Reliever Ty Buttrey agreed to a deal with the Mariners, he announced this afternoon (on X). It’s presumably a minor league contract with a Spring Training invite.
Buttrey, 31 in March, is looking to get back to the majors for the first time since 2020. The former fourth-round draftee pitched in the big leagues each year between 2018-20. Buttrey made 115 appearances for the Angels, allowing fewer than four earned runs per nine innings in each of his first two seasons. He struggled during the shortened season, posting a 5.81 ERA in 26 1/3 frames.
On the eve of the 2021 campaign, Buttrey announced he was stepping away from baseball. He sat out that season but made his return in ’22. The righty spent that year in Triple-A with the Halos, losing his spot on the 40-man roster midseason. He signed a minor league pact with the Astros for 2023.
Buttrey opened the season on the minor league injured list. He missed three months before being reinstated on June 30. He went on to make 14 appearances with Houston’s Triple-A team. Buttrey allowed 11 runs in 13 2/3 innings, largely thanks to the 13 walks he issued. That understandably wasn’t sufficient to get him a big league look, leading the Astros to release him at the beginning of August.
While Buttrey hasn’t found much success in the last couple years, there’s no risk for the Mariners in taking a look at him in camp. During his first couple seasons with the Halos, he looked like an above-average MLB reliever. Between 2018-19, Buttrey struck out 27.4% of opponents with a 3.86 ERA in 88 2/3 innings while sitting in the 96-97 MPH range with his fastball. He’ll likely open next season at Triple-A Tacoma as bullpen depth. Seattle also added righty Joey Krehbiel on a minor league pact this afternoon and has signed similar deals with Cory Abbott, Jhonathan Diaz, Kirby Snead, Brett de Geus and Tyson Miller over the offseason.
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