Seattle Mariners Lose Veteran Pitcher, Open Up Spot on 40-Man Roster as a Result
The Seattle Mariners lost right-handed pitcher Seth Martinez in an apparent waiver claim on Saturday.
First, the Mariners PR team announced that Martinez had been claimed off waivers by the Miami Marlins.
Roster move:
— Mariners PR (@MarinersPR) March 15, 2025
RHP Seth Martinez has been claimed off waivers by the Miami Marlins.
Now, there was some confusion as to how we got to this point, as we never heard of Martinez being designated for assignment. Then, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times pointed out that a player can be placed on waivers without being DFA'd, though we never heard anything about Martinez being put on waivers, either.
You can place a player on waivers without DFA'ing him. One of the weird quirks of the CBA
— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) March 15, 2025
Regardless, this is the end of the line for Martinez in Seattle. The 30-year-old righty is a four-year veteran of the Houston Astros who helped the Astros win a World Series ring in 2022. Lifetime, he's 6-6 with a 3.93 ERA. He made a career-high 44 appearances for Houston a season ago.
He had been fighting for one of the last spots in the Mariners' bullpen, but now the M's will look elsewhere.
In addition to opening the battle for the final bullpen spot, this also opens up a 40-man roster spot, which the M's will have to think about how to use.
Rowdy Tellez seems like the most plausible answer, as he's gotten significant time this spring and can provide useful at-bats at first base or designated hitter. However, if the M's want to keep that spot for a pitcher, perhaps it opens up a spot for someone like Shintaro Fujinami, who is in camp on a minor league deal.
Jesse Hahn is also an option.
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