Mariners Place Andres Munoz On 15-Day IL
Mariners closer Andrés Muñoz is headed to the 15-day IL with right knee inflammation, the team announced. The club recalled right-hander Troy Taylor to replace Muñoz in the bullpen.
Muñoz hadn’t pitched since Sunday. Seattle waited as long as it could to make the move, but it appears his condition didn’t improve. The club’s elimination from playoff contention on Thursday could’ve contributed to the decision.
It’s a disappointing end to an underwhelming season for Muñoz. He recorded 28 saves, but also blew 10 chances, which is tied for the league lead. The two-time All-Star posted a career-worst 4.24 ERA across 61 appearances. Muñoz allowed a solo homer to Hunter Goodman on Sunday before being removed from the game. That’s been a theme this year. After giving up 10 homers combined over the past three seasons, Muñoz was taken deep nine times this year.
The underlying numbers suggest Muñoz deserved better results. He notched a 2.32 xFIP and a 2.40 SIERA over 57 1/3 innings. The righty had a strong 37.1% strikeout rate supported by a massive 18% swinging-strike rate. Muñoz’s 118 Stuff+ is in line with his previous norms. A career-worst 23.1% home run to fly ball rate significantly contributed to the poor campaign.
Muñoz will have plenty of time to recover for 2027, assuming the knee issue isn’t serious. Seattle will likely pick up his $8MM club option for next season. It’s a more than fair price for an established closer. The Mariners hold a $10MM club option on Muñoz for 2028.
The Mariners have a handful of options to turn to in the ninth inning for the final weekend of the regular season. Trade acquisitions Seranthony Dominguez and Jose A. Ferrer both have closing experience. Gabe Speier and Eduard Bazardo have chipped in saves this year. Bazardo finished out Sunday’s game after Muñoz left.
Taylor has pitched in parts of the past two big-league seasons with the Mariners. This will be his first stint in the majors in 2026. The righty posted a 5.05 ERA in 57 innings at Triple-A this year. Command has been an issue, as Taylor has had a walk rate above 13% in back-to-back seasons with Tacoma.
Photo courtesy of Christopher Hanewinckel, Imagn Images
Mariners Haven’t Yet Discussed New Contract With J.P. Crawford
J.P. Crawford is in the final season of the four-year, $46.15MM extension he signed with the Mariners in April 2022, and is on the verge of becoming a free agent for the first time in his pro career. According to Adam Jude of the Seattle Times, the M’s have “not made any overtures about re-signing” Crawford, so the veteran infielder might entering his last week in a Mariners uniform.
Crawford has been a relative bright spot on a Seattle team whose offense (and performance in general) has been a big disappointment in 2026. Entering today’s action, Crawford was hitting .222/.338/.353 with 13 homers over 463 plate appearances, translating to a 107 wRC+. While not standout numbers, Crawford’s 107 wRC+ is the third-highest of any Mariners hitter with more than 165 PA, as only Randy Arozarena (151 wRC+) and Dominic Canzone (133) have done more at the plate.
Crawford’s production has come amidst three stints on the injured list, as Crawford has been limited to 111 games (including today) due to a right hand contusion, and inflammation in his right shoulder and left wrist. The 2026 campaign also saw Crawford make a position change, as the longtime shortstop logged 30 games at third base in his first taste of the hot corner since 2018. However, Crawford ended up playing a lot less third base than expected, since Colt Emerson missed a lot of time due to a wrist injury that eventually required a season-ending surgery.
Since Emerson was signed to an eight-year, $95MM contract before even making his MLB debut, he is clearly still earmarked as Seattle’s shortstop of the future. Crawford was happy to shift over to third base to accommodate Emerson’s arrival, but it remains to be seen where Crawford might fit into the infield picture going forward.
On paper, the Mariners’ 2027 infield lines up as Josh Naylor at first base, Cole Young at second base, Emerson at shortstop, and Brendan Donovan getting at least part-time work at third base. Top prospect Michael Arroyo made his big league debut this season and could also be in the second base mix, when Arroyo isn’t being used in left field or at DH. Another notable shortstop prospect might be in the majors by 2028 or even by the end of 2027, if Felnin Celesten can get his bat going after a slow start to his Double-A career.
