The Mariners have agreed to a minor league deal with outfielder Scott Heineman and assigned him to Triple-A Tacoma, reports the affiliate’s broadcaster Mike Curto (Twitter link). He’s expected to make his team debut tonight.
Heineman hasn’t played with an affiliated club this season, but he’s seen big league action in each of the prior three years. The right-handed hitter suited up with the Rangers from 2019-20 and played for the Reds last year. Altogether, he’s tallied 173 plate appearances and hit .172/.249/.325 with five home runs and four stolen bases.
The 29-year-old has obviously yet to find much MLB success, but he’s a .304/.369/.458 hitter in parts of three Triple-A seasons. That includes a .279/.353/.410 slash in 17 games for the Reds’ top affiliate in 2021, but Cincinnati granted him his release midseason. Heineman made the jump to Japan, signing with the Yomiuri Giants, but he only played in ten NPB games.
Heineman has experience at all three outfield spots, although he’s better suited for work in the corners. The M’s have Jesse Winker, Julio Rodríguez and Taylor Trammell as their primary outfield, with utilityman Dylan Moore seeing occasional work as well. Mitch Haniger and Kyle Lewis are both on the injured list, and Jarred Kelenic was optioned to Tacoma a few weeks ago. Seattle is awaiting the arrival of Justin Upton as he works his way into game shape, and Heineman will an experienced non-roster depth player to the upper minors.
Ya, that’ll fix it. God we suck.
I mean I’m really surprised they haven’t tried to sign Cano
Shhhh! Don’t give Jerry any ideas.
BTW, What’s with Jerry’s latest infatuation with marginal ex-Reds?
NO they don’t really suck that bad, they are more than capable of pulling off a run, and I think we have seen the worst of their season. Robbie Ray needs to figure it out though…dude is the weakest link in our rotation atm and he’s the freaking incumbent Cy Young award winner. I hope there’s not something wrong with his arm.
Robbie Ray only had one good year (2017) besides his Cy Young winning season last year during his prior 9 years in majors. So, I didn’t expect much from him, but I do hope his tenure with the M’s will be successful.
He’s having implosion innings… I think those will become fewer and far between, but I was never fooled by his Cy Young last year.
As a Mariners fan, I was excited when they signed him. Now, I am desperately hoping 2017 and 2021 weren’t outliers for Ray. It is hard to stomach the thought of investing that much money in #3-#4 starter. I think he can do better than he has done so far, but Seattle fans were probably expecting immediate positive results.