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Mariners Reinstate Evan White, Expected To Activate Matthew Boyd

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The Mariners announced this afternoon that first baseman Evan White has been activated from the 60-day injured list and optioned to Triple-A Tacoma. Left-hander Matthew Boyd seems on the verge of following White in returning from the IL, as Chris McCosky of the Detroit News reports that he’ll be active for the M’s series in Detroit that kicks off tomorrow.

White has yet to play in the majors this season. The former first round pick underwent sports hernia surgery in March, and he’s spent the year on the IL. White initially began a minor league rehab assignment in mid-May, but he suffered a setback and was pulled off the assignment on two separate occasions. It wasn’t until the second week of August that he was able to get back into game action, returning to Tacoma on August 9.

Position players are allotted up to 20 days on rehab stints, so the Mariners had to activate White once that window closed. He still has all three minor league option years remaining, though, so they can keep him in Tacoma even as he reclaims his spot on the 40-man roster. White has struggled in 22 Triple-A games this season, although that’s largely to be expected as he tries to regain his timing after an extended absence. He underwent season-ending surgery on his left hip last July. The 26-year-old hasn’t had a consistent run of playing time since May 2021, so it’s only naturally he’d battle some rust in the early going.

The Mariners signed White to a $24MM guarantee in November 2019, committing to the then top prospect before he’d ever played a major league game. The club clearly believed he’d be their everyday first baseman for an extended stretch, moving to buy out three potential free agent years. That hasn’t transpired, as White has stumbled to a .165/.235/.308 line with a massive 37.6% strikeout rate in 306 MLB plate appearances between 2020-21. Ty France has long since passed him on the depth chart, but White is still guaranteed $18MM over the next three seasons. He’d only appeared in eight Triple-A games before this season, so he figures to be in line for an extended stretch against upper minors pitching now that he’s back to health.

Boyd has also yet to play in the big leagues this season, and his first appearance will be his team debut. The left-hander has spent the bulk of his career with the Tigers. He was a generally durable member of the rotation between 2017-20, starting 25+ games in all three full seasons and taking a full slate of 12 turns during the abbreviated 2020 campaign. Boyd struck out over 30% of opponents in 2019 and emerged as an in-demand trade candidate that summer, but the Tigers never found an offer to their liking and held onto him.

That didn’t pan out, as Boyd was hit hard in 2020. He looked on his way to a bit of a bounceback last year, but he began battling arm discomfort in June. An August return proved short-lived, and Boyd underwent flexor tendon surgery last September. That led Detroit to non-tender him after the season, and the Giants added him on a $5.2MM guarantee over the offseason. San Francisco intended for him to contribute to a playoff push, but the Giants struggled enough they dealt a few veterans at this summer’s trade deadline. Boyd was part of the sell-off, joining Curt Casali in heading to Seattle for a pair of minor leaguers.

While Boyd never suited up in black and orange, he’s now in position to pitch in a pennant race. Boyd has allowed just two runs with 14 strikeouts and no walks in eight innings of relief for Tacoma on a rehab stint in the past few weeks. He’ll step into a Seattle bullpen that skews extremely right-handed, giving manager Scott Servais a southpaw complement. The Washington native will look to help the Mariners snap their two-decade playoff drought while showing well in advance of a return trip to the open market.

The Mariners had a pair of vacancies on the 40-man roster, so no additional move was necessary to accommodate White’s reinstatement. The club will only need to make an active roster transaction to finalize Boyd’s return.

Mariners Acquire Curt Casali, Matthew Boyd From Giants

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The Mariners added a backup catcher and strengthened their pitching depth just prior to Tuesday’s deadline, acquiring catcher Curt Casali and lefty Matthew Boyd from the Giants in exchange for minor league righty Michael Stryffeler and catcher Andy Thomas. The Casali and Boyd were initially reported separately but were announced by the teams as part of the same swap. Seattle announced that left-hander Tommy Milone has been released to make room on the 40-man roster for Casali. Boyd is on the 60-day injured list and does not yet require a roster spot.

