The Mariners announced a handful of roster moves during tonight’s off day. Center fielder Julio Rodríguez is back from the injured list, while catcher Curt Casali has been reinstated from his own IL stint. To create active roster space, Seattle optioned outfielder Jarred Kelenic back to Triple-A Tacoma and designated catcher Luis Torrens for assignment. Torrens’ DFA drops the 40-man roster tally to 39.
Rodríguez returns after not much more than a minimal IL stint. He last played on July 30 before a right wrist contusion cost him around two weeks. The 21-year-old star is back to add to a Rookie of the Year-caliber resume, owner of a .271/.334/.482 line with 18 home runs and 21 stolen bases. He’s already the best player on a 61-52 team that currently holds the second American League Wild Card spot. The Mariners are 1 1/2 games in front of the Orioles and Rays, the clubs tied for the AL’s final postseason berth at the moment.
Kelenic and Sam Haggerty have platooned in center field over the past week and a half. Kelenic collected just two hits in 26 at-bats, continuing his struggles at the big league level. He’s hitting .124/.187/.265 over 123 MLB plate appearances on the season. The 23-year-old has a quality .288/.353/.550 showing over 252 trips to the dish with the Rainiers, and he’ll continue to get everyday run in the minors. He’s joined in Tacoma by former Rookie of the Year Kyle Lewis, who was optioned out yesterday, while the Mariners roll with an outfield of Jesse Winker, Rodríguez, Mitch Haniger and Haggerty, with Jake Lamb working as a corner bat off the bench.
In addition to the outfield shakeup, the M’s make a switch behind the plate. Seattle acquired Casali from the Giants in the hours leading up to last Tuesday’s trade deadline. The veteran backstop was on a minor league rehab assignment at the time, working his way back from an oblique strain suffered on July 4. He’d hit .231/.325/.370 through 41 games in San Francisco and will get an opportunity to back up Cal Raleigh for the remainder of the season. Casali is slated to hit free agency at the end of the year.
The timing of the designation has to smart for Torrens, who’s only two days removed from a walk-off single to cap a dramatic win over the Yankees. The acquisition of Casali seemed to suggest the writing was on the wall for Torrens with the big league club, though. He’s out of minor league option years, meaning he had to stick on the MLB roster or be designated for assignment. With Raleigh and Casali in the fold, there’d no longer be room for Torrens unless the team wanted to carry three catchers.
Of course, Torrens’ struggles were a driving factor for the club’s acquisition of Casali in the first place. He’s mustered just a .214/.262/.252 line across 141 plate appearances, striking out at an elevated 31.9% clip. He’s also consistently rated as a well below-average defensive catcher throughout his MLB career, annually posting subpar pitch framing metrics and being behind the dish for 17 wild pitches in only 267 1/3 innings this season. Those certainly don’t all fall on Torrens, but Defensive Runs Saved has pegged him as 24 runs below average in 1067 2/3 career frames as a catcher.
Manager Scott Servais got Torrens a fair bit of time as a designated hitter last season, when he popped 15 home runs and 16 doubles in 108 games. That’s solid production for a #2 catcher, even a bat-first option, but Torrens’ offensive struggles mounted this year. Coupled with his defensive shortcomings, they eventually pushed him off the roster.
With the trade deadline having passed, the only option is to place Torrens on outright or release waivers within the next couple days. He’s playing this season on a $1.2MM salary after qualifying for early arbitration as a Super Two player last winter. He’s due around $369K through year’s end. Any claiming team would assume the remainder of that money and could control Torrens through 2024. As a player with more than three years of big league service time, he would have the right to refuse an outright assignment in favor of minor league free agency if he goes unclaimed on waivers. Doing so would mean forfeiting the remainder of his guaranteed salary, however, as he has less than five years of service. It therefore seems likely he’d accept an assignment to Tacoma if he clears.
I knew the Mariners would be ok without him for a short while. Winning 4 of 6 from the Yankees was huge. Caught them at the right time. Hopefully they take them down in October.
Torrens could be a flyer pickup for a rebuilding club. He may not play great defense or have a great arm or be great at framing, but in 2021 he showed he had a decent bat for a catcher. Backup Catcher/DH?
He may not play great defense or have a great arm or be great at framing, and can’t hit. But catchers are hard to come by. Someone will claim him.
when robot umps start framing rate won’t mean much.
Framing doesn’t mean much now. Huge variance from one year to the next. Like suddenly a catcher just forgets how to catch. Pull my other leg.
Torrens seems worth a 40 man spot to another team at minimum.