Jude writes that “the M’s will need to bolster their lineup with at least one proven right-handed hitter, and it’s likely they’ll want to bring in a veteran shortstop to help shore up one of baseball’s worst defenses.” Crawford isn’t a fit in this sense since he’s a lefty bat, plus Emerson, Young, and Donovan all also swing from the left side. As a shortstop, Crawford has received poor grades from the public metrics in four of the last five seasons, including -10 Defensive Runs Saved and -11 Outs Above Average in 677 innings at the position this year. As a third baseman, Crawford has at least been passable, with 0 DRS and -1 OAA in 246 1/3 innings played in 2026.
It should be noted that there’s still plenty of time for the Mariners to engage Crawford’s reps at THE*TEAM about a new deal, as free agency doesn’t open until five days after the end of the World Series. Most players prefer to not discuss extensions during a season, and most players this close to free agency generally prefer to test the market. From the Mariners’ perspective, it makes sense that they also would’ve wanted to see what they had in Emerson or Young before locking up Crawford to another contract.
Crawford turns 32 in January, and has posted a 110 wRC+ in his last six seasons (with his big 2023 and underwhelming 2024 as the outliers). Between his age, steady but unspectacular offense, and his limited value on defense, Crawford has the profile of a veteran player who might get squeezed by the market to the point that he may have difficulty finding a multi-year deal. Speculatively, teams might be more interested in Crawford if he also offers to play second base, and pitches himself as more of a multi-positional infielder than an everyday answer at a particular position.
If Crawford projects as the type of free agent who might not necessarily be any team’s first choice for an infield upgrade, he probably won’t sign his next deal before December 1, when the league is expected to institute a lockout once the current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires. Some middle-tier types of free agents could therefore be more open to relative lowball offers prior to the lockout, simply to avoid months of uncertainty and then getting left without a chair in the signing frenzy that will come whenever the transactions freeze ends.
Whether that opens a door for a reunion with the Mariners remains to be seen. The team’s fondness for Crawford as a clubhouse leader may not outweigh their need for a right-handed infielder, plus Crawford may prefer to start a new chapter on a club that could offer him regular playing time.
Mariners Manager Dan Wilson Unlikely To Return In 2027
After falling one win short of their first American League pennant in 2025, the Mariners entered this season with sky-high expectations. They boasted AL-leading 79.6% playoff odds at FanGraphs on Opening Day, but the number has plummeted to 0.5% with eight games remaining. At 72-82, Seattle is riding out a lost season – perhaps Dan Wilson’s last as the team’s manager. Wilson is unlikely to return as the Mariners’ skipper in 2027, sources told Adam Jude of the Seattle Times.
A Mariners catcher from 1994-2005 and a member of the team’s Hall of Fame, Wilson rejoined the organization as a minor league catching coordinator in 2013. Eleven years later, despite no experience on a big league staff, the Mariners hired Wilson in August 2024 to replace the fired Scott Servais. Wilson took over a 64-64 team and led it to a 21-13 finish, but an 85-77 record was not enough for a playoff berth. Last year, Wilson’s first full season on the job, the Mariners went 90-72 and won their first AL West crown since 2001 (he was a starter on that team). They upended the Tigers in a five-game ALDS before bowing out in seven at the hands of the Blue Jays in the ALCS.
While keeping last year’s roster mostly intact, the Mariners added infielder/outfielder Brendan Donovan in an offseason trade with the Cardinals. Injuries have limited Donovan to just 39 games (none since Aug. 21), though, and several other key position players have sharply declined since last season. No one has experienced a worse drop-off than catcher Cal Raleigh, who smashed 60 home runs and posted 9.1 fWAR en route to a second-place finish in AL MVP voting in 2025. Raleigh has reversed his fWAR to 1.9 this year, hit 38 fewer HRs (22) and seen his wRC+ drop from 161 to 94.
Like Raleigh, center fielder Julio Rodríguez and first baseman Josh Naylor have come up well short of expectations. Shortstop Colt Emerson, whom the Mariners awarded an eight-year, $95MM extension before he ever played a major league game, logged a dismal 67 wRC+ in his first 241 plate appearances. The Mariners were going to send Emerson back to Triple-A Tacoma in mid-August, but they instead placed him on the injured list. He underwent season-ending wrist surgery a week and a half later.
