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Graveman To Return To Mariners' Bullpen in 2021

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Kendall Graveman signed back with the Mariners with the expectation of sticking in the bullpen, he said on the Extra Innings Podcast. Graveman pitched out the bullpen consistently for the first time in his career last season for the Mariners, emerging as an option for high-leverage opportunities. The former Oakland Athletic spent 2018 with the Cubs while recovering from Tommy John. He signed with the Mariners and made a couple of starts in 2020, but the bulk of his outings came out of the bullpen. Heading into 2021, he’s fully committed to a bullpen role. He’ll the 30-years-old in December, and though he’s new to the bullpen, Graveman spoke confidently about his ability to adjust and let his stuff play up during shorter outings. The right-hander also spoke about shortening his arsenal. He plans on focusing on what works best and sticking with a couple of his strongest pitches, probably a heater, change, and curve primarily, though he also spoke about working in a two-seamer on occasion as a way to vary the look from the fastball.

Mariners Re-Sign Matt Magill, Gerson Bautista, Brady Lail

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The Mariners have agreed to sign right-handers Matt Magill, Gerson Bautista, and Brady Lail to minor league contracts, The Athletic’s Corey Brock reports (Twitter link).  All three pitchers were outrighted off Seattle’s 40-man roster following the season.

Magill entered the season as a candidate to become the Mariners’ closer, following a solid performance (3.94 ERA, 10.1 K/9, 2.79 K/BB rate) over 107 1/3 innings for the Twins and Mariners in 2018-19.  As it happened, Magill’s only two save opportunities of 2020 resulted in blown saves, and the only two poor outings of his season — Magill tossed nine scoreless innings over nine of his appearances, and seven earned runs over 1 1/3 innings in those two blown saves, working out to a somewhat misleading 6.10 ERA for the season.

Shoulder surgery cut Magill’s season short in mid-September, and it’s quite possible that his injury played a role in those two blown saves, given that they both occurred within Magill’s final three games of 2020.  Magill is expected to be healthy and ready in time for the start of Spring Training.  He was eligible for arbitration for the first time this winter, projected to earn somewhere between $700-$800K depending on how arb salaries are calculated this offseason.

Bautista didn’t pitch at all in 2020 due to a flexor strain in his elbow, and he also missed significant time due to a pec injury in 2019.  The hard-throwing righty still has only 13 1/3 big league innings under his belt, all with the Mets and Mariners in 2018-19.  Bautista is best known for being one of the five players acquired by the Mariners in the huge blockbuster trade in December 2018 that sent Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz to New York.

Claimed off waivers from the White Sox in August, Lail posted a 4.41 ERA, 1.71 K/BB rate, and 6.6 K/9 over 16 1/3 combined innings for Seattle and Chicago last season.  Originally an 18th-round pick for the Yankees in the 2012 draft, Lail’s eight seasons in New York’s farm system resulted in one MLB appearance before he was let go after the 2019 season.

40-Man Roster Additions: 11/1/20

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With the offseason kicking off, most teams are bringing some inactive players back onto their rosters. Here’s the latest:

  • The Rockies announced they’ve activated outfielder Ian Desmond from the restricted list. Outfielder David Dahl and right-handers Peter Lambert and Scott Oberg are back from the 60-day injured list, putting Colorado’s 40-man roster tally at 38. Desmond opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns and is entering his final year under contract. Dahl underwent shoulder surgery in September, capping a miserable season. Lambert, meanwhile, underwent Tommy John surgery in July. Oberg unfortunately also had to go under the knife, undergoing thoracic outlet surgery to alleviate blood clots in September.
  • The Indians reinstated right-hander Jefry Rodríguez from the 45-day injured list (via Tribeinsider). While working at Cleveland’s alternate training site, the 27-year-old went down with a strain in his throwing shoulder in early September. Rodríguez worked 98.2 innings of 5.20 ERA ball with the Nationals and Indians between 2018-19 but didn’t pitch in the majors in 2020. Cleveland’s 40-man roster now sports 35 players.
  • The Rays activated pitchers Jalen Beeks, Yonny Chirinos, Colin Poche and Cody Reed from the 45-day injured list (via Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). Each of Beeks, Chirinos and Poche has undergone Tommy John surgery over the past few months, meaning none will be ready (or even particularly close) at the start of next season. Reed suffered an injury to his left pinky finger shortly after being acquired from the Reds. He’s expected to be a full-go for spring training, Topkin notes.
  • The Mariners have brought outfielder Mitch Haniger, catcher Tom Murphy and right-hander Andres Muñoz off the 45-day injured list, per Greg Johns of MLB.com. Haniger has dealt with a series of brutal injuries since emerging as one of the sport’s quieter stars, but he’s finally expected to be healthy next spring. Like Haniger, Murphy missed the entire 2020 season; the backstop broke a bone in his foot on the heels of a breakout 2019. Muñoz underwent Tommy John surgery while part of the Padres’ system in March. Still, the Mariners acquired the fireballing 21-year-old before the trade deadline as part of the return for Austin Nola, Austin Adams and Dan Altavilla. Seattle now has 35 players on the 40-man roster.

