Mariners release multiple minor leaguers before 2020 season (updated list)

Photo by Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images

It’s never fun seeing players released, but this year it feels especially rough

As we reported yesterday, the Mariners announced they were committed to paying their minor leaguers through August, but would be doing so at the expense of multiple players’ careers.

Today more names are trickling out; we will be updating this list until it’s complete. All listings are drawn from one of two sources: an official transaction listing, or an announcement from the player via social media. We’ve arranged the transactions by level and provided some basic info on each player below:

Pacific Coast League (Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers):

LHP Manny Bañuelos - Bañuelos, a former top prospect in the Yankees system, was signed as a free agent by the Mariners prior to spring training this year. He was Joe’s pick for an intriguing fringe prospect to watch through spring training as a potential long reliever or opener-type.

RHP Darin Gillies - Gillies, one of the longest-tenured Mariners minor leaguers, announced his release on social media yesterday.

Texas League (Double-A Arkansas Travelers):

OF/1B Nick Zammarelli III - This one caused me genuine pain to type. Nicky Three Sticks has long been a site favorite and was the first player in the Elon University-to-Seattle pipeline. He is also close friends with Jake Fraley, Justin Dunn, and the rest of the group that was together at Arkansas this past season and a foundational part in helping set the culture for the group that’s coming to Seattle soon, so his influence will be felt long after he has left the organization. We wish him the best. #NickyFreeAgent

3B Mitch Nay - Nay was drafted as a comp round pick back in 2012 by Toronto and was getting a solid look in spring training with Seattle before things shut down.

California League (Advanced-A Modesto Nuts):

OF Eliezer Alvarez - Alvarez is only 25, but he’s a long-time veteran of the minors, having been signed by St. Louis back in 2011. The Mariners signed him to a minor-league contract prior to the 2020 season.

South Atlantic League (A- West Virginia Power):

LF Ryan Ramiz - A 2018 23rd-rounder from the magical town of Neptune, NJ, Ramiz spent all of 2019 with the West Virginia Power, where he slashed .230/.327/.340, which doesn’t look that great on its face but was actually right in the middle of the pack for a Power team that really struggled with hitting.

Northwest League (Short-A Everett Aquasox):

SS Utah Jones - Jones was a 2019 29th-rounder the Mariners used primarily as a multi-level fill-in player, bouncing him from Everett to Texas to West Virginia. That might not sound impressive until you remember that was essentially the role Penn Murfee played his first year in the organization before settling into a role and eventually working his way up to a star turn in the Arizona Fall League and for Team USA this fall. Jones hasn’t showed up on the transaction wire yet, but he tweeted this:

Rookie League (AZL, DSL):

OF Luis Veloz - Tall, athletic, projectable, and fast, Veloz was listed as MLB Pipeline’s 25th-best international prospect in the 2016 class and the Mariners signed him to a significant bonus (600K). Unfortunately, Veloz struggled in his first year stateside after two middling years of production in the DSL. A team, especially one that’s thin on outfielders, might want to take a chance on the raw potential in Veloz’s 6’4” frame, especially as he’s just 20 years old.

RF Cesar Trejo - A 2018 17th-rounder, Trejo had a rough beginning to his pro career when he missed most of his first pro season with an injury. The Mariners sent him straight to West Virginia, where he struggled, then re-assigned him to extended spring training and then eventually the AZL, but he was never quite able to get his footing under him in 2019.