The Mariners Thursday selected RHP Isaac Sanchez from the Pittsburgh Pirates in the AAA phase of the MLB Rule 5 draft, but lost OF Jabari Blash, plucked from the club’s AAA Tacoma roster. Both moves were made at the winter meetings in Nashville.
The 23-year-old Sanchez went 2-3 with three saves in 42 relief appearances with Class A Bradenton of the Florida State League last season. The 6-foot, 190-pound reliever limited opponents to a .242 average while striking out 51 and walking 24 in 66.1 innings.
Sanchez was signed as a non-drafted free agent by Pittsburgh June 18, 2010. Over parts of six seasons in the minors, he is 14-11 with 11 saves and a 3.66 ERA in 139 games, including 14 starts.
Blash hit .271 with 32 home runs and 81 RBIs in 116 games split between Tacoma and AA Jackson.
Players selected in the MLB phase — not the case here — must remain in the majors for the entire 2016 season. If a team wishes to option a player back to the minors, the club must first expose him to waivers, then offer him back to his original team for $25,000 (half of the $50,000 claiming fee).
Three other players were taken from the Mariners in the minor league portion of the draft: LHP Brian Moran by Cleveland and RHP Logan Bawcom and OF Julio Morban by the Dodgers.
Moran last year went 2-1 with a 3.24 ERA in 27 relief appearances split between A Bakersfield and AA Jackson. Bawcom was 2-4 with two saves and a 4.64 ERA in 45 appearances with Tacoma. Morban hit .206 in 48 games with Jackson and Tacoma.
The Mariners 40-man roster is at 40.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="2212798 https://sportspressnw.wpengine.com/?p=2212798">2 Comments
Mariners are rebuilding to win now. Hello Houston we have a…aaaa…no problems here. Everything will be great building around a solid core. No need to build from scratch like you Houston. 1016 will be like 2015. We can count on some easy wins from Houston. Houston be afraid. Your young eager players had their career years in 2015. Same goes for you, Oakland.