Mariners Odds & Ends: Could Seattle reunite with former prospect?

Nov 19, 2024, 9:39 AM | Updated: 7:17 pm

Austin Shenton of the Tampa Bay Rays is congratulated after a home run. (Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images)

(Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images)

Editor, Seattle Sports

Update 7:17 p.m.: The Seattle Mariners have acquired Austin Shenton from the Tampa Bay Rays. For more on the move, click here. Original story below.

There’s a former Seattle Mariners prospect and local product worth keeping an eye on, as the Tampa Bay Rays designated infielder Austin Shenton for assignment on Monday.

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The 26-year-old Shenton was born in Spokane and starred at Bellingham High School, then drafted by the Mariners in the fifth round of the 2019 MLB Draft out of Florida International. He also played at the junior college level with Bellevue College.

Shenton was the Mariners’ No. 17 prospect per MLB Pipeline in 2022 when he was traded along with pitcher J.T. Chargois to the Tampa Bay Rays for pitcher Diego Castillo.

The Rays called Shenton up for his MLB debut to start the 2024 season. The lefty hitter appeared in 19 games this year for Tampa Bay, going 9 for 42 (.214) at the plate with a .340 on-base percentage, .405 slugging clip and .745 OPS. He had one home run, five doubles, three RBIs, three runs scored and walked eight times to 14 strikeouts for the Rays.

Shenton made 10 appearances at first base and four at designated hitter for the Rays in 2024. He primarily has played third base in the minor leagues but spent more time at first this year. He also has made appearances at second base, left field and right field in the minors.

Shenton could be of interest to the Mariners, who let 2024 trade acquisition Jake Slaughter, another corner infielder, hit free agency after spending 85 games this year with Seattle’s Triple-A affiliate, the Tacoma Rainiers. If the Mariners did make a claim on Shenton, it wouldn’t be the first time they brought back a former prospect they had traded. Last offseason, Seattle claimed 2019 third-round pick Levi Stoudt, who had been dealt to the Reds in the Luis Castillo trade in 2022, after he was DFA’d by Cincinnati.

Here are a few other notes on minor league moves with familiar faces to Mariners fans.

• Veteran pitcher Casey Lawrence is back with the Mariners organization a few weeks after electing free agency, signing with the team Friday according to the MILB.com transactions page. Lawrence, 37, spent the entire 2024 season with the Rainiers, going 11-11 with a 5.95 ERA over 29 starts. Lawrence last pitched in the big leagues in 2023 with the St. Louis Cardinals. He made 24 combined relief appearances with the Mariners between 2017 and 2018.

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• A couple of former Mariners contributors have new teams after electing free agency earlier this month. Pitcher Justin Dunn has signed a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox, while utility player Donovan Walton went to the New York Mets on a minors deal.

Dunn, a former first-round pick by the Mets, was dealt to the Mariners along with Jarred Kelenic and others in the 2018 blockbuster that sent Robinson Canó and Edwin Díaz to New York. Dunn made 25 starts over three seasons with the Mariners, then was traded to the Cinncinati Reds in a 2022 move that brought Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suárez to Seattle. The 29-year-od Dunn appeared in eight games combined for the Reds in the big leagues, but has dealt with injuries in recent years and did not pitch in 2024.

Walton, 30, was a fifth-round MLB Draft pick by the Mariners in 2016 out of Oklahoma State. He appeared in 37 games for the Mariners between 2019-22, was traded to San Francisco in 2022, and then played in a combined 31 games with the Giants in 2022 and 2024. The 5-foot-9, lefty-hitting Walton has a career .174/.227/.305 slash line for a .532 OPS with four home runs in 70 MLB games.