The Mariners announced Wednesday that first baseman/outfielder Jake Bauers has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A Tacoma. He’ll be able to become a minor league free agent following the completion of the postseason, though Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reports that the Mariners hope to re-sign him to a minor league contract (Twitter link).
Bauers, 26, is a former seventh-round pick of the Padres who eventually hit his way into top-100 prospect territory in 2017-18. San Diego flipped him to the Rays as one of several players in the three-team Trea Turner blockbuster that sent Turner to D.C. back in 2014.’
After a half season of games in Tampa Bay, Bauers went to Cleveland in another three-team deal — this time the one that sent Yandy Diaz to Tampa Bay, Carlos Santana to Cleveland and Edwin Encarnacion to Seattle. Bauers appeared in parts of two seasons with Cleveland across three calendar years before being traded to the Mariners exchange for a player to be named later (righty Damon Casetta-Stubbs) earlier this season.
The Mariners were the fourth organization of Bauers’ career and the third for which he’s played at the MLB level. He posted just a .220/.297/.275 slash with Seattle, however, continuing the struggles he’s displayed throughout his big league tenure. Through 1126 plate appearances spread across three Major League seasons, Bauers is a .213/.307/.348 hitter with 27 home runs and an impressive 11.5 percent walk rate — but also a sub-part 26.4 percent strikeout rate. He’s posted better numbers in the minors, with similar slash lines at virtually every stop and a career .275/.361/.414 output in parts of seven seasons.