Mariners Moose Tracks, 1/30/25: Ha-Seong Kim, Tommy Kahnle, and Carlos Estévez

The reliever market is heating up!

Good morning everyone! With the start of spring training less than two weeks away, free agents are starting to come off the board at a higher frequency so they know where they’re headed this February. Let’s get you all caught up on the latest.

In Mariners news...

• Congratulations to Rylee Pay, who has been hired as the new radio announcer for the Tacoma Rainiers following the retirement of Mike Curto.
• Who doesn’t love some offseason Mariners content? With Félix, no less!

Around the league...

• Free agent infielder Ha-Seong Kim has agreed to a two-year deal with the Tampa Bay Rays. So much for my plan for the Mariners to sign both Kims (Hye-seong signed with the Dodgers, so we ended up with neither!)
• The Mets have re-signed former Mariners reliever Ryne Stanek to a one-year deal.
• The Tigers have inked right-hander Tommy Kahnle to a one-year pact.
• It was a big day on the reliever market, with righty Carlos Estévez signing a two-year contract with the Royals.
• The Giants no longer employ both Rogers twins, as the left-handed Taylor was sent to the Reds in a trade.
• Former infielder Elvis Andrus is joining the Rangers’ broadcast booth.
• Michael Baumann at Fangraphs wonders what the Astros would do with their fielding alignment if they brought back Alex Bregman.
• Michael Rosen at Fangraphs took a deep dive into the profile of Angels right-hander Jack Kochanowicz, who threw almost 100 mph but somehow didn’t generate many whiffs in 2024.
• We got another top 100 prospect list, with Kiley McDaniel at ESPN unveiling his for 2025. ($)
• In the wake of the uproar over MLB’s lack of a salary cap, Eno Sarris at The Athletic compared the level of parity in the league to the NBA and NFL, which do have hard caps. ($)