Seattle’s offense ranked ninth in the majors in runs last year, but it has dipped to 28th this season. The nosedive in production cost assistant hitting coach Bobby Magallanes his job in late July, though that didn’t spark an offensive awakening.
On the pitching side, the bottom-line results have also taken a turn for the worse. The Mariners have gone from 13th in ERA to 20th, but it’s worth pointing out the now-departed Luis Castillo had a big hand in those struggles. He put up an inflated 5.06 ERA in 99 2/3 innings before the Mariners dealt him to the White Sox in August. Meanwhile, despite strong peripherals, two-time All-Star closer Andrés Muñoz has managed a middling 4.11 ERA in 57 frames. That’s up almost two and a half runs from the sensational 1.73 mark he registered in 62 1/3 innings in 2025.
If the Mariners’ flat 2026 showing leads to Wilson’s ouster in the coming weeks, they may not have trouble attracting a capable replacement. Left fielder Randy Arozarena, the Mariners’ best hitter this year and one of the game’s top impending free agents, could leave over the winter. Nevertheless, there is still a good amount of proven talent and potential on hand.
Donovan, Raleigh, Rodriguez, Naylor and Muñoz are among those slated to return, and all of them have shown the ability to produce at a high level. The same goes for starters Logan Gilbert, Bryan Woo, George Kirby, Bryce Miller and Emerson Hancock. Outfielder Dominic Canzone has done nothing but hit since last year. Although Colt Emerson had a tough debut season, nobody is writing the 21-year-old off yet. Emerson, second baseman Cole Young and the recently promoted trio of lefty Kade Anderson, outfielder Lazaro Montes and second baseman/outfielder Michael Arroyo all have significant upside. There is also more talent on the M’s farm, which ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel rates as the 11th-best system in the sport.
If president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto and GM Justin Hollander retain their jobs, they could use some of the previously listed players as trade chips. Regardless, there will be changes to the roster after a bitterly disappointing season. It also appears there will be a new leader in Seattle’s dugout in 2027.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images
MLBTR Podcast: Dodgers Hot Topics, The D-Backs Claim Jesús Sánchez, And Prospect Evaluation Time
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The Dodgers putting Shohei Ohtani on the injured list and calling up Josue De Paula (1:15)
- The Dodgers considering leaving Edwin Díaz off the playoff roster (15:20)
- The Diamondbacks designating Lourdes Gurriel Jr. for assignment and then claiming Jesús Sánchez off waivers from the Blue Jays (21:05)
- The Mariners promoting prospect Michael Arroyo (31:10)
- The Twins promoting prospect Emmanuel Rodríguez (40:05)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- Will the Brewers bring back Jake Bauers or Andrew Vaughn or William Contreras or none of those three for 2027? (47:50)
- What does the MLBTR staff think about MLB’s proposed quiet period in CBA talks? (56:30)
Check out our past episodes!
- What To Expect From The Angels Under Stan Kroenke – listen here
- The Rays’ New Stadium Approved, Luis Robert Claimed By The Orioles, And Prospect Promotions – listen here
- Dana Brown Parting With Astros, The Mariners Promote Kade Anderson, And The Padres’ New Ownership – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Photo courtesy of Kiyoshi Mio, Imagn Images
Mariners Outright Stuart Fairchild
The Mariners announced that outfielder Stuart Fairchild has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Tacoma. He had been designated for assignment earlier this week. He has the right to elect free agency but the Mariners didn’t indicate whether or not he would exercise that right.
Fairchild is a glove-first outfielder. In 697 big league plate appearances across six different seasons, he has a combined line of .221/.309/.377. That translates to an 89 wRC+, indicating he has been 11% worse than league average at the plate. But he has 27 stolen bases in 34 tries and good grades for his glovework. In 1,561 outfield innings, he has been credited with 10 Defensive Runs Saved and 10 Outs Above Average.
Since he has exhausted his options, he has become a journeyman. He has played for Arizona, Seattle, San Francisco, Cincinnati, Atlanta and Cleveland. That includes brief stints with Cleveland and Seattle this year.
He has the right to elect free agency but might waive that right and report to Triple-A Tacoma. With so little time left in the year, it would be hard to find another gig. By staying with Seattle, he would at least be postseason eligible with that club, though it would take a miracle run for the M’s to qualify, then a few injuries would need to pop up for Fairchild to get a spot. There’s no real downside to accepting the assignment. The Triple-A season will be done in just over a week. Fairchild would become a free agent at season’s end if not added back to the 40-man roster.