Mariners Re-Sign Kendall Graveman

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11:42am: Graveman’s deal comes with a $1.25MM base salary and another $2.5MM worth of incentives, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (Twitter link). That will give him the opportunity to earn a bit more than the $3.5MM he’d have taken home had the Mariners picked up his option.

11:35am: That was quick. Just one day after declining their $3.5MM club option on Kendall Graveman, the Mariners announced that they’ve re-signed the right-hander to a new one-year, Major League contract for the 2021 season. It’s surely at a lesser rate than that $3.5MM price point, but the Sports One Management client looks as though he’ll be locked in as a member of the team’s bullpen again next season.

Graveman, 29, returned to the Majors in 2020 after missing most of 2018 and all of 2019 due to Tommy John surgery. The initial hope was that he’d be a member of the team’s six-man rotation, but Graveman spent much of the year on the injured list due to a neck injury and returned to the club in September as a reliever.

The results upon his return were encouraging, however, as Graveman averaged a career-best 96.4 mph on his sinker and held opponents to four runs on six hits and three walks with five strikeouts in 10 innings. Three of those runs came in one particularly rough outing, but Graveman allowed just one run in the rest of his bullpen outings combined. He also sported a hefty 55.4 percent ground-ball rate in that time, giving further cause for optimism about his potential as a reliever over the course of a full season.

For Seattle, re-signing Graveman is its first noteworthy order of business in what should be an active winter for its relief corps. After the Mariners’ bullpen finished 2020 last in the AL in ERA and fWAR, general manager Jerry Dipoto declared the M’s would try to add three to four relievers in the offseason.

Mariners Decline 2021 Club Option On Kendall Graveman

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The Mariners have declined to exercise their $3.5MM club option on right-hander Kendall Graveman, as Graveman was listed by the MLB Players Association as one of 147 players who officially entered free agency today.  Graveman will instead receive a $500K buyout from the Mariners.

After undergoing Tommy John surgery in July 2018, Graveman didn’t pitch in the majors last season but returned to toss 18 2/3 innings for Seattle in 2020.  Graveman inked a one-year deal with the Mariners last offseason that paid him $1.5MM in salary for the 2020 season, as well as the $500K minimum in buyout money and the potential for $3MM more if the option was picked up.

The righty started his first two outings before heading to the injured list with what was originally described as neck spasms, but further examination revealed a benign bone tumor in Graveman’s cervical spine.  Despite that scary-sounding diagnosis, Graveman not only returned to the mound, but pitched well as a reliever in nine further games — a 3.60 ERA over those 10 relief frames, with three of his four runs allowed coming in one rough outing against the Giants.

Graveman has worked exclusively as a starter since the 2014 season, but his success as a reliever perhaps hinted at a new role for the 29-year-old (who turns 30 in December) going forward.  While a new team could still look into Graveman as a starter, he might also market himself as a multi-inning reliever or swingman on the open market.

Whether Graveman joins a new team is also in question, as 710 ESPN’s Shannon Drayer tweets that the Mariners have interest in bringing Graveman back on a new deal.  While Graveman’s injuries could quite possibly have led to Seattle declining his option under normal offseason conditions, the Mariners’ decision to punt on the extra $3MM to retain Graveman’s services is perhaps a hint about how the M’s (and other teams) will be cautious with any sort of borderline financial decision this winter in the face of 2020’s revenue losses.

Mariners Decline 2021 Club Option On Dee Strange-Gordon

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TODAY: Strange-Gordon appeared on the MLB Players Association’s list of players who became free agents today, indicating that the Mariners have officially bought out his 2021 option.

