Mariners add three to their 40-man roster

Update: The team has also made a trade tonight, sending infielder/outfielder Ty Kelly to St. Louis for right-handed pitcher Sam Gaviglio, who was drafted by the Cardinals in the fifth round in 2011. In 2014 he posted a 4.28 ERA in 24 starts at Double-A Springfield. He is not being added to the 40-man roster, which remains at 39.

Teams were required to add eligible players to their 40-man rosters by 9 p.m. Thursday or risk losing them in the Rule 5 Draft, which takes place on the final day of the Winter Meetings, Dec. 11. Players signed at age 18 must be added within five seasons and players signed at 19 or after within four seasons to avoid exposure to other clubs in the draft. Teams with room on their 40-man rosters may select unprotected players for a $50,000 fee. Those players must then stay on the selecting team’s 25-man roster for the entire year or be offered back to the original team for $25,000.

The Mariners have added three players to their 40-man roster: catcher John Hicks, infielder Ketel Marte and right-handed pitcher Mayckol Guaipe.

Hicks finished the 2014 season at Triple-A Tacoma, where he hit .277/.330/.376/.706. In addition to solid numbers after his call-up, he also provided excellent defense, allowing just two passed balls in 2014 and throwing out 38 percent of runners who tried to steal. He has been a spring-training-invitee the past two years and could compete for the backup spot behind Mike Zunino this spring.

Marte opened eyes in his first Major League spring training and continued to progress through the year, hitting .304/.335/.411/.733 in 109 games at Double-A and 19 at Triple-A. Despite not spending much time in Tacoma, there was some thought of calling him up in September. The team instead sent him to Arizona to stay ready through September if a need for an infielder arose.

Guaipe is a little bit more of an unknown. He spent all of last year at Jackson, where he put up a 2.89 in his first full year as a reliever.

Some may wonder why a number of position players were not added to the 40-man roster, and the thing to remember here is the requirement that any player selected in the Rule 5 Draft must stay on the selecting team’s 25-man roster the entire season for that team to keep them. It is easier to carry an extra arm in the bullpen than it is a position player for a full year, so more often than not it is better to take that risk than with a pitcher.

The 40-man roster is now at 39.

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