SATURDAY: The deal is complete, Jon Heyman of FanRag sports tweets.
FRIDAY: Rzepczynski will receive a robust $11MM guarantee over two years when the deal is finalized, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com tweets.
THURSDAY: The Mariners are nearing a deal with free agent lefty Marc Rzepczynski, per Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). It’ll be a two-year contract, per Jon Morosi of MLB Network (Twitter link), assuming the final details are arranged and the physical doesn’t reveal any issues.
Rzepczynski, 31, has long been a popular LOOGY, though it’s perhaps a bit surprising that he was able to land a multi-year guarantee. The aptly nicknamed “Scrabble” has spent time in the majors with six organizations over the past eight seasons.
All told, he has held opposing lefties to a .222/.291/.298 batting line over his career, striking out 198 of the 738 hitters to step in on that side of the box. Right-handers, meanwhile, have had much greater success, posting a .277/.377/.431 slash against Rzepczynski. It is worth noting that he broke into the league as a starter, though, and he managed to hold down right-handed-hitters’ power numbers last year, though they did draw 23 walks against just 15 strikeouts in over 102 plate appearances against him.
As those figures would suggest, Rzepczynski handed out entirely too many free passes during his time with the A’s in 2016. But he righted the ship in his late-season run with the Nationals, allowing just two earned runs over 11 2/3 innings of work. Rzepczynski typically carries both double-digit swinging-strike rates and a hefty groundball rate (over 67% in each of the last two seasons).
And the Mariners keep attempting to solidify their team one move at the time.
It sure would be a shame if they kept attempting to solidify their team zero moves at a time.
If we get this done all we really need is 1 more reliable starter. Sure another high powered righty outfielder would be nice but I don’t see that happening and I don’t think it’s needed. Jerry is doing a good job of maximizing the roster with what he has.
The high powered righty outfielders name is Mitch Haniger
And or Tyler O’Neill.
No because O’Neil is going to spend the year in AAA and haniger has proven nothing.
You don’t have to sign or trade for an expensive veteran because a guy hasn’t proven what he can do in the majors. They have options in the outfield and should waste resources there in my opinion. I do agree they need to get a veteran starter though.
Did you read what I said about the outfielder, I said it would be nice but it’s not needed.
Haniger proved a lot. Haniger proved that his development still exists. And while he isn’t the best solution, he will be in the future. He’s still got 6 years of team control and all 3 minor league options (maybe 2). But it’s the fact that if he doesn’t do well, like you’re predicting, we just send him down to Tacoma.
They’ve said O’Neil could be up by mid July
So you’re the one who had the username I wanted! Haha, great Mariners fans think alike. I agree with you though, Dipoto is doing the right things to build core depth around the field. They’re not necessarily the ‘sexy’ moves & signings, but they’re under-the-radar, solid moves that smart GM’s do to build depth. I think Dipoto will eventually be the guy who gets the M’s to the playoffs and to the WS. And I think it will be soon.
“We”?? In what capacity are you a member of the team?
Seriously? Shut up
Yeah dawg damn. Don’t try to start something just cuz you disagree with what he says. Lame
Marc, you have an unusual last name. Sincerely, Rob Zastryzny.
Matt szczur says hello.
Zastryzny is way easier to pronounce. If you never heard Rzepczynski pronounced you’d have no clue how to pronounce it. Why the f*** is there an “R” there?? haha
Good for Scrabble.
Using Rzepczynski in Scrabble results in an automatic win.
Immediate fatality.
40 points…… not too shabby.
Except you’re bound to get some bonuses also so like 85-95 points
Despite the team getting better in spots, I still don’t think their rotation puts them on the Astros or Rangers level. Felix has been in free-fall over the last 3 years and isn’t really an ace anymore, Paxton is good but has injury issues, Iwakuma and Karns aren’t exactly all-stars. They need to make bigtime rotation moves more than anything to pull this revamp off.
And how can they do that?
