The Mariners have announced that they have signed an outfielder Donovan Solano on a one-year contract. Robert Murray of FanSided reports that the ACES client will make $3.5MM this year, with $1MM in performance bonuses also available to him. Left hand Austin Kitchen designated for assignment to open a 40-man roster spot.
Solano, 37, has been one of the best players in the league in recent years. Earlier in his career, he spent time with the Marlins and Yankees but never hit enough at the big league level. He was beaten in the minors in 2017 and 2018 but returned to the majors in 2019 and has been hitting almost non-stop since.
Over the past six years, Solano has played for the Giants, Reds, Twins and Padres. He appeared in 546 games during that span, stepping to the plate 1,838 times. He managed to produce a .294/.353/.413 batting line in that span, which translates to a wRC+ of 112, which is 12% above the league average.
In those years, he has a combined .360 batting average in balls in play. That would normally be a concern, as the league average is often below .300, but he has been maintaining high BABIPs for a few years now. In the last six seasons, his BABIP has dropped to .321 in 2021. He was at .346 or better in five other seasons. That suggests the numbers are a reflection of his swing rather than just luck.
Salano won’t provide much power, as last year’s eight home runs marked a career high. His walking standards aren’t particularly strong. However, his style of offense could be a good fit for Seattle, as that team has been wary of its hitting issues for a long time.
Back to the club in 2023, the boys love it Mike Ford, Jarred Kelenic, Teoscar Hernández, Eugenio Suárez again Tom Murphy they were not returned after posting strikeout rates north of 27%. But Seattle didn’t get the improvement it wanted in that category last year, either Luis Urías, Mitch Garver, Mitch Haniger, Jorge Polanco again Randy Arozarena hit more than 28% of the time after being onboarded. Salano has a career strikeout rate of 18.9% and has never finished above 22.2% in any season.
It’s clear that the Mariners were looking for infield help this winter. Justin Turner hit free agency. Josh Rojas it didn’t like it. The M’s declined the club option on Polanco. It left them like that JP Crawford at shortstop and question marks elsewhere.
Solano has played all four infield positions in his career but has not played shortstop since 2021. He has more experience at second base than anywhere else but has spent more time in the corners in recent years.
That flexibility gives the Mariners more options in terms of how Solano is used. Reports this winter suggested the club may feel they have enough internal options to cover second base, too Dylan Moore again Ryan Bliss available until the end Cole Young he holds a job. Luke Raley is an option to be the team’s strong side at first, as he is a left-handed bowler with significant separation. Boys love it Austin Shenton, Tyler Locklear, Samad Taylor again Leo Rivas they are also able to play different positions inside and on the 40-man roster.
The M’s probably aren’t done adding to that group yet, so Solano’s role could be determined by what other moves come next. He could take time to play second or third, and his right-handed bat would allow him to protect Raley from lefties at first. Solano has had the most neutral teams split throughout his career, with a 101 wRC+ against lefties and a 98 wRC+ without. However, he has gone a bit more