB rate over 112 1/2 career innings.
Edwards has the least MLB experience of the three though he has the longest pro career, having been picked by the Cardinals as an outfielder in the 14th round of the 2006 draft. He converted to pitching in 2011 and has consistently missed bats and struggled with his control at both the minor and Major League levels. Edwards has a 4.32 ERA, 11.2 K/9 and 7.6 BB/9 over 25 big league innings.
Vincent is the only one of the trio who is out of options and his numbers did dip a bit last season (lower K/9, higher walk rate, 3.90 SIERA and 4.26 xFIP that belied his 2.53 ERA), so it’s possible San Diego could be exploring its options even though on paper, Vincent is the most established of the three. Quackenbush has been mentioned as a possible closer of the future for the Padres, especially when Craig Kimbrel was dealt, though Rodney’s acquisition would seem to imply that “the Duck” will remain in a setup role for now.
As Dutton notes, the Mariners are planning to use a seven-man bullpen, though there’s a lot of uncertainty about who those seven pitchers will be in the wake of the injuries. Steve Cishek, Joaquin Benoit, Joel Peralta and Tony Zych all have a grasp on right-handed roles with Mike Montgomery and Vidal Nuno serving as the two southpaws. If a new righty reliever is added, the M’s would send Donn Roach, Mayckol Guaipe and Blake Parker to Triple-A.
Padres very thin on 1B depth… Preller loves former top prospects and guys with power. If Montero still has options remaining I would definitely think that could be a possibility.
Montero is out of options
Well alrighty then.
Wil Myers will play first with Wallace
I’m aware, but there’s not much after that in case one goes down to injury. We’ve been playing Adam Rosales and Erik Kratz there through spring training…
Norris played first last year as well, he could in a pinch
It would actually be Padres best option if Myers goes down. They have better defensive and game calling options at catcher, Norris just has a better bat.
How much 1B depth does a team need?
Especially when the guys they have can’t play the position.
Norris’ bat is a plus at catcher, but it’s a minus at first base. If Myers goes down, I expect to see a lot of Brett Wallace with some Jose Pirela or Adam Rosales, whichever utility guy is on the roster. Kratz is AAA depth, and might get a lot of time at first in El Paso as Hedges starts daily to get reps at the plate. The Padres are thin at the high minors at the position for certain.
Like to see Heath Hembree get a chance with someone. Seattle as good of a spot as anyone, if some AAA kid could be found of equal value. Cook looked like toast last year, his fb was flat and couldn’t locate anywhere, nothing was near the plate. Don’t know how the M’s expect to count on that.
Only thing he had was velo, but no use having 93-5fb if no idea of where it’s going.
Marlins need bullpen help.
Who won the Seth Smith for Brandon Maurer trade
Seattle
San Diego. Smith is a solid but not great player. His style doesn’t contribute that much to Seattles type of offense. Maurer put In a good season and he’s cheaper and controlled longer
Padres. Smith really screwed himself by taking that extension.
Mariners. 2.2 WAR vs 0.6 WAR. Smith is solid outfielder, Maurer is a reliever,
Wrong again, Richard. You’re forgetting (or simply ignoring) the fact that, at the time of the trade, Maurer had 5 years of control, 2 at the league minimum, while Smith was only controllable unde contract for 2 more years (with an option for a third) and was owed $13m. Now we can use that $13m to sign whoever we want.
Why would they send Donn Roach down, the difference between him and peraltas era this spring is almost 4.0, cut peralta if you to, he has not been good this spring
Why? Because he has a track record of getting lefty hitters out — and Seattle has a need with Charlie Furbush, their best LH reliever, starting the season on the DL. Are you seriously saying the Mariners should make the roster decision by comparing ERAs for a handful of spring training innings? The team goes by what they see, not what the #’s are.
And really, Donn Roach? The same Donn Roach who’s walked nearly as many batters as he’s struck out in the Majors? The same Donn Roach who struck out 3.3 batters per 9 IP last year at Triple-A. That was as a starter, but relief is the role he’d be in if he made it. Relief pitcher need to put up K’s.
Roach isn’t really a velocity guy, he’s an extreme ground-ball pitcher. Also a former Padre. I see a bunch f teams looking for this sort of pitcher for the bullpen; guys who can get groundball outs. Maybe a new market inefficiency.
The more kingfelix posts the more he shows how little he knows about baseball. Constantly trolling, except when it comes to the God almighty Mariners.
Just put King Felix and BigPapi in the same room and tell them they can’t come out until one of them admits to the other team being better.
Put KingFelix in a room with BigPapi and tell them they aren’t allowed out until one of them admits that the other team is better.
