Mariners announce near-final round of roster cuts; Opening Day roster coming into focus

The final cut is the deepest, baby you know

After announcing the release of Mitch Haniger separately, the Mariners also announced what should be their penultimate (or near-penultimate) round of roster cuts, meaning the Opening Day roster is coming into focus.

As expected, the Mariners reassigned the last two prospects in camp to the minors: C Harry Ford and LHP Brandyn García. García in particular is going out on a high note after looking very sharp in his last outing yesterday, striking out a batter and getting a weak-contact out to end his inning, both on the sweeper. Harry Ford had an excellent spring, showcasing his signature polish at the plate while also doing damage, in a sharp rebuke to evaluators who have said his prospect shine is starting to fade. The work he needs to focus on is behind the plate, specifically controlling the running game, and he’ll return to the minor leagues to do just that.

The Mariners also optioned three players to Triple-A Tacoma: RHP Casey Legumina, C Blake Hunt, and INF Leo Rivas. Legumina is somewhat of a surprise, as the team seemed very pleased with him this spring; his last two outings were a little rougher than he’d been in early spring, but he’s been talked up all camp and will almost certainly be up with the big-league club at some point this year (hopefully not yo-yoing back and forth between the two as much as he did in Cincinnati). Leo Rivas also heads back to Tacoma, meaning both Ryan Bliss and Miles Mastrobuoni, who’s had an impressive spring, seems guaranteed an Opening Day spot. Find someone who loves you like Jerry Dipoto loves a superutility infielder he finds on waivers. The Mariners also reassigned catcher Blake Hunt; it’ll be interesting to see how the playing time works out between him and Ford, and whether the team still views Hunt as a prospect or as an emergency depth piece. I guess they could also send Harry back to Arkansas for a third straight year, but I think that’s an OSHA violation.

The two veteran NRIs who were in camp were also released: lefty Drew Pomeranz and righty Jesse Hahn. Pomeranz, 36, did not have a good spring, but Hahn, 35, did, earning praise from manager Dan Wilson. If he doesn’t catch on somewhere else, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him return to the organization.

The bullpen puzzle remains somewhat up in the air: Trevor Gott, Matt Brash, and Troy Taylor are all candidates to be put on the IL to start the season, freeing roster space. Supposing there are six locks in the bullpen (Muñoz, Santos, Saucedo, Snider, Speier, Thornton), there’s still enough space for both Carlos Vargas and Eduard Bazardo for now, unless Taylor is ready to go for Opening Day.

With these cuts, it also looks like Rowdy Tellez is going to make the Opening Day roster, which would be the first time a non-reliever NRI made the Opening Day roster since Jose Marmolejos in 2020.