Ahead of Friday’s non-tender deadline, the Seattle Mariners thinned out their pitching staff.
Earlier in the week, the Mariners had already designated left-hander Tayler Saucedo to make room for trade acquisition Alex Hoppe, formerly of the Boston Red Sox organization. That left the 40-man roster full, but the Mariners still wanted to save themselves money on a couple of guaranteed salaries.
As the team’s official transactions log confirms, the Mariners non-tendered Saucedo, plus right-handers Trent Thornton and Gregory Santos on Friday. All three have elected free agency.
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Where Mariners stand after three non-tenders
Saucedo and Santos were both first-year arbitration-eligible, while Thornton would have been a third-timer. All three spent significant time on the injured list this year, and none were key contributors when healthy, though they’d had bright spots in their previous seasons with the Mariners.
Seattle also lost Caleb Ferguson and Luke Jackson to free agency right when the World Series ended, but for the most part, their bullpen core remains intact.
It seems the Mariners had transactions like these planned out or at least on their minds ahead of time, because before letting these three go, they’d already brought in two other righties and a lefty in minor moves.
Seattle claimed righty Ryan Loutos off waivers from the Washington Nationals earlier this month, traded for righty Cole Wilcox from the Tampa Bay Rays, and traded for lefty Robinson Ortiz from the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Seattle’s 40-man roster now sits at 38 players, 22 of whom are pitchers. With openings at second base and third base, those numbers make it even more clear that the club’s free agency pursuits will be bat-focused.
If they’re going to target bullpen help, though, one would think the Mariners might want another lefty to pair with Gabe Speier. It’s unclear whether Ortiz or Jhonathan DÃaz, the only two other righties on the entire pitching staff at the moment, will play major roles during the upcoming season.
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