Seattle Mariners Lose Veteran Reliever to Free Agency in Roster Churn

The 28-year-old is a five-year veteran of the Miami Marlins, Toronto Blue Jays and Mariners. He made four appearances with Seattle, going 0-0 with a 13.50 ERA. He gave up eight earned runs in just 5.1 innings, but all the damage was done in a disastrous appearance against the Minnesota Twins last week.

The Mariners find themselves in the midst of a grueling 17-game in 17-days stretch, and they need bullpen arms, which clearly a calculus for why Pop was let go.

The team also just optioned starting pitcher Emerson Hancock down to Triple-A in an effort to get another bullpen arm up. Joe Jacques was selected from Triple-A Tacoma. He'll be active as the M's host the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night.

Seattle enters that game at 44-41 overall and in possession of the third and final wild card spot in the American League. The M's haven't made the playoffs since the 2022 season and haven't advanced past the American League Division Series since 2001.

Seattle will take on the Royals at 6:40 p.m. PT as Logan Gilbert pitches against rookie left-hander Noah Cameron.

As for Pop, he's 8-5 for his career with a 4.75 ERA. Given his resume, he should have an opportunity to latch on somewhere else. Now that he's a free agent, he'll be able to do so.