The Mariners announced that they have selected the contract of first baseman Rowdy Tellez. The roster already had a couple of vacancies from losing Seth Martinez off waivers and releasing Mitch Haniger. Their 40-man count goes from 38 to 39 with the Tellez move. Now that he’s been added to the 40-man roster, Tellez will earn a $1.5MM salary, as reported by Jack Magruder for MLB.com.
Tellez, who turned 30 during camp, signed a minor league deal in late February and has mashed his way into the team’s plans with a big spring performance. He’s tallied 50 plate appearances across 16 games and turned in a .298/.320/.574 batting line with three homers and four doubles. He’s only drawn one walk, but he’s also fanned a reasonable nine times (18%).
That performance from Tellez, coupled with a brutal spring from Haniger, forced the Mariners to cut ties with Haniger — a player the organization is very fond of but whose contract has become an albatross in the wake of a series of career-altering injuries. Haniger, if healthy and productive, would’ve been a favorite for playing time at DH and occasionally in right field. Instead, Tellez will now see ample time at designated hitter and likely log some games at first base in a timeshare with Luke Raley.
Tellez has had an up-and-down career, delivering huge production in both 2020 and 2022 but also posting several below-average years at the plate. He popped 35 homers with the Brewers in ’22 but has followed that up with 772 plate appearance and a .231/.295/.385 slash in the two years since (85 wRC+). The Mariners have been searching high and low for reliable power bats for years, however, as their home environment at T-Mobile Park is the least hitter-friendly venue in the sport. Tellez will bring significant power but a mercurial, at best, track record to the lineup as the M’s look to return to the postseason after last year’s narrow miss and continue to build on the late-season offensive gains they enjoyed following a shuffle of the dugout staff.
