The Mariners announced that Zach DeLoach’s contract has been selected, adding the outfielder to the 40-man roster and protecting him from selection in the Rule 5 Draft. To create roster room, Seattle designated first baseman Mike Ford for assignment.
Ford is arbitration-eligible for the first time this offseason, and is projected to earn $1.5MM. It isn’t a huge sum, and Ford had a very solid 123 wRC+ while hitting .228/.323/.475 with 16 home runs over 251 plate appearances for the Mariners this season, but the M’s have seemingly decided that Ford is expendable. Ford isn’t helped by his lack of minor league options, so a DFA was the only route for the Mariners to move him off the 40-man and possibly down to the minors, though today’s move has the feel of an early cut in advance of Friday’s non-tender deadline.
The 31-year-old Ford made his Major League debut with the Yankees in 2019, bursting onto the scene with 12 homers and a .259/.350/.559 slash line over his first 163 PA in the Show. Between that rookie season and his 2023 numbers, Ford has sandwiched some quality production around three far less-production seasons, as he batted .170/.275/.294 over 305 PA from 2020-22, bouncing around to five different clubs in that span (including a prior stint with the Mariners).
Should Ford indeed hit the open market again, he might have trouble landing a guaranteed contract, yet there’s some interesting potential here for a team willing to give him some consistent at-bats. Ford is limited by his out-of-options status and the fact that he can only play first base, but a club looking for some low-cost production from a first baseman can do worse than bringing Ford to Spring Training. Another reunion with the Mariners doesn’t seem out of the question, if at less than a $1.5MM salary.
DeLoach is one of a few interesting Seattle prospects who might be Rule 5 candidates come December, but for now, the outfielder is the only one locked into a spot on the Mariners’ 40-man roster. A second-round pick in the 2020 draft, the 25-year-old DeLoach hit .286/.387/.481 slash line with 23 homers in 623 plate appearances for Triple-A Tacoma last season. The hitter-friendly environment of the Pacific Coast League adds a grain of salt to those numbers, but the added pop answered some scouts’ criticisms that DeLoach hadn’t yet developed enough power at the plate. Left field might be his only ideal spot in the outfield, but DeLoach does seem to have a chance to make his Major League debut at some point in 2024, in at least a reserve capacity.
More must-reads: