The Mariners are designating left-hander José Suarez for assignment, reports Ari Alexander of Boston 7 News. Seattle will activate Bryce Miller from the 15-day injured list to start tomorrow’s game against the Astros. They needed to drop someone from the pitching staff in a corresponding move.
Suarez, who is out of minor league options, winds up being the roster casualty. (Seattle will also activate Jose A. Ferrer from the paternity list within the next day or two, so that’ll push someone else from the middle relief corps back to the minors.) Suarez made just one appearance in an M’s uniform, allowing a run on two hits and a couple walks over two innings. They’d claimed him off waivers from the Braves on May 3.
Between Atlanta and Seattle, the 28-year-old southpaw carries a 6.38 earned run average through 18 1/3 innings. He has punched out an above-average 27% of opponents but issued walks at a near-16% rate. Suarez had been a capable strike-thrower early in his career as a starter with the Angels. That has changed over the past few seasons.
Suarez is playing on a $900K arbitration salary that lands a little north of the league minimum. He’s capable of working multiple innings out of the bullpen but would require an active roster spot if another team claims him. The Mariners have five days to trade him or try to run him through outright waivers. If he clears waivers, Suarez would have the right to decline an outright assignment in favor of free agency. He’d forfeit his remaining salary to do so, however, so it’s likelier he’d report to Triple-A Tacoma if no other team carries him on the MLB roster.
The Mariners are moving to a six-man rotation with Miller’s return. They’ll drop to a seven-man bullpen as a result. Alex Hoppe has worked multiple innings on a couple occasions. Cooper Criswell has ample long relief experience as well, but he’s pitching his way towards the back of the bullpen in shorter high-leverage stints.