Casali adds some depth behind Seattle starter Cal Raleigh. The 33-year-old backstop has had a nice showing in limited playing time with the Giants this season. Through 102 plate appearances, Casali is hitting .231/.325/.370, connecting on four homers and a trio of doubles. That’s a nice blend of power and patience from a depth catcher, even when paired with Casali’s typically lofty level of swing-and-miss. He’s also plenty familiar with newly acquired ace Luis Castillo from the pair’s days together in Cincinnati.

Seattle’s No. 2 backstop Luis Torrens has underwhelmed this year, hitting .208/.262/.225 in 42 games. Torrens can’t be optioned to the minor leagues, so Casali’s addition could conceivably squeeze him off the 40-man roster entirely. Raleigh will continue to play most days amidst a breakout season, and the M’s may not want to carry three backstops on the active roster. Casali is currently on the injured list after suffering an oblique strain last month, but he’s on a rehab assignment and should be reinstated to the majors shortly. Casali is making $2.6MM this season, around $928K of which has still to be paid. He’ll be a free agent at season’s end.

Boyd, 31, inked a one-year, $5.2MM deal with the Giants after a mostly solid four-year run with the Tigers. A brutal showing in 2020 skewed his numbers in his final few seasons with Detroit, but Boyd often flashed quality bat-missing ability and typically posted low walk rates throughout his time in the Detroit rotation. He twice looked as though he may be among the more appealing arms available at a trade deadline — first in 2019 when he was sitting on a 3.95 ERA and 152 strikeouts in 114 innings and again in 2021 when he’d posted a similar ERA and reduced home-run rate (albeit with a diminished strikeout rate).

The Tigers held onto Boyd both times, however, declining to move him in ’19 because they (justifiably) set a huge asking price given Boyd’s three-plus remaining seasons of club control. The 2020 season brought little opportunity to move Boyd, thanks to the aforementioned struggles (6.71 ERA in 12 starts), and by the time last year’s deadline rolled around, Boyd’s season was in jeopardy due to that forearm issue.

It’s unlikely that Boyd will be able to return and build up to a starter’s workload this season — but the Mariners, particularly after landing Castillo, don’t really need Boyd to step into the rotation anyhow. He could, however, provide them with an experienced left-hander to plug into the bullpen. Seattle hasn’t had much luck with its left-handed bullpen arms this season, so taking what’s surely a low-cost flier on Boyd is a sensible enough peripheral move at this stage of deadline season.

Stryffeler is a 26-year-old reliever who’s spent the 2022 campaign in Double-A. A right-hander, he owns an excellent 2.27 ERA through 35 2/3 frames. Stryffeler has fanned an elite 37.7% of batters faced but walked an elevated 12.6% of opponents. The Lake Erie college product will be eligible for the Rule 5 draft this winter if he’s not added to San Francisco’s 40-man roster.

Thomas, meanwhile, was the Mariners’ fifth-round draft pick just last summer. He’s had a nice start to the season in High-A, where he’s posted a strong .264/.400/.444 with nine homers, a dozen doubles and a huge 16.2% walk rate. Thomas was a senior sign out of Baylor University, it should be noted, so he’s already 23 and is playing against notably younger competition. Time will tell how he fares against more advanced opponents, but the early results are promising. From a defensive perspective, he’s caught a roughly average 27% of attempted base thieves, but Baseball America questioned his overall receiving skills at the time of the draft.

Milone, 35, had been in his second stint with the Mariners. The journeyman southpaw has carved out a 12-year big league career, at times enjoying solid runs as a starter (2012-15, in particular) and as a reliever. The past several seasons have been a struggle for the soft-tosser, however, as evidenced by a 6.33 ERA in 69 2/3 frames. Milone was on the 15-day injured list due to a cervical sprain, but if he’s healthy in the season’s final couple months, he could latch on as a depth arm with another club.