Just Another Fan wrote: “Felix has been in free-fall over the last 3 years”
2014 was one of those “last 3 years”. 15-6, 2.14 ERA. 2nd in AL Cy Young Award voting (should have won it(). You have an interesting idea of what “free-fall” means. It’s supposed to mean “to fall rapidly”. From what you wrote, people unfamiliar w/ Hernandez’s stats the last few years would have thought he was posting ERAs in the 5.00 to 6.00 range instead of those numbers in 2014 and these in 2015 (18-9. 3.53 ERA) and these in 2016 (11-8, 3.82 ERA).
Free-fall from the 2014 season…. Whats troubling is his fastball velocity has declined over the past few years to where it is starting to become a huge problem. His fastball has turned into a straight version of his change-up. He needs to maintain a 3-4mph difference between the two to allow his change-up and curve to be effective. Otherwise he starts to turn into bartolo colon with everything being 88mph. Still a quality pitcher, but not the dominant ace we are used to seeing.
King Felix has a long way to rise before he’s the equal of Big Sexy!!
You mean expand 😉
His fastball losing velocity isn’t the issue. The issue is that he has to learn how to pitch backwards with his stuff and he has to have better command. He still has excellent secondary stuff and I personally think he will bounce back this year. If anything, the biggest issue in his fastball velocity declining is that his changeup isn’t seperated enough from it to be effective. He can learn to take more off of the changeup and it will drastically change his results.
This is what happened to Trevor hoffman too. He was never a huge velocity guy but when he was in his prime the separation of the 92 mph fastball and 78 mph change did all kinds of damage. At the end, when he was struggling to hit 88 with the FB, he started getting destroyed.
Unfortunately, unless its injury related, velocity doesn’t come back. Colon has been able to be quite successful with diminished velocity but his command is maybe the best in baseball.
While Felix hasn’t been his usual dominant self the last year or two, he surely hasn’t been bad. Still a quality pitcher.
M’s do still need another solid pitcher though. Care to try and work magic on Anibal?
Anibal hasn’t been doing that well recently, unless you think he could do better in Safeco than he did Comerica.
What the m’s need to do is just go ahead and pull a trade on both chris sale and andrew mccutchin. After doing this they fill two glaring needs on the roster. A top of the line starter and a player who will steal many bags.
The same Andrew McCutchen who stole six bases last season in 13 attempts. Hmmm
boy bravo, can you explain what they are going to trade for those two guys? The Mariners won’t trade for either of those players probably, and definitely not Sale.
I am not sure you can really say the Rangers have a much better pitching staff if you want to talk about injuries. How much time has Darvish missed? Felix has had a few nagging injury problems and been overworked and like all older pitchers his fastball is slowing down but his changeup is still pretty hard to hit when all his stuff is working. They need to pull him a bit faster and not let him go as deep early in the season as they did in the past. He needs to realize he is getting older and can’t pitch as many innings.
Paxton was getting blisters and tearing finger nails from throwing sliders I believe it was he stopped throwing so many and was fine until a line drive hit him in the elbow. This will be the year you will see him last a full season. Kuma just needs to do what he did last year and if Miranda is the 5th do the same and we will be fine. One more pitcher for competition and I am not worried about the SP. One more lefty in the BP and that will be fine too. The division is between Houston and Seattle sorry Texas don’t see it this year. Just my humble opinion.
Rick Rizzs will have a much harder job if they sign him.
I think if this teams flows well and meshes they could be pretty good.
i like this deal. another middle-of-the-rotation starter and maybe a backup one in the wings would be solid. They wouldn’t need to splurge to get a reliable outfielder, just would be nice if they had a WAR and/or dWAR in the positive 🙂 They showed this year they could hit the ball a long way. Just get some ducks on the pond ( which is why the Segura trade is promising) and guys down the line will knock em in. Legit speed at the top and the bottom of the order.