Because I said donn roach is better the Joel peralta, I was at yesterday’s game, and watched roach strike out 2 batters in two innings, lower his era to 1.15, raise his k total to 15 in 15.1 innings, while peralta has a 7 era in 9 innings with 10 strikeouts, so just because roach hasn’t been a strikeout pitcher doesn’t mean he can’t become one
It’s fortunate that we have wireless technology. Otherwise the egos of the Padres and Mariners GM’s would have melted the phone lines when they talk.
What makes you say that? I get Preller possibly, but DiPoto seemed to be like Skolnick trying to switch the Alpha Betas on to analysis in Anaheim. He got treated like garbage by his own manager…and maybe unfortunately went around him. Moreno wouldn’t stand up for his guy…so the Angels get to deal with that brain trust right now.
Donn Roach…remember him…he’s what the Angels got out of a draft by locking up all those players and pushing the luxury tax. That’s what happens when you basically don’t get a pick until the third round….Donn Roach becomes your top pick.
Interestingly enough…they can thank the Mariners for letting Trout go at #2 in the draft. The Ms scouts wanted him there…but Jack Z wanted Ackley at #2. Only teams that had Trout that high were the Ms, Angels, and Yankees who would have nabbed him had the Angels passed.
EVERY scout/team nails the Draft in Retrospect. 20 teams passed in Trout in the 1st round. If the majority of scouts wants guy they get more times than not. There’s NO way any teams had him pegged at #2overall.
Seattle did. That’s from published reports that I don’t have at the ready..so did the Angels and Yankees who were down towards the late round. His dad had Angels connections. Big question was a large bonus going to an unproven from a cold weather state that didn’t really go to showcases and played football instead. I’m not sure the Mariners scouting connection but that was their scouts guy at #2…and Jack Z wanted Ackley who honestly was a sure shot coming out of college.
The Mariners, Angels,and Yankees draft boards had him at #2. Angels picked Grichuk first then took Trout with the next pick to help maybe suppress the bonus.
Redline9 – some one read the Boston media piece about their scouting of trout. A right handed of from the north east isn’t going to get a ton of attention – especially if he isn’t participating in showcases, playing on year round teams, and playing other sports in highschool.
From any teams point of view he wasn’t someone who, individually, was going to command the head honchos of the scouting dept. attention. Think about it like this – are you going to send your best scouts to an 16 game AAU tourney in Florida or a single middlesex, New Jersey game in April? Now factor in the slot slotted money and the fairly limited video information received on trout. I’m actually suprised trout went as high as he did at the time he was drafted. It was a big gamble.
Oh sure…but according to reports he WAS slotted #2 on three different teams draft boards. Mariners went with Ackley which was understandable and he fell to the Angels…and the Yankees have stated they would have taken him right after that.
No player capable of being that high in the draft anywhere goes unnoticed by even the head guys….that regional guy would have had his crosschdcker all over that. Trout was a legit first rounder…but he certainly did spook some teams with his location and bonus demand.
Can’t really fault the Ms for not taking him #2 overall…not like the next teams snapped him up.
My point was basically that the Seattle scouting department DID want to take Trout,.apparently, but when push came to shove…Jack Z went with Ackley who was a legit #2 pick at that point.
Mariners could have a Royalesque bullpen this year if they coach it right. It won’t help them win a pennant, but it’s an idea. If nothing else, as a Marlins fan, watching Steve Cishek again will be fun.
Mariners need a lot to go right to see 2nd place in the west. Texas has to crash and burn again. Houston seems solid at either 1-2.
I do think might be more competitive than expected. Walker turned a corner last season late…and Cano is healthy…I know it’s one game and spring..but he popped 3 yesterday. Might have 25 in the bat. We’ll see. But, yeah…playing well they need someone to blow an engine ahead of them.
Agreed Red Line. I think we can all agree that their defense should be a lot better than last year, especially in the outfield. I’m also looking forward to seeing a full year of Marte at short as well. Their starting 5 will be really good (if they can stay healthy), and Ianetta can call a decent game.
My only concern with this team is that this line up is a little too left handed. In a tight game, I can’t see them taking out Seager, Cano, Lind. All of their outfield starters are left handed batters.
DiPoto did an admirable job shifting gears to stretch the team he inherited out. They need all parts to click for sure. Lookout Landing has them at 82-80. I think that’s fair.
I’m not too familiar with the Mariners minor league system, but what would be a possible return for someone like Quackenbush?
Mariners have quite a few unrealized prospects that are the type that Preller seems to relish. I’d imagine Montero is out there and clearing waivers. Issue is not much quality now…not that you deal that for a reliever. I kind of wonder if DiPoto will wait out a few days to see whose out of options elsewhere.
Montero is with the BlueJays now