In 944 1/3 innings at the big league level, Milone has a 4.60 ERA with a below-average 17.5% strikeout rate but an excellent 5.6% walk rate.

Robert Murray of FanSided first reported that Casali was headed to Seattle in exchange for Stryffeler (Twitter link). Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported that Boyd was going to Seattle as well.

Mariners To Acquire Matthew Boyd

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4:15pm: The Mariners and Giants announced this swap as part of a broader trade sending catcher Curt Casali and Boyd from San Francisco to Seattle in exchange for a pair of minor leaguers. You can read MLBTR’s full breakdown of the deal here.

3:56pm: The Mariners are set to acquire left-hander Matthew Boyd in a trade with the Giants, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post (Twitter link). He’s currently on the injured list and has spent the entire season to date rehabbing from September surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon, but Boyd makes for an interesting roll of the dice and could give the M’s a quality arm late in the season if he’s able to return from that surgery.

Boyd, 31, inked a one-year, $5.2MM deal with the Giants after a mostly solid four-year run with the Tigers. A brutal showing in 2020 skewed his numbers in his final few seasons with Detroit, but Boyd often flashed quality bat-missing ability and typically posted low walk rates throughout his time in the Detroit rotation. He twice looked as though he may be among the more appealing arms available at a trade deadline — first in 2019 when he was sitting on a 3.95 ERA and 152 strikeouts in 114 innings and again in 2021 when he’d posted a similar ERA and reduced home-run rate (albeit with a diminished strikeout rate).

The Tigers held onto Boyd both times, however, declining to move him in ’19 because they (justifiably) set a huge asking price given Boyd’s three-plus remaining seasons of club control. The 2020 season brought little opportunity to move Boyd, thanks to the aforementioned struggles (6.71 ERA in 12 starts), and by the time last year’s deadline rolled around, Boyd’s season was in jeopardy due to that forearm issue.

It’s unlikely that Boyd will be able to return and build up to a starter’s workload this season — but the Mariners, particularly after landing Reds ace Luis Castillo, don’t really need Boyd to step into the rotation anyhow. He could, however, provide them with an experienced left-hander to plug into the bullpen. Seattle hasn’t had much luck with its left-handed bullpen arms this season, so taking what’s surely a low-cost flier on Boyd is a sensible enough peripheral move at this stage of deadline season.

Giants Notes: Boyd, Wade Jr., Cobb

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Giants starter Matthew Boyd suffered a flexor strain while rehabbing from surgery, and he’ll now be shut down for at least four weeks, per MLB.com’s Maria I. Guardado (via Twitter). Boyd is a free agent at the end of this season, and at this stage, one has to wonder what, if anything, Boyd will be able to offer the Giants this season. San Francisco signed Boyd as a free agent after he was released by the Tigers.

  • LaMonte Wade Jr.’s return, however, does appear imminent as the outfielder/first baseman has begun a rehab assignment. Wade Jr. is coming off a breakout season in 2021 in which he slashed .253/.326/.482 with 18 home runs over 381 plate appearances. It will be interesting to see where Wade Jr. fits in upon his return. The Giants mix and match with the best of them, but on the surface level, the lefty-swinging trio of Mike Yastrzemski, Joc Pederson, and Luis Gonzalez would seem to have the outfield covered for the time being. For that matter, veterans Brandon Belt and Tommy La Stella, also left-handers, have been taking at-bats at first base and designated hitter, respectively. Still, it’s a long season, and the Giants will no doubt find a way to return Wade Jr. to the mix when he’s ready.
  • Alex Cobb is set to make his return to the rotation on Sunday. A roster move will likely come sometime after tonight’s game. The Giants have thrived at regenerating former starters in low-power mode, but Cobb struggled through his first eight starts, serving up a 5.73 ERA, though a 2.63 FIP suggests he may have had some bad luck. He did, after all, post a strong 47-to-12 strikeout-to-walk ratio across 37 2/3 innings.

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