The Seattle Mariners announced that the right pitcher Keynan Middleton signed a major league contract. To create space on the poster, outfielder Phillip Ervin has been designated for assignment. Middleton’s deal will pay him $ 800K in guaranteed money, noted MLB Network journalist Jon Heyman tweets, with some incentive bonuses also available.
Middleton had a very promising rookie season in the Angels’ bullpen in 2017, although he was limited to just 25 1/3 innings total in 2018-19 due to the Tommy John surgery. Last season, Middleton pitched 12 innings in 13 appearances for Los Angeles, posting a 5.25 ERA, a 1.83 K / BB rate and 8.3 K / 9.
According to Statcast, Middleton has consistently delivered very good fastball spin rates throughout his career, and his advanced metrics indicated that he had some bad luck posting such a high ERA in 2020. However, the Angels did not bid on Middleton on Dec. 2 in lieu of paying a projected arbitration salary of approximately $ 1MM.
Seattle general manager Jerry Dipoto was the Angels’ general manager when Middleton was selected by the Halos in 2013, and now the two will meet in what Middleton described as his “home team” (he hails from Portland, Oregon ) in the Mariners press.
Even with the guaranteed salary of an MLB deal, the Mariners are taking what is likely a low-cost midfielder to see if Middleton can regain his rookie form now that he’s healthy and under somewhat more normal circumstances than the unusual 2020 season.
Ervin was picked up on a Reds waiver claim in September, and he only posted a .622 OPS in 47 plate appearances in a Seattle uniform. That was noticeably better than his performance in his first 42 at-bats of the season with Cincinnati, as Ervin only had a .324 OPS. Before 2020, Ervin had delivered nearly a league-average offensive production as a part time with the Reds, hitting .262 / .326 / .438 over 571 PA from 2017-19.
Picked 27th in the 2013 draft, Ervin has some decent minor league numbers and can play all three outfield positions, so he would seem like a decent candidate to land elsewhere with a waiver claim. However, Ervin is out of the minor league options.
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