OCTOBER 27: It’s no surprise, but it appears the Mariners are set to part with infielder/outfielder Dee Strange-Gordon. They’ll move on from his $14MM club option for 2021 in favor of a $1MM buyout, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reports.

After an effective run with the Marlins, with whom he posted 9.3 fWAR in three seasons, the Mariners acquired Strange-Gordon heading into 2018. The speedy Strange-Gordon didn’t offer the type of production the Mariners were hoping for, though, as he batted a meek .266/.293/.343 with seven home runs, 55 stolen bases and just 0.2 fWAR over 1,091 plate appearances as a member of the team. The 32-year-old did see time at both middle infield spots and in multiple outfield positions along the way, but he didn’t grade out especially well at any of them.

Assuming the Mariners do say goodbye to Strange-Gordon, he’ll become part of a second base class of free agents that’s low on great options after DJ LeMahieu. The Mariners, meanwhile, could stick with a combination of Dylan Moore, J.P. Crawford and Shed Long in their middle infield in 2021.

Mariners Re-Sign Connor Lien

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  • The Mariners have re-signed outfielder Connor Lien to a minors deal, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times tweets. Lien, 26, was a 12th-round pick of the Braves in 2012 who, to this point, has played his entire professional career with the franchise. He divided the most recent minor league season in 2019 between Double-A and Triple-A, where he combined to hit .211/.314/.441 with 11 homers over 246 trips to the plate.

Mariners Set 2021 Coaching Staff

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The Mariners on Monday announced their coaching staff for the 2021 season. The unit will remain largely unchanged, although Seattle has appointed Trent Blank as the team’s permanent bullpen coach and director of pitching strategy. He’ll replace Brian DeLunas, whose departure had been previously reported. DeLunas coached remotely in 2020 due to a preexisting kidney issues that place him at high risk with regard to Covid-19. Due to that arrangement, Blank shared bullpen coach duties in 2020 on an acting/interim basis.

Blank is entering his third season with the Mariners organization, having previously been hired as the club’s coordinator of pitching strategy prior to the 2019 campaign. The former Rockies farmhand spent four years with TMI Sports Medicine between his retirement as a player in 2015 and being hired by Seattle.

Manager Scott Servais is set to return to the Mariners for what will be his sixth season, and he’ll have the rest of his 2020 staff back at his side. That includes bench coach Jared Sandberg (heading into his second season in that role), hitting coach Tim Laker (third season), pitching coach Pete Woodworth (second season), first base/infield coach Perry Hill (third season), third base coach Manny Acta (fourth season), assistant hitting coach Jarret DeHart (second season) and field coordinator Carson Vitale (second season).

D-backs Claim Taylor Guilbeau From Mariners; M’s Outright Gerson Bautista

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The Diamondbacks have claimed left-hander Taylor Guilbeau off waivers from the Mariners, per an announcement from Seattle. The M’s also announced that righty Gerson Bautista has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Tacoma.

Now 27 years old, Guilbeau joined the Mariners as part of their return from the Nationals in a 2019 deal that sent relievers Roenis Elias and Hunter Strickland to Washington. Guilbeau went on to toss 20 innings of 2.70 ERA ball with a 59.1 percent groundball rate as a member of the Mariners, though he also struck out barely more hitters (10) than he walked (nine). He dealt with a shoulder strain in 2020 and saw his velocity tumble.

Bautista, whom the Mariners acquired in their pre-2019 trade with the Mets centering on Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz, has only thrown nine innings with Seattle. He racked up all of those frames in 2019, as the 25-year-old missed all of this season with a flexor strain in his right elbow.

Mariners Claim Domingo Tapia From Red Sox

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The Mariners announced that they have claimed right-hander Domingo Tapia from the Red Sox via waivers. Seattle now has 34 players on its 40-man roster.

Tapia, formerly a farmhand with the Mets and Reds, joined the Red Sox on a minor league contract last December. The hard-throwing 29-year-old wound up making his major league debut with Boston this past season and tossing 4 1/3 innings of one-run, four-hit ball with four strikeouts and two walks. Tapia has also spent time at the Triple-A level, where he has pitched to a 4.34 ERA and posted 6.8 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9 over 134 2/3 innings.

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