I love Felix as much as the rest of you do, but we have to face facts. We can’t depend on him to be a #1. Even though his ERA was in the 3’s and finished with an 11-8 record, the offense and run generation that has been missing for years when he was in his prime (2014 and before) actually bailed him out on more losses many times getting a no decision or his record would have been worse. Iwakuma was the best, but still managed a 16-12 record and his ERA jumped almost a full point in 2016. Paxton has shown glimpses of taking that next step but spends no less than 2 stints on the DL per year. Miranda pitched well but hasn’t shown he can do it over a full year at a high level yet. Karns did not impress at all. Some are advocating for bringing in an innings eater like Fister, which may be good and maybe he can find his groove again at Safeco. The Mariners rotation is not daunting currently and I would be willing to move some assets to acquire a top end of the rotation starter on top of adding a guy at the bottom to stabilize. DiPoto has made some really good moves this off-season to improve the club. Let’s hope he has at least one more that knocks our socks off and puts us in a position to compete for a World Series title while our window of opportunity on Felix, Iwakuma, Cano and Cruz is still available.
Agreed. A #3 starter is needed.
the problem with the mariners is they are content with being mediocre
How so? They;ve finished 2 games or less out of a playoff spot in 2 of the last 3 seasons.
A break here or there during the course of a 162-game schedule and they could have made the playoffs in both 2014 and 2016. That doesn’t sound particularly mediocre to me!
The OP is talking about from 2001 on. They haven’t been in the playoffs since then. Howard Lincoln even made some comments about being an entertainment venue and wanting to bring more fans to the ballpark, without mentioning or even seeming to care that the reason fans weren’t coming was because the team was bad.
But Lincoln is gone now and I think folks forget that, or feel that the revised ownership group won’t be any better.
The word isn’t mediocre. The word is un-prepared. Prior to Dipoto and after Pat Gillick the Mariners baseball operations group was run by well meaning individuals who were not knowledgeable about how the game was evolving. Lack of leadership in the clubhouse, lack of quality draft picks, and lack of knowledge of how high priced free agents would fare at Safeco and in the clubhouse has been their demise. Hence the 15yr drought. It’s a different day now. Just need a clubhouse leader and time to build the farm system makes the team consistently competitive in 2-3 years.
Seriously? “Need a clubhouse leader and time to build the farm system”
1. They have a clubhouse leader by the name of Robinson Cano. One of the best leaders in baseball.
2. I think you’re confused about where the Mariners are at presently. Cano, Cruz and Hernandez are all in their 30s. The time to win is in the next 2-3 years.
3. I’m not sure you know what “consistently competitive” means. They finished a game out the playoffs in 2014 and two games out in 2016, They’re already “consistently competitive”, don’t need to be waiting 2-3 years to get there. In 2-3 years Cruz will likely be gone and Cano and Felix possibly in serious decline.
Hahahaha…11 million! You’re kidding.
Was thinking the same thing. FA prices are crazy.
Another Mark Lowe?
The Mariners were run by a for profit business like a for profit business. There biggest concern was the bottom line. Were they making a profit or not. They were risk adverse and did not want to show investors a loss in the P
Wow that cut half of what I wrote. Should be. P
I give up keeps cutting me off
Ya did good
Was hoping to see Scrabble back with the Tribe but at that price no way. Good luck in Seattle!
$11M over 2 years!!! Seems a bit steep, no? For a guy who has averaged less than 50 IP per season in his 8 year career and has a career ERA of 3.80 with a 1.40 WHIP. THAT’S worth $5.5M/season nowadays? MAN!!! I should’ve pitched when I was in high school.
Reliever Brett Cecil landed a four-year, $30.5 million contract coming off a season in which the 30-year-old lefthander posted an ERA of 3.93 and an fWAR of 0.4 in 36.2 innings.
Reliever Marc Rzepczynski landed a two-year, $11 million contract coming off a season in which the 31-year-old lefthander posted an ERA of 2.64 and an fWAR of 0.4 in 47.2 innings.
It’s the market.