Apr 27, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; A view of a Seattle Mariners hat and baseball glove during the game between the Texas Rangers and the Mariners at Globe Life Park in Arlington. The Mariners defeated the Rangers 3-1. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Mariners Reportedly Make First Offseason Pitching Move

Originally posted on Fastball on SI | By Patrick McAvoy | Last updated Nov 11, 2025 3:23 PM ET

The Seattle Mariners reportedly are getting free agency started early.

On Tuesday afternoon, ESPN's Jeff Passan reported that the Mariners are signing five-year big league veteran Randy Dobnak to a minor league deal.

"Right-hander Randy Dobnak and the Seattle Mariners are in agreement on a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training, sources tell ESPN. Dobnak, 30, has pitched in parts of five seasons for Minnesota and has a career ERA of 4.86 over 140.2 innings," Passan said.

The Mariners made their first signing of the offseason

Adding a pitcher like Dobnak is a perfectly solid roll of the dice to kick off the offseason. It's pretty difficult to have a bad minor league deal. For a deal like this, the Mariners are getting a guy who has appeared in 39 games in the big leagues at a cheap cost. If Dobnak does well in Spring Training, maybe he earns a spot with the major league club out of camp.

If he doesn't blow the front office away, then they can send him to the minors or cut ties with him in general without much of a cost to the big league club.

The Mariners are getting a right-handed hurler with a 4.89 career ERA in 39 total appearances, including 21 starts. Each of those appearances was as a member of the Minnesota Twins.

He's just 30 years old. His best season of his big league career was in 2020. That season, he made 10 starts and had a 4.05 ERA in 46 2/3 innings pitched. As a rookie, he had a 1.59 ERA in nine appearances, including five starts, but that was across 28 1/3 innings pitched.

There is a long offseason ahead and there will be plenty more moves coming for the Mariners. This is just the first. It's a safe one with upside, but doesn't move the needle yet.

With free agency starting to pick up, the biggest thing to watch out for will be whether the Mariners could re-sign Josh Naylor over the next few months.

More MLB: 8-Year MLB Veteran Elects Free Agency From Mariners

This article first appeared on Fastball on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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