SEATTLE MARINERS

Mariners Notebook: M’s on WBC rosters, Leonys Martín back on MILB deal

Feb 11, 2023, 11:21 AM | Updated: 11:23 am

Outfielder Julio Rodriguez of Team Dominican Republic celebrates hitting a two-run home run against Team Republic of Korea at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on August 07, 2021. (Koji Watanabe/Getty Images)

(Koji Watanabe/Getty Images)

BY BRANDON GUSTAFSON
Assistant Editor of SeattleSports.com

A few pieces of notable Mariners news came out late this week, including which M’s will officially take part in the World Baseball Classic as well as someone returning to Seattle – and MLB – after a handful of years.

10 Mariners on WBC rosters

Rosters for the World Baseball Classic were announced on Friday and 10 members of the Mariners organization will be taking part in the event, including six members of the 40-man roster.

Star center fielder Julio Rodríguez, new right fielder Teoscar Hernández and reliever Diego Castillo are all members of the Dominican Republic’s roster.

Third baseman Eugenio Suárez will play for Venezuela while relievers Matt Brash and Matt Festa will suit up for Canada and Italy, respectively.

As for those not on the Mariners’ 26-man roster, top prospect Harry Ford, a catcher, will play for Great Britain. Infielder Milkar Pérez (Seattle’s No. 18 prospect, per MLB Pipeline) is a member of Nicaragua’s roster, infielder Jose Caballero is on Team Panama and lefty Blake Townsend will pitch for Australia.

The 2023 World Baseball Classic begins on March 7 and ends March 21.

Mariners opening day is March 30 against the Cleveland Guardians.

OF Leonys Martín back with Mariners

Outfielder Leonys Martín, who played center field for the Mariners in 2016 and 2017, is back with the organization having signed a minor league deal this week with an invite to spring training.

Martín, 34, took to Twitter to help share the news after it was first reported.

Let’s go @Mariners pic.twitter.com/Eyg9jMXa26

— Leonys Martin (@leonys27martin) February 9, 2023

Martín started his career in the AL West with the Texas Rangers before being traded to Seattle ahead of 2016.

In 177 games between 2016 and 2017, Martín slashed .234/.291/.362 (.653 OPS) before being designated for assignment in August. He was then claimed by the Chicago Cubs.

Martín last appeared in an MLB game in 2019 with the Cleveland Guardians. After that, he went to Japan, where he’s since played for the Chiba Lotte Marines.

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