Well he doesn’t have options so they’d need to add him to the 26
Fabulous!
And I just hope Sam Haggerty continues to live up to the promise we have seen so far.
The schedule eases up a bit now, too, so the sky is the limit.
You’re right about the schedule easing, Mr. Park. The Mariners have a shot at getting the number one wild card. Maybe with time to spare to make sure Castillo is available. Three home games for the number one wild card too. None on the road.
@Louholtz22, Well you can call me Ed, or you can call me Ted, or you can call me Fred, but you don’t has to call me Mr. Park.
Otherwise, you have spelled it out perfectly here.
We now have the best Mariners baseball-watching we’ve had in decades.
A nice stint on the IL for the best player in the majors (tied with ruschtman and Witt jr)
Not really tied with either of those guys. Somewhat close, but Julio leads the pack. Plus that smile, personality, energy, and HR derby
I disagree
You’re a laughing stock and an embarrassment to your family
Well that escalated quickly
Right? This guy is tough on the skin…damn Paul Simon. I thought your music was bad, and now I’m convinced that your character is even worse
You must have me confused with someone else..? Music? No music for me. Hey buddy – children. Hey buddy – Juan Soto. Hey buddy – Jean Segura. Hey buddy – Andrew Benetindi. 😉 #streetsaintsafe
You make no sense. What a clown lol
Crying
Rodriguez and Witt have nearly identical numbers. The only difference is that the Mariners are winning.
You mean Bobby Whitt’s slash line identifies as j rods. Math is hard, I get it.
Witt’s .256/.300/.444, 107 wRC+ is “nearly identical” to Julio’s .271/.334/.482, 135 wRC+?
Not really. It’s good but it’s lesser.
I’ll never suggest Torrens is irreplaceable but I (somewhat irrationally) loved him as a Mariner. I’m sad to see him go because I’m pretty positive he’ll get claimed.
I’m really really hoping JK can get his act together, and his head in the game. He’s good at AAA, but needs to quit over thinking things in the bigs.
I’m glad too that I’m here to see the Mariners in the playoff hunt. While I’d love to see them get the division, I know it’ll be a wildcard. Division wins are coming though
GOMS!!!
Seems to me that breaking balls on the outer third of the plate are eating Kelenic alive in the bigs. That’s not a mental issue but more of an approach or mechanics issue. Definitely a fixable issue either way but it will take some time.
Good news for the Ms. They’re looking good and I can see them knocking Toronto off the first wild card spot.
Kelanic has troubles seeing the movement on Curveballs..AAAA player currently…I think this will be his last year with the mariners.
Yeah he’s gonna have to learn how to do something besides pull the ball if he wants to be a complete hitter, he’s so baaad on breaking balls away it’s hopeless rn
I’m so happy he got to be the hero with the 13th inning walk off single v the Yankees. What a great note to leave on. They all had to know this was coming, including him, when they picked up Casali. It was an extraordinary moment after that final run crossed home plate and the team mobbed him as often happens with walk offs. But this one had the of felt bittersweet. He will be picked up, too
Murphy should be a great #2 to catch 50 games next year behind Cal, so this is ok. Thanks for the walkoff Luis
Kelenic collected just two hits in 26 at-bats, continuing his struggles at the big league level.
==================================
Ahhh, remember the good olde days, when the writers were castigating Seattle for not promoting Kelenic when he was like 19 or something? Something about manipulating service time?
I wonder if the writers will ever learn this lesson?
who won that SEA NYM trade now ?
Nobody has yet. Kelenic is unexpectedly bad… so far. Are you a Mets fan cheering for him to fail? At any rate, Diaz has had a nice resurgence. Seattle unloaded five years of Bad Cano in the deal, but Dunn is gone. Funny thing about baseball, you just never really know what’s going to happen… who is going to be traded, who is going to get injured, who is coachable and who is not. I’m glad Diaz is doing well, and I think there still may be hope for Kelenic. And getting rid of Cano’s contract is still golden. Given the state of the current M’s bullpen, Seattle isn’t really missing Diaz so much… and at the time of the deal, who would have guessed Seattle would have developed a fairly dominant pen without Diaz during the following seasons? I think that until we see how Kelenic and Diaz (and Dunn) do with their respective teams, who “won” the deal is still moot. In the meantime Seattle can enjoy stellar play from Paul Sewald and Sam Haggerty, who were both given up on by a generally good organization.
Seattle getting rid of Cano still makes it a push for now.
Oh no what are we going to do about the Orioles? This was no surprise to me after watching them play earlier in the year.