Photo courtesy of Brad Penner, Imagn Images
The Mariners’ Best Path To A Roster Shakeup
Few teams have had as disappointing a 2026 season as the Mariners. Despite finishing one game away from their first pennant and entering the year as a popular pick to represent the American League in the World Series, the M’s are all but guaranteed to miss the playoffs. They’re highly likely to end up below .500, with the missed opportunity of the lackluster AL West field only adding insult to injury.
It leaves Seattle with some questions for the upcoming offseason. Beyond any possibility of a leadership change in the front office or the dugout, the Mariners will need to improve an offense that has scored an MLB-low 577 runs (3.95 per game). They’ll need to do so with the potential free agent departure of this year’s best hitter, Randy Arozarena, as well as longtime shortstop J.P. Crawford and deadline acquisition Taylor Ward.
Even if they re-sign Arozarena and Crawford, that only gets them part of the way to bringing back an offense that wasn’t good enough. Rebounds from Cal Raleigh and Josh Naylor and/or steps forward from the likes of Colt Emerson, Lazaro Montes and Michael Arroyo might be enough to make this a good team in 2027. Yet the Mariners can’t justify running everything back and hoping the players perform better. This year’s results were simply too ugly — only the A’s, Rockies, Reds and Royals have a worse run differential — to completely write this off as the bad end of variance.
The need for some kind of overhaul comes as most of Seattle’s vaunted rotation moves closer to free agency. They’ll still have a full six-year control window over Kade Anderson and three-plus years of control on Bryan Woo, Emerson Hancock and Bryce Miller.
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Kaima Taira Expected To Be Posted For MLB Teams This Offseason
Seibu Lions right-hander Kaima Taira is drawing a lot of interest from Major League teams, with ESPN’s Jeff Passan writing that Taira is “expected to be posted in early November.” Such Japanese news outlets as Sanspo and the Yakyu Cosmopolitan recently listed the Mets, Blue Jays, Yankees, Padres, White Sox, Cubs, Angels, Mariners, and Rangers as just some of the teams scouting Taira’s recent starts, with Sanspo reporting over 15 MLB clubs had evaluators in attendance.
The posting date is noteworthy, as Nippon Professional Baseball clubs generally post their players around the middle of November. Once a player is posted, he has 45 days to work out a contract with a MLB team, and the player would return to his NPB club for the upcoming season if no deal is reached. Since a lockout is universally assumed to be coming once the current collective bargaining agreement expires on December 1, NPB teams may be looking to get a jump on things by giving this offseason’s posting class an extra week or two to finalize a contract before the market freezes.
Passan predicts that Taira and other thought to be incoming NPB stars Teruaki Sato and Hiromi Itoh will all sign before December 1, though it’s worth noting that during the 2021-22 lockout, Seiya Suzuki’s posting window was interrupted and he had to wait until March to sign his five-year, $85MM contract with the Cubs. An early-November posting may also create some timing issues if any of the involved teams (Taira’s Lions, Sato’s Hanshin Tigers, or Itoh’s Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters) play deep into the postseason —- the fifth and deciding game of the 2025 Japan Series concluded on October 30, for instance.
Taira will have nine full pro seasons under his belt by the conclusion of the 2027 season, so he’d be a full free agent and ineligible to be posted. It therefore makes sense for the Lions to post Taira this winter and gain a payday in the process, especially if the MLB/NPB posting system is changed in the next collective bargaining agreement. When a posted player signs with a MLB team, that team must also pay his former NPB club a fee related to the size of the contract — the NPB team’s posting fee would equal 20% of the first $25MM of the player’s guaranteed Major League contract, 17.5% of the next $25MM, and 15% of anything beyond the $50MM mark.
How large a contract Taira might land is a fascinating question, as Passan suggests that Taira might be the second-best free agent pitcher available this offseason, after Tarik Skubal. This certainly doesn’t mean Taira will land the biggest non-Skubal contract on the pitching market, but does speak to the upside that some teams view in Taira, who turns 27 in November.
