The Mariners have signed right-hander Adonis Medina to a minor league deal, as reported by Matt Eddy of Baseball America. The deal presumably comes with an invite to big league Spring Training next year.
Medina, 28 next month, first signed with the Phillies out of the Dominican Republic and made his pro debut back in 2014. A starting pitching prospect at the time, Medina spent the early years of his career climbing the minor league ranks and was a consensus top-100 prospect in the sport after a strong showing at Single-A in 2017. The right-hander struggled a bit over the next two years, however, and his prospect star lost some of its shine as he struck out just 17.5% of opponents while allowing a 4.94 ERA at the Double-A level back in 2019.
Those struggles didn’t stop the Phillies from calling up Medina for his big league debut during the abbreviated 2020 season, however. In a spot start against the Blue Jays on September 20, Medina got his first cup of coffee in the big leagues. He performed solidly enough, surrendering two runs on three hits and three walks while striking out four in four innings of work, but was quickly optioned off the club’s roster. He remained with the Phillies for the 2021 season and performed well in the majors in a small sample while shuttling between the big leagues and Triple-A. Despite his 3.52 ERA in four appearances at the big league level, however, Medina struggled badly in the minors with a 5.05 ERA and a lackluster 18.4% strikeout rate at Triple-A.
Medina’s lackluster performance in the minors led the Phillies to place Medina on waivers, where he was promptly claimed by the Pirates only to be traded to the Mets the following month. The right-hander converted to relief full time in his new organization, and his results at the Triple-A level improved slightly (4.65 ERA in in 31 innings) after the role change. That step forward did not translate to the major leagues, however, as Medina was shelled to the tune of a 6.08 ERA in 23 2/3 innings of work across 14 appearances in Queens that year. While some peripheral numbers, such as his 3.89 SIERA, were more bullish on his performance, that wasn’t enough to keep Medina on the roster as the Mets designated him for assignment that September.
That led the right-hander to depart stateside ball for South Korea, where he signed with the KBO’s KIA Tigers. His new club tried to convert him back to starting, but that experiment did not go well as he struggled to a 6.05 ERA in 58 innings of work across 12 starts. Unlike his time in Queens, Medina’s struggles on the field were now reflected in his peripheral numbers as he struck out just 13.4% of batters faced while walking opponents at a 10.8% clip. Medina’s rough performance led to him being released that July, and he didn’t catch on with another club until he signed with the Nationals on a minor league deal in February of this year.
While Medina’s time with D.C. didn’t ultimately result in a return to the big leagues, he did show off the best results at Triple-A of his career after converting back to full-time relief with the Nationals. In 49 relief appearances, Medina posted a 3.76 ERA in 64 2/3 innings of work for the club’s affiliate in Rochester. He struck out a respectable 21.9% of opponents faced while walking 9.5%, the best ratio he’s flashed since his days as a top prospect in the late 2010’s. Now, Medina has latched on with a Mariners club that figures to give him the opportunity to earn a spot in the club’s bullpen out of Spring Training or act as non-roster depth in the minors should he ultimately not make the Opening Day roster.