The Rangers announced Wednesday that they’ve claimed right-hander Art Warren off waivers from the division-rival Mariners. The move brings Texas’ 40-man roster to a total of 39 players and drops Seattle’s to a count of 33.
Warren, 27, has just 5 1/3 big league innings under his belt, all coming in 2019 with Seattle. He averaged just north of 95 mph on his heater in that time and drew 70 grades on the pitch when he was rising through the system after being selected in the 23rd round of the 2015 draft. Warren worked almost exclusively with a four-seamer and a slider — his most frequently used offering — in that tiny sample of work.
Had their been a conventional minor league season in 2020, Warren likely would’ve been ticketed for Triple-A — a level at which he still has yet to pitch. He jumped straight from Double-A to the Majors when making that 2019 debut. In a total of 47 1/3 frames of Double-A ball, Warren carries a 1.71 ERA and has averaged a dozen strikeout per nine innings, although he’s also averaged five walks per nine. He still has a minor league option remaining after spending the 2020 season in the Mariners’ player pool at their alternate training site. Warren did get a call to the big leagues with Seattle this past season but didn’t get into a game before being optioned back out.
As Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times points out, via Twitter, the Mariners have a whopping eight players on the 60-day injured list who’ll either need to be reinstated or designated for assignment, so it’s not much of a surprise to see some continued roster maintenance. That group includes Tom Murphy, Mitch Haniger, Gerson Bautista, Matt Magill, Andres Munoz, Taylor Guilbeau, Carl Edwards Jr. and Nestor Cortes Jr. Not all are locks to stick on the roster — Edwards, in particular, could be on shaky ground — but Murphy, Haniger, Magill and perhaps Munoz are all ticketed for notable roles next year.
Nice to see Warren found something to work in other than his Commission.
The Yankees meanwhile have claimed Art Vanderlay off of waivers from the Mets.
Budget version of Adam Warren
aint that a crafty pickup
The Mariners representative Sandlot MVP was surely a likeable player to root for and will certainly be missed.
(Sadly) M’s fan here- I was conflicted when I read this news. Art Warren is that prospect you really want to see succeed, a redemption story who struggled in Div I so bad he transferred down to Div II school only to suffer such a bad injury he was told he’d never pitch again. TJ surgery, a year of rehab and a decent season in Div II later the M’s took a flyer in the 23rd rd.
He was converted from SP to RP then against the odds he climbed up thru 5 levels to reach AA. In 2019, his 2nd yr at AA in 2019 he finally got the call. Apparently his AA manager first told Kyle Lewis and D Walton about their Sept. call-ups, the team celebrates then Warren hits the showers. The manager waits till he comes out of the shower to give Warren the news that he was also being promoted. His teammates went absolutely mad- he was the under-dog, the long shot, the much loved clubhouse leader who stood there in total disbelief with tears in his eyes. What a story.
The M’s had the 4th worst BP in MLB last year. They need good RP’s just to have an avg BP in 2021. If Art Warren is not added to the 2021 roster it would be for good reason. My instincts tell me he’s like Sam Tuivalala- a promising prospect (who we traded for) that had such a bad injury the team let him go. I’m sad to see big Art leave but hopefully the 27 yr old can overcome one more obstacle.
When did Andres Munoz get traded to Seattle? They made like 4 trades with SD, but I didn’t know he was involved.
in the Nola trade
He was a part of the seven player trade that sent Austin Nola, Dan Altavilla, and Austin Adams to San Diego.
Oh ok. Thank you both.
Rangers29- are you familiar with Munoz? The M’s fan base is very curious after reading about the hard throwing young Mexican RP. Who wouldn’t be excited about a RP who brings 100+ mph, one that made his ML debut at 21?
Big Jerry, what a joke. How many chances does he get, he will blow up Seattle just like LAA & AZ!!
Thank you, djulio. Comments like that never get old.
It’s time for the Angels fan base to focus their energy on Billy Eppler- 5 straight losing seasons and a farm system that’s not exactly brimming with talent. Besides your owner and manager never let Dipoto fully do his job. Can you imagine a manager withholding scouting reports with hitter tendencies and opposition pitching data in today’s game? It’s absurd but that’s exactly what Mike Sciosca did to Jerry Dipoto. Of course- currently, the majority of M’s fans are glad he did.
Teams will pounce if Seattle does the same Ljay Newsome.
Newsome should stick around for a while. He’s one of just two reserve starters on the 40.
They wouldn’t dare do that to newsome.
Ljay Newsome doesn’t have a past history of injuries like that of Art Warren. I’d be really surprised if they also let him go. I’ve read the org. was really pleased with Newsome until he was hit by a pitch shortly after his promotion.
Makes absolutely no sense. They could have gotten rid of some fringe guy but they got rid of a guy who has done nothing but produce at whatever level he’s been at. Stupid.
If you look at his injuries it makes perfect sense. Why would an organization starving for good RP’s release “a guy who has done nothing but produce at whatever level he’s been at” if he’s healthy with no long term injury concerns?
Btw- I’m sure by “whatever level” you mean Seattle’s minor league level because he didn’t have a very good college career at all. Warren bombed out of Div I after a 1.97 Whip and 7.12 ERA in his 1st yr. He had to go down to a DIV II school. Even then his college career was avg at best: 7.9 SO9. He’s an amazing story though, an easy guy to root for and I hope he lands on his feet.
Was Seattle’s bullpen so good that they didn’t even look at him in 2020, even though he was on the 40-man? Around a 1.70 ERA over two seasons in AA with a double-digit K rate, a mid-90s fastball, and a nice showing in his brief MLB debut in 2019. His solid results corresponded to his move from starter to reliever. Looks like they hoped teams forgot about him stashed at the Alternate Site and they tried slipping him off the 40-man roster. Didn’t work.
I not saying he’ll turn into anything, but you see moves like this every offseason and the players do stick and contribute on the big league level. The Rays do it all the time. Simply surprised the Mariners never gave him a look this year. This was a year to do it.
He’s had a track record of injuries and setbacks- believe me, if he was healthy and pitching well they would’ve certainly called him up from the alternate site. I was shocked we didn’t see him. If Art Warren was 100% healthy w no risk of future injuries I’m certain he’d be on the 40.