Taira has a superb 1.36 ERA over 132 innings for the Lions this season, as well as a 23.8% strikeout rate and 8.46% walk rate. Passan writes that Taira’s fastball averages 95.6mph but has touched the 100mph threshold, so it seems very possible that a big league pitching lab could add a mile or two onto that average velo. The fastball is just one piece of a whopping eight-pitch arsenal Taira deploys, leaving batters confused.
Some teams may shy away from Taira due to durability concerns, and his lack of a lengthy track record as a starting pitcher. Taira is 5’8″ and 220 pounds, and his build has been described as “catcherly” (as per Fangraphs’ scouting report) and “forged in the shape of a fire hydrant” (from Passan). Fangraphs also notes that Taira battled forearm tightness in 2024, which led to his return to bullpen work in 2025 before being reinstalled in the rotation in 2026.
The majority of Taira’s career has been spent as a reliever, as 2023 and 2026 are his only full-time seasons as a starting pitcher. Since Taira posted some excellent numbers out of the pen and he worked as the Lions’ closer in 2021 and 2025, this at least raises the floor of his asking price, as teams may feel he can effectively and easily transition to bullpen work if he doesn’t pan out in a big league rotation. Taira’s market may come down to which club is the most bullish on his ability to stick as a starter, and is willing to give him a contract reflecting that trust.
Mariners Designate Stuart Fairchild For Assignment
The Mariners announced that outfielder Víctor Robles and left-hander Hoby Milner have both been reinstated from the family medical emergency list. In corresponding moves, right-hander Troy Taylor has been optioned to Triple-A Tacoma and outfielder Stuart Fairchild has been designated for assignment.
Fairchild, 30, was added to the roster five days ago to replace Robles. He didn’t appear in a game in that time. Now that Robles has returned, Fairchild has been bumped back off the roster. Since the trade deadline has passed, he will have to be placed on waivers.
He just cleared waivers a month ago, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if he cleared again. Rosters have expanded from 26 to 28 since then, which perhaps opens some space for him, but he wouldn’t be postseason eligible with any claiming team since the September 1 cutoff has passed. He would only be claimed if some club wanted to bolster their outfield bench for the final days of the regular season.
His reputation is that of a glove-first outfielder. In 1,561 innings on the grass, he has been credited with 10 Defensive Runs Saved and 10 Outs Above Average. He also has 27 stolen bases in 34 attempts in his career. But in 697 plate appearances, he has a .221/.309/.377 line and 89 wRC+.
That has led to him exhausting his options and becoming a fringe roster guy. He spent a few weeks with the Guardians earlier this year. He was designated for assignment, cleared waivers and elected free agency, which allowed the Mariners to sign him to a minor league deal. He was briefly on Seattle’s roster in August before being bumped off, clearing waivers, electing free agency and re-signing a new minor league deal.
Photo courtesy of Brad Penner, Imagn Images
Mariners Promote Michael Arroyo
1:08pm: Seattle has announced Arroyo’s promotion. To clear space, the team optioned infielder Patrick Wisdom to Tacoma and moved right-hander Nick Davila from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day IL. Davila will miss the rest of the season with an SC joint sprain.
1:01pm: The Mariners are promoting outfield/second base prospect Michael Arroyo from Triple-A Tacoma, Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports. Arroyo is not on the Mariners’ 40-man roster, which is full, so they will have to make room for the 21-year-old.
This will be the third significant prospect promotion in the past couple of weeks for the Mariners, who brought up left-hander Kade Anderson on Aug. 20 and outfielder Lazaro Montes on Aug. 30. Like Anderson and Montes, Arroyo is widely considered a high-end prospect. Keith Law of The Athletic (No. 54), MLB Pipeline (No. 56) and FanGraphs (No. 69) agree that Arroyo is among the game’s 70 best farmhands, though Baseball America omitted him from its latest top 100.
Arroyo signed with the Mariners in 2022 for $1.375MM – the largest bonus ever given to a prospect from Colombia. He spent his first three years with the organization in the infield, primarily the keystone. However, with second baseman Cole Young and shortstop Colt Emerson expected to serve as the Mariners’ double-play tandem for the long haul, they have given Arroyo quite a bit of time in left field this season. The 5-foot-10, 160-pounder combined for 66 starts there between the Double-A and Triple-A levels before Sunday’s promotion.
The Mariners are giving the lefty-swinging Young the day off against Athletics southpaw Gage Jump. The righty-hitting Arroyo will man second in his place. With the floundering Mariners desperate for offense, they can move the versatile Arroyo around to get his bat in the lineup. In his first taste of Triple-A action this year, he slashed .277/.353/.490 (109 wRC+) with eight home runs, four stolen bases and an impressive 16.2% strikeout rate in 235 plate appearances. He walked in 8.1% of trips and made contact at an 80% clip. Law contends that Arroyo’s “excellent contact skills” could help him develop into a quality offensive second baseman in the bigs.
By adding Arroyo to their 40-man roster, the Mariners will keep him out of the Rule 5 draft in the winter. That gets a key piece of offseason business out of the way, but ideally, Arroyo will help them right now. Just one victory shy of winning their first AL pennant last year, the ultra-disappointing Mariners have gone 66-77 this season. Sitting six games back of Wild Card position and seven behind the Astros in the AL West, they will attempt to stave off an embarrassing four-game home sweep at the A’s hands on Sunday.
Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images (via Reuters Connect)
Matt Brash Shut Down With Lat Inflammation
The Mariners have shut down reliever Matt Brash, per Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times. Brash has been on the injured list retroactive to June 9th with a right lat strain, and a recent MRI showed more inflammation in that area, though he has no structural damage. The righty won’t throw for eight weeks, so he’s officially out for the season. He should be ready for a normal offseason throwing program, per Divish.
When healthy, Brash has been a quality reliever for the Mariners dating back to 2023. He tossed over 70 innings that year while allowing 3.06 earned runs per nine. He walked a few too many hitters but more than compensated for the free passes by striking out 34.7% of opposing hitters and keeping the ball on the ground. Opponents were batting an unusually high .380 off of Brash that year, so there’s an argument that he was even better than the 3.06 ERA.
Tommy John surgery wiped out Brash’s 2024 season and delayed his start to 2025 by a month. When he returned that May, he picked up right where he’d left off. In 53 appearances, Brash held opponents to a career-best 2.47 ERA and induced grounders at a staggering 54.7% clip. The latter mark put him in the top 10% of relievers with at least 40 innings. While his fastball velocity was down over 2.0 mph from his 2023 levels, ERA estimators like xERA (3.25) and SIERA (2.99) pegged Brash as more or less the same pitcher as he was pre-surgery.
The righty’s limited work in 2026 has been serviceable, if a clear step back from 2025. Brash has held opponents to an ERA of 0.54 in 16 2/3 frames, but his 4.21 xERA and 3.71 SIERA are much less impressive. He’s shown good control as always, but his strikeout rate has gone from dominant to merely slightly above average at 23.4%, while Brash’s 41.0% grounder rate now checks in a hair below average.
The decline in Brash’s rate stats can probably be chalked up to his injuries. He missed three weeks with lat inflammation in May before returning on May 20th. After six more appearances, he went on the IL again for the lat strain, and he’s been out ever since. Seattle transferred Brash to the 60-day IL when they activated Carlos Vargas on August 21st. Having missed more than 60 days, Brash was technically eligible to return any time, but now, he’s decisively out until 2027.
Brash’s shut-down isn’t exactly a surprise, but it’s nonetheless a blow to a Mariners bullpen that sure could use the help. Seattle’s relievers rank 24th in the Majors with a 4.51 season ERA. It’s been even worse since the start of August. In over 100 innings since August 1st, Mariners relievers have allowed nearly eight earned runs per nine, easily worst in the league. Closer Andrés Muñoz, deadline pickup Seranthony Domínguez, and three others have thrown at least 12 innings with ERAs over 4.50 in that span.
Muñoz has given up three home runs in his last 12 innings after allowing four in over 38 innings before that. As a matter of fact, the bullpen as a whole has struggled with the long ball, as they’re the only group in the Majors allowing more than two home runs per nine since the start of August. If Brash had returned and picked up his old ground ball tendencies, he would have helped significantly in that regard. Instead, the M’s will simply hope for turnarounds from their existing arms as they close out a season in which they’re increasingly unlikely to make the playoffs.
Brash came into the season with over three years of service time and has since crossed the four year threshold. Seattle controls him for two more arbitration seasons before he hits free agency in 2029. With how much time he’s missed, Brash will only get a modest raise for 2027.
Photo courtesy of Daniel Kucin Jr., Imagn Images (via Reuters Connect)
