Mariners reportedly add RHP Carl Edwards Jr, sign UT Patrick Wisdom
Nov 27, 2019, 10:22 AM | Updated: 12:27 pm
Mariners addition Carl Edwards Jr. spent parts of five seasons with the Cubs. (Getty)
(Getty)
The Mariners will reportedly have their third addition to their pitching staff in as many days on Wednesday.
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Seattle is in agreement to sign veteran right-handed reliever Carl Edward Jr., according to multiple reports, the first being from USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. Greg Johns of MLB.com reports that while the deal has not been announced by the Mariners, Edwards passed a physical with the team on Tuesday.
That’s not the only piece of news from the Mariners on the day before Thanksgiving – the same day where they somewhat famously pulled off a blockbuster deal that brought Mitch Haniger and Jean Segura to Seattle and sent Taijuan Walker and Ketel Marte to Arizona in 2016. The M’s announced the addition of infielder Patrick Wisdom on Wednesday afternoon.
Edwards, 28, is coming off a rough season split between the Cubs and Padres. With Chicago, he had a 5.23 ERA over 20 appearances, and he finished the year with an 8.47 ERA after giving up a combined six runs in two outings following a trade to San Diego. He was subsequently placed on the injured list with a strained right shoulder.
Prior to 2019, Edwards had been a key figure in the Cubs’ bullpen, including during their 2016 World Series championship run. In 2018 he posted a career-best 2.60 ERA over 58 games (52 innings), registering 67 strikeouts to 32 walks with a 1.31 WHIP. In 194 career MLB appearances, all in relief, he has a 3.58 ERA and 1.11 WHIP with an average of 12.1 strikeouts per nine innings and 2.36 strikeouts to walk ratio.
Nightengale tweeted that Edwards will make $950,000 in 2020 with the Mariners and can make an additional $500,000 in incentives. Because Edwards still has two years of arbitration eligibility, he would be under team control until 2022, according to Johns.
A native of South Carolina, Edwards was a 48th-round pick by the Texas Rangers in the 2011 MLB Draft. He made his debut in the majors in September 2015 with the Cubs.
Earlier this week, the Mariners acquired lefty Nestor Cortes Jr. from the Yankees in a trade and signed right-handed starter Kendall Graveman in free agency. Like Graveman, Edwards would be seen as a bounce-back candidate on a discounted contract for the Mariners.
Wisdom, 28, played 32 games for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2018 and nine for the Texas Rangers in 2019. He spent the majority of last season with Triple-A Nashville, hitting .240 with 31 home runs and 74 RBIs in 107 games. A first-round pick of the Cardinals in 2012, Wisdom is a versatile defender who played first base, third base and every outfield position last season in the minors. Wisdom is friends with Mariners starting pitcher Marco Gonzales, as the pair came up together in the Cardinals farm system.
With the signing of Wisdom, the Mariners’ 40-man roster is now at 39.
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