Seattle Mariners Sign Veteran Reliever Yunior Marte to Minor League Deal
The Seattle Mariners major league roster has three open roster spots after Friday's tender deadline with clear needs in the infield and the bullpen.
But the minor leagues need some re-tooling as well.
Over 30 prospects have left the Mariners farm system via free agency or retirement this offseason. The lion's share of them were pitchers.
Seattle has already gone to work this offseason rebuilding pitching depth to its farm system. The organization brought back veteran arms Jesse Hahn and Casey Lawrence, and signed former Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets prospect Adonis Medina to a minor league deal with a spring training invite.
The Mariners ended up signing away another Philadelphia arm on Saturday.
Seattle signed reliever Yunior Marte to a minor league deal with a spring training invite, per a report from Francys Romero.
Yunior Marte signed with the Seattle Mariners on a minor league deal, per sources.
— Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) November 23, 2024
The deal includes an invitation to MLB Spring Training camp. pic.twitter.com/9ZznHKIKZU
Marte has been a professional baseball player for over a decade, but has just three major league seasons to show for it.
The Kansas City Royals originally signed Marte out of the Dominican Republic on July 19, 2012, when he was just 17 years-old. He spent eight years in the Royals' minor league system, never advancing past Triple-A.
Marte elected free agency and signed with the San Francisco Giants in 2020 and made his major league debut in 2022. He spent a total of three years with the organization before being traded to Philadelphia on Jan. 9, 2023.
Marte struggled in his two major league seasons with the Phillies. He made 40 appearances in 2023 and posted a 5.03 ERA with with 38 strikeouts in 39.1 innings pitched. Opponents averaged .288 against him.
Marte was even worse in 2024. He threw in 24 outings and had a 6.92 ERA. He struck out 23 batters in 26 innings pitched. Hitters had a clip of .306 against him.
Marte's potential is evident. He stands at 6-foot-2, 180 pounds and has a five-pitch arsenal of a slider, sinker, four-seamer, splitter and cutter. His sinker is undoubtedly his best pitch, with hitters averaging just .213 against. Marte had a 40.5% put-away rate with that throw in 2024, per Baseball Savant.
Yunior Marte's 3Ks in the 7th. pic.twitter.com/YOZXl2pM3S
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 12, 2024
The issue is the rest of his arsenal. Hitters averaged .300 or better against Marte's other throws.
Last year, the Mariners brought over Collin Snider after two poor seasons with Kansas City and he ended up having the best season of his career in 2024.
Seattle is known for its pitching development and will hope that Marte can have a Snider-esque resurgence in 2025.
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