Minor League Baseball

Former Seattle Mariners Reliever Agrees to Minor League Deal with Division Rival

Hunter Strickland, who was with the Mariners for a brief time in 2019, has signed a deal with the Texas Rangers.

Brady Farkas

Seattle Mariners pitcher Hunter Strickland (43) and catcher Omar Narvaez (22) shake hands after the game against the Oakland Athletics at Tokyo Dome in 2019.
Seattle Mariners pitcher Hunter Strickland (43) and catcher Omar Narvaez (22) shake hands after the game against the Oakland Athletics at Tokyo Dome in 2019. / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
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Veteran reliever Hunter Strickland has signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers, according to a post by the public relations team on social media.

The Texas Rangers today announced that the club has agreed to terms with RHP Hunter Strickland on a minor league contract with an invitation to Major League Spring Training camp.

Strickland is a 10-year veteran of the San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, New York Mets, Tampa Bay Rays, Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Angels, Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds. He's most known for his work with the Giants from 2014-2018, winning a World Series with San Francisco in 2014. He also was with the Nationals for their World Series run in 2019.

He had a career-high 14 saves in 2018.

Strickland spent a small time with the Mariners in 2019, making just four appearances before being traded in July to the Nationals. He had two saves in those four games.

That 2019 season marked the start of the Mariners "step back" as they traded away Robinson Cano, Edwin Diaz, James Paxton and Jean Segura before the season. They also dealt away the likes of Jay Bruce and Edwin Encarnacion in the season.

In addition to his World Series titles, and his time with the Mariners, Strickland is best known for the brawl he got into with then-Nationals star Bryce Harper.

The Mariners have two-plus weeks of Cactus League play remaining before opening up the regular season on March 27 against the Athletics. The four-game seriers will be played at T-Mobile Park.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is the senior writer for “Minor League Baseball on SI’’ and the host of “The Payoff Pitch’’ podcast, which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. Follow Brady on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady.

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