CHICAGO -- Some expectedly difficult roster decisions came to fruition on Friday morning for the Mariners, who activated Luke Raley from the 10-day injured list but also moved on from veteran Rowdy Tellez after designating him for assignment.
Essentially, it was a 26-man roster swap of two left-handed sluggers for a club that values positional versatility, which is what made Tellez -- who’s exclusively played first base -- the odd man out. Raley will take over his spot in that position’s platoon with righty-hitting Donovan Solano, but he’ll also see action in the outfield, where he’s more comfortable.
The Mariners could’ve gone for a straight swap of Raley for lefty-hitting right fielder Dominic Canzone, who has Minor League options remaining and wouldn’t have forced the club to move on from Tellez altogether. But the club has been encouraged by results from recent swing adjustments -- and a mental refresh at the plate. Canzone is hitting .259 with a .777 OPS and only four strikeouts in 30 plate appearances over nine games since being recalled from Triple-A Tacoma on June 9.
Solano, who began the season in a rut (hitting .138 with a .331 OPS through May 23) has been on a more upward trend lately (hitting .346 with an .876 OPS since), albeit with limited playing time (Friday marked his ninth start over Seattle’s past 24 games). Solano is also on a one-year, $3.5 million deal, which would’ve made him a costlier piece to move on from.
“These are never easy decisions, and you weigh a lot of different things,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “But I think Dom has swung the bat well here in his time and has made some changes. And so I think that was a factor, for sure.”
The Mariners now have seven days to trade Tellez, or place him on outright or unconditional release waivers. Because Tellez has accrued more than five years of service time, he can -- and likely would -- decline an outright to Triple-A Tacoma.
It’s possible that the Mariners find a trade partner, given that, conceivably, there are clubs who could use a slugging first baseman with 11 homers and a .434 slugging percentage, both of which were among the top three on the team. As it stands, the Mariners are on the hook for the remainder of Tellez’s $1.5 million salary after he signed a split Minors contract, then made the team out of Spring Training.
“What Rowdy did for us, we really appreciate what he meant to our group here at the beginning of the season,” Wilson said, “and just what he meant in the clubhouse.”
While Friday’s decision was one that comes with risk -- the Mariners banking on assembling a better offense without Tellez, not to mention that he’s been their most defensively sound first baseman -- it’s also worth noting that this roster construction is not expected to be completely permanent, as the club is targeting the corner-infield spots to upgrade ahead of the July 31 Trade Deadline, according to sources.
Right field is also an area they will examine but is currently not as high of a priority, given that they expect Victor Robles back at some point in September and that he’ll return next year after signing a contract extension last August.
And with a farm system that MLB Pipeline ranks as No. 5 in the sport, with infielder Colt Emerson as the only untouchable prospect, the Mariners could be in position to be among the more bold buyers.
That essentially leaves Seattle with six weeks to get by before potentially adding another first baseman to the mix.
As for Raley, he went 7-for-19 with three strikeouts and one walk over five games with Tacoma on a rehab assignment after suffering a right oblique strain during batting practice on April 29. He crushed a massive homer on Tuesday in a left-on-left matchup -- something that he could see more of.
“That's something that obviously keeps him on the field,” Wilson said. “And I think Luke has done a good job against lefties and puts up a real good at-bat. And obviously, we'll see how [he does] as we progress and as he gets healthier. Obviously, in the beginning here, we have to make sure that we let him get a little bit of a runway here.”
Added Raley: “I feel like my swing is good. Obviously, the pitching is a little bit different, but I think that my timing is pretty good and I was able to kind of jump right back into things.’’