NASHVILLE, Tenn. — With a trio of the best pitchers in baseball available — but not moved during these winter meetings — the Seattle Mariners took another approach Thursday and landed a candidate for their starting rotation.
One who throws a knuckleball.
R.A. Dickey, a minor league journeyman who made the majors on an assortment of normal pitches, then turned exclusively to his knuckleball two years ago, was selected from Minnesota in the Rule 5 draft.
“We got good reports from our scouts on him, and over the second half of the season last year he might have been the best pitcher in Triple-A,” general manager Bill Bavasi said.
At 33, Dickey is a veteran of 11 professional seasons and 77 big-league games, with at least one major league record on his resume.
In a start for the Texas Rangers in 2006, he allowed a record-tying six home runs.
His big-league career has produced a 16-19 record and a 5.72 earned run average, but over the past two seasons in the minors, his knuckleball has made him a winner — and he’s gone 22-14 in Class AAA.
Named the 2007 Pacific Coast League pitcher of the year, Dickey went 13-6 with a 3.72 ERA last season, 10-2 with a 2.52 ERA after June 1.
What he threw almost exclusively last season was that knuckleball.
“It’s a delicate pitch and guys who throw it usually kill you or get killed,” Bavasi said. “Getting him gives us a little depth for the rotation, and if he doesn’t pitch in that role we could use him in long relief.”
Under provisions of the Rule 5 draft, players selected must be kept on the 25-man roster of their new team all season or be offered back to their original team.
In this case, that team is Minnesota, which signed Dickey after the ‘07 season but didn’t protect him.
It’s a low-risk move for the Mariners, who can keep Dickey if he works out or send him back if he doesn’t — or negotiate a deal with the Twins to make the transaction a trade.
For now, the biggest issue may be finding a catcher who can handle the knuckleball.
“I don’t know that Kenji (Johjima) has ever caught one, and a lot of catchers haven’t — there aren’t that many knuckleballers in the game,” Bavasi said. “Backup catchers love them, because they usually get to play in the games when they pitch.”
For now, Dickey’s arrival leaves the Mariners with 39 players on their 40-man roster.
The Mariners remain optimistic they can land Japanese free agent Hiroki Kuroda, who has weighed offers for three weeks without making a decision.
“Without a trade deadline, there’s no time limit on any of these guys,” Bavasi said. “We’re in the same position as most teams looking for pitching. You talk, you make an offer, you wait.”
In the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft, the Mariners lost pitcher Juan Sandoval from their Tacoma roster to the Milwaukee Brewers.
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