Utilityman Carlos Rivero will indeed get a chance to prove to the Mariners that his power surge in the Venezuelan Winter League is more than a mirage.
The club confirmed Thursday that it has re-signed Rivero, whom it acquired in a Nov. 3 waiver claim from Boston before booting him off the 40-man roster by not offering a contract prior to the Dec. 2 deadline.
Rivero’s new deal is a minor-league contract, but it includes an invitation to big-league camp.
The Mariners also confirmed minor-league deals with right-handed pitchers Mark Lowe and Justin Germano that include big-league camp invites. Lowe pitched for the Mariners from 2006-10.
Rivero, 26, made his big-league debut last season by going 4-for-7 in four games for Boston after batting .264 with seven homers and 53 RBI in 105 games at Class AA Portland and Class AAA Pawtucket.
But it is his performance this winter at Lara in his native Venezuela that is turning heads; Rivero leads the VWL with 14 homers and 42 RBI in 48 games. No other player has more than seven homers.
Rivero, a right-handed hitter, is 6-feet-3 and 200 pounds. He played shortstop, third base and left field last season at Portland and Pawtucket. He also logged time at first base in 2012-13.
Lowe, 31, spent most of last season at the Class AAA Columbus in the Cleveland system. He was 4-3 with 17 saves and a 5.62 earned run average in 41 games at Columbus and compiled a 3.86 ERA in seven outings for the Indians.
The Mariners selected Lowe in the fifth round of the 2004 draft, and he reached the big leagues in 2006. He was 5-15 with a 3.95 in 162 games before going to Texas with pitcher Cliff Lee in a July 9, 2010, trade.
The deal returned first baseman Justin Smoak, second baseman Matt Lawson and pitchers Blake Beavan and Josh Lueke to the Mariners.
Lowe is 8-21 overall with a 4.16 ERA in 271 games over nine years with four clubs but has made just 18 big-league appearances during the past two seasons.
Germano, 32, spent parts of nine seasons in the big leagues but pitched primarily last season in Class AAA at Round Rock and Albuquerque, where he was 5-14 with a 5.02 ERA. He is 10-30 with a 5.40 ERA in 96 big-league games with seven clubs.
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