The Mariners announced that they have claimed outfielder Duke Ellis off waivers from the Mets and sent him to Triple-A Tacoma. The latter club had designated him for assignment recently. The Mariners already had a vacancy on their 40-man, which is now full.
Ellis, 26, had never appeared on a 40-man roster until a month ago but has now been on three of them in that time. The White Sox selected him on June 4 and he has since bounced to the Mets and now Mariners via waiver claims.
The interest is largely due to his wheels. In his 968 minor league plate appearances, he has a batting line of .241/.329/.333, which translates to an 88 wRC+. However, he stole 117 bases in 134 tries during that time. While he was briefly in the big leagues with the White Sox, he swiped four bags in four tries.
Such players can often carve out roles on contending clubs, particularly with expanded rosters in September. A key pinch running opportunity late in a game can often be the difference between a win and a loss. That’s especially true in the age of the free runner in extra innings.
The Mariners had an open roster spot, so there’s little harm in them grabbing Ellis for now. He can take some at-bats in Tacoma, though perhaps they will try to pass him through waivers at some point down the line or call him up to take advantage of his speed.
NEEDLE MOVER
Worth the flyer! Maybe you catch lightning in a bottle… but definitely a worthy look-see for organizational depth.
Ellis is so tiny, you could put him on a keychain. This guy gets three chances so far but if teams want speed, they should take a flyer on Billy Hamilton, who can also play excellent defense in the OF.
curious what chances has he gotten? he has played literally 20 innings not games … Hamilton has played for more teams (6) than this kid has gotten plate appearances (4).
Also Hamilton got clipped at a 20% rate in the minors this kid is 15%. With having barely any service time, he probably is cheaper too.
I would take the flyer on this kid as he younger and hasnt hit his prime age yet where hamilton you know what you getting and its not much and he is past his prime.
Ellis is a 26 year old rookie who is with his third team this season, having been shown the door by the Sox and Mets so far. Hamilton is an ancient 33, but with the help of a walker he’d still steal more bases than Ellis.
if he could be useful, why did 30 teams not even offer him a minor league deal even with the rash of injuries? Maybe because he has 1 hit since 2021.
Since 2021, billy went through the mariners, the marlins, the twins, the white sox and the rays and they all let him go.. Your telling me they couldnt use him?
Curious is it bad when even a Mexican Independent league releases you? I mean you have to be useful to them if you are useful in the MLB right?
Poor Duke could have just lived out the season in Birmingham but the White Sox had to go select him for no good reason, and now he’s in DFA claimatory bouncing from one bad minor league hotel to another.
Ahhhh, those were the days…
Yeah they were…from what I can recall.
Nice name! Too bad Honus isn’t a very popular name nowadays.
Honus, Duke and another classic name, Herman! Classic names indeed!
Something tells me by next week dukes gonna be a starter in the lineup
I never thought our lineup could get even worse but it somehow has, Julio is somehow back to early call up 2022
At least we aren’t Oakland just yet
“Lineup could get even worse”…The M’s hitting problems go back over a decade. Back to when Felix Hernandez was the resident ace. I’m not sure how an organization can so consistently draft & develop young quality pitchers and yet be so enept at finding young hitters. Dipoto has been borderline genius with young pitching, yet seems to not have a clue when it comes to position players. When Dipoto brought in Kolten Wong last year I knew he was lost.
It’s not just t mobile park though, the strikeouts are somehow worse than last year and we don’t even have geno or teoscar
Something has happened to all of the hitters and I don’t know what since a team where we have no one batting .270 and everyone is hitting in the low .200s and high .100s is not normal (except for the giants but they have replacements that have helped)
It’s not about development. Most hitters arrive in Seattle & can’t replicate the numbers on the back of their baseball cards.
When did the Mets have Duke Ellis? Must have missed that.
Is this a sign i should limit my emotional investment in this newest Mariner?
Would rather have Doc Ellis. doubt this Duke Ellis could throw a no-hitter tripping out on acid.
Right, but since Dock Ellis is dead, Duke Ellis has a chance to trip on his headstone.
Don’t you have to get a hit or walk from batter on team to use a pinch runner? We are not seeing a lot of those lately.
Mariners have positioned themselves to Win The West !!
They now have “THE DUKE” for every battle.
That’s About The Size Of It, Kid !!
For there’s Basie, Miller, Satchmo
And the king of all, Sir Duke
Can’t you feel it all o-ver
Gotta love Stevie Wonder
Duke Ellington has been dead for 50 years
He stole 4 bases in 4 attempts…. and after celebrating the first one, as the tying run in the 9th at second,
he
got
picked
off.
The Herb Washington strategy only works if you have guys who can get, what’s that word? A hit.