M’s notebook: 2-year deal in place with reliever Rzepczynski

Published 4:40 pm Thursday, December 1, 2016

By Bob Dutton

The News Tribune

SEATTLE — General manager Jerry Dipoto checked another item off the Mariners’ off-season shopping list Thursday when the club reached a two-year agreement with veteran free-agent lefty reliever Marc Rzepczynski.

Financial details of the deal, first reported by Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, are not yet known. Rzepczynski (pronounced zep-CHIN-skee) made $2.95 million last season while posting a 2.70 ERA in 70 appearances for Oakland and Washington.

The signing hasn’t yet been confirmed by Mariners, and sources indicate there remain details to finalize. Since it is also pending a physical, it might not become official for a few days.

But multiple sources confirmed a deal is in place. Once it becomes official, the Mariners must make a corresponding move to clear space on their 40-man roster.

Rzepczynski, 31, is an eight-year veteran who fills the Mariners’ desire to acquire an late-inning lefty with strikeout stuff. He averaged 8.5 strikeouts per nine innings in 419 career games while compiling a 3.80 ERA with six clubs.

The Mariners previously pursued lefty free-agent Brett Cecil before he signed a four-year deal with St. Louis for $30.5 million.

The pending deal continues a frenetic off-season for the Mariners, who have made six trades involving 17 players between Nov. 6 and Nov. 18.

It also leaves the club with only one more identified need to address: a veteran starting pitcher capable of stepping into the middle of their rotation.

Rzepczynski has generally been regarded as one of the game’s top lefty set-up relievers in recent years. He has just one career save but 85 holds in 102 save opportunities. He had 11 holds last season in 12 opportunities.

Decision on Sucre

The only real question facing the Mariners as the deadline for tendering contracts arrives at 9 p.m. Friday is what to do with veteran catcher Jesus Sucre?

The Mariners project Mike Zunino as their starting catcher, and they acquired veteran Carlos Ruiz from the Los Angeles Dodgers in Nov. 6 trade to serve as Zunino’s backup.

Clubs typically only carry two catchers on their 25-man roster.

So where does that leave Sucre? He is not only out of options, which means he can’t be sent to the minors next season unless he clears waivers, but he is also eligible for salary arbitration.

General manager Jerry Dipoto was non-committal earlier this week when asked about Sucre, saying only that the Mariners are continuing to weigh various possibilities.

The clock is ticking.

Any unsigned player who isn’t offered a contract prior to the deadline immediately becomes a free agent who can sign elsewhere with no compensation to his former club.

With Sucre, the issue is the lack of options.

He spent parts of the last four seasons in the big leagues but played only 90 games in that span. Even if his salary goes to arbitration, industry projections show he is only likely to get about $600,000 — the major-league minimum is $507,500.

Ideally, the Mariners would again like to assign Sucre, 28, to Triple-A Tacoma as insurance against an injury to Zunino or Ruiz. They also have no viable in-house alternative to Sucre for this role, but that means getting him through waivers.

The Mariners have 31 other unsigned players on their 40-man roster — and all are expected to receive contract offers.

That list includes six who, like Sucre, are eligible for arbitration: outfielder Leonys Martin, shortstop Jean Segura, first baseman/outfielder Danny Valencia, starting pitcher James Paxton and relievers Evan Scribner and Nick Vincent.

Their remaining 25 unsigned players lack the service time necessary for arbitration. Clubs can renew contracts on those players for (with few exceptions) any amount at or above the $507,500 minimum.

The Friday deadline only requires that a club tender a contract offer. It doesn’t mean that an agreement must be in place. But an offer to an arbitration-eligible player means the club accepts the risk of an arbitration hearing if the two sides can’t reach a negotiated settlement.

Venditte to Tacoma

Switch-pitcher Pat Venditte is returning to Triple-A Tacoma on an outright assignment after clearing waivers.

The Mariners designated Venditte, 31, for assignment Nov. 23 in order to clear space on their 40-man roster following a five-player trade with Arizona.

Venditte allowed 10 runs in 13 1/3 innings over seven big-league appearances following an Aug. 27 recall from Tacoma. He is 2-2 with a 4.97 ERA in 41 career games with three clubs.

The Mariners acquired Venditte from Toronto in an Aug. 6 trade for minor-league infielder Tim Lopes. Venditte gave up one run in 8 1/3 innings in five games for the Rainiers before getting recalled to the big leagues.