RADIO
Despite having more than enough quality depth for their starting rotation entering 2015, the Seattle Mariners have signed left-handed pitcher Joe Saunders to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training. The move marks Saunders’ second stint in Seattle in the past three years.
When the southpaw was last a Mariner in 2013, he wasn’t particularly good. He made 32 starts for the club and went 11-16 with a 5.26 ERA and 1.60 WHIP, while recording a poor 107:61 K:BB ratio in 183 innings of work. Saunders was even worse last year while pitching for the Rangers and Orioles. In 14 appearances -- including eight starts -- he finished 0-5 with a dreadful 6.70 ERA and 2.07 WHIP. It was so bad that the lefty posted more walks (24) than strikeouts (23) in his 43 total innings pitched.
There’s no question Saunders has had success before, specifically during his five-year tenure in Anaheim where, at one point in time, he enjoyed a stretch of back-to-back seasons in which he accumulated 33 combined wins. Since then, however, the 33-year-old has amassed just one season with an ERA below 4.00, although he did pitch the Orioles past the AL Wild Card play-in game in 2012 in an unlikely win against Yu Darvish on the road.
Based on the past two years, it’s highly unlikely he can regularly contribute to any team’s starting pitching staff ever again. It’s also possible that the Mariners would like to utilize him in the bullpen. At the moment, their rotation is stacked with ace Felix Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma, James Paxton, J.A. Happ, and Roenis Elias, not to mention stud prospect Taijuan Walker looming around for a spot as well.
