Former Seattle Mariners Sought-After Prospect Nearing Deal with Division Rivals

We heard earlier this week that Luis Curvelo was generating lots of interest early on this offseason, and he's been scooped up by the Texas Rangers.

A detailed view of the Seattle Mariners armed forces day hat in the dugout against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning at Truist Park in 2023. / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Earlier this week, we heard that former Seattle Mariners prospect Luis Curvelo was generating interest on the free agent market.

Now, we've heard that he's nearing a deal with one of the M's division rivals.

Per Jon Morosi of MLB Network:

Update: Luis Curvelo is nearing a major-league contract with the Texas Rangers.

@MLBNetwork

Update: Luis Curvelo is nearing a major-league contract with the Texas Rangers. @MLBNetwork https://t.co/zlmWSSyieN

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 10, 2024

Morosi indicated earlier this week that the Mariners didn't have room for Curvelo on the 40-man roster, so that's why they weren't able to keep him. He's 24 years old right now and is coming off a year in which spent the entire season at Double-A Arkansas.

The Travelers won the Southern League Championship as Curvelo went 4-0 in 49 games. He pitched to a 2.57 ERA, striking out 78 batters in 66.2 innings.

It will be interesting to see how big a loss this ends up being for the Mariners. Seattle has had success in recent years in developing relievers (Drew Steckenrider, Casey Sadler, Matt Brash, Justin Topa, Trent Thornton and Paul Sewald come to mind), but they won't get a chance to extract the same value out of Curvelo.

Instead, they'll have to watch as Curvelo attempts to blossom with their division rivals. The Rangers have plenty of needs in the bullpen after seeing David Robertson opt-out of his contract. Kirby Yates and Jose Leclerc are also free agents as well.

The Rangers finished third in the American League West, behind the Mariners and the Houston Astros. Texas won the World Series in the 2023 season.

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