The Mariners have selected the contract of right-hander José Rodríguez, reports Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. In a corresponding move, infielder/outfielder Nick Solak was designated for assignment. Right-hander J.B. Bukauskas was optioned in order to get Rodríguez onto the active roster.
Solak, 28, has spent the past four seasons with the Rangers. He had a strong major league debut in 2019, hitting five home runs in 33 games, leading to a .293/.393/.491 batting line and 126 wRC+. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to carry that over, having hit just 16 homers in 220 games over the past three seasons and slashing .246/.317/.354 for a wRC+ of 88.
Early in the offseason, the Rangers flipped him to the Reds for cash considerations. Solak didn’t perform well in Spring Training with his new club and was designated for assignment on Opening Day. He was once again traded for cash considerations, this time going to the Mariners. He’s was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma and has appeared in four games for the Rainiers but has just a .077/.294/.077 to show for it. That’s obviously a tiny sample size but it doesn’t help a guy whose stock has been falling in recent years. In addition to his offensive struggles, his second base defense wasn’t well regarded either. When the Rangers signed Marcus Semien to take over the keystone, Solak got pushed into a corner outfield role. Since the offensive expectations are higher for a corner outfielder than a second baseman, that’s only magnified his struggles at the plate.
The Mariners will now have one week to trade Solak or pass him through waivers. Despite his big league struggles, he’s continued performing well in the minors, this year’s small sample aside. From 2019 through to the present, he has a .289/.368/.503 batting line for a 117 wRC+ in 198 Triple-A games. He still has one option year left, meaning that any acquiring club could keep him down on the farm if they’re willing to give him a 40-man roster spot.
As for Rodríguez, 27, he has a small bit of major league experience already. He got into 10 contests as an Angel in 2019 and 2020, posting a 2.53 ERA over 21 1/3 innings. That impressive ERA wasn’t sustainable, given his .226 batting average on balls in play and 100% strand rate in that small sample. He was outrighted off their roster in August of 2020 and has been pitching in the minors over the past few years. In Triple-A with the Mets last year, he tossed 76 1/3 innings over 11 starts and 18 relief appearances, posting a 4.95 ERA in that time. Signed by the Mariners to a minor league deal this winter, he has a couple of scoreless appearances for the Rainiers this year and will give the big league club a fresh arm. He still has options and can be sent back to Tacoma in the future without being exposed to waivers.
Mariners tryna catch lightning in a bottle with another JRod, i see.
Whoa . . .
What’s this all about?
Like the old saying, “desperate men do desperate things” . . .?
1-13 with 6 k’s was apparently all the Mariners needed to see of Solak
More likely they know they can pass him through waivers and he has no leverage to get a better chance to be promoted. Name a team with a quicker path to the majors at 2B than Seattle if Solak gets hot? Wong is struggling, so if he gets released, Haggerty and/or Moore take over 2B amd Solak has a chance to be a backup infielder. Currently though, Solak is not desireable by anyone the way he’s hitting now, so at best he ends up in AAA with another team. Not only is there a viable path back to the majors in Seattle, but it’s with a playoff team. If he’s not still in Tacoma in two weeks, I’d be surprised.
I really don’t think Kolten Wong has to worry about Solak taking his job.
Bukauskas was absolutely horrible yesterday. The M’s should have made him find his own way home after that performance.
Probably trying to buy time while Festa works out the kinks and Muñoz gets healthy. It makes sense leaving Berroa and Miller stretched out and not rushing them to fill holes because their promotion will require DFA’s or IL changes. Plus, if they DFA Bukauskas now and someone gets injured, who do they go to then? Not only that, Munoz will need his roster spot back, sooner than later. which means another roster move to accommodate his return. When Muñoz is back and we’re a month into the season, expect Berroa or Miller to be promoted to the ‘pen if they aren’t needed in the rotation and the fireman don’t have what it takes to quell the late inning fires.
@TGWAA- I think the simple answer is we just burned too many arms yesterday. No sense in optioning Festa then bringing him back up immediately (plus, I think there’s a rule about having to spend a minimum of 7-10 days in the minors after being demoted anyway). Rodriguez is just a placeholder.
Remember when Ranger fans said the Rays got fleeced after a half season of solak? Hahahahahs
Remember when the Rays traded away a future AL Silver Slugger for… maybe a future utility infielder? All teams lose trades occasionally bud.
I got this notification on my phone and glanced at it and thought it was Julio and thought poop. Glad it wasn’t.
Now if I could get a response why I can’t open up the website on any of my computers it would be nice. This is the first update I have ever got. Get the wheel of death. With 10G you think it would load fast.
compassrose, it sounds like your Internet is down.
Or forgot to pay the bill
Did they promote him to be a Cub killer? Will see by Wednesday
Holy cow!
Zaidi will be all over Solak. There were already rumors that Zaidi was trying to trade for Solak. If Zaidi does it’ll be another “dumpster dive.”
I am worried about today’s Mariners game at Chicago Cubs.
Fatigue has to be a factor, and the mental fatigue of losing such a close, hard battle yesterday could outweigh everything else.
But if the Mariners can win this one, it will be a testimony to sheer guts and will.
That’s what the great teams of the past have had.
My only consolation is that the Astros have struggled so far, too.
I hope they can win and get their “big” season back on track.
Go Mariners!
Thats true of everyone not named the A’s in the LA West.. happy that the Astros aren’t doing as well as they should be.
Well the plane ride was short, Fred.
Two overtime games, two bad throws in extra innings, two loses.
Solak is better than La Stella
How do you know that?
On a different note, I can’t decide whether the Cubs hitting is that good or the M’s pitching is that bad. One thing for sure is that the cubs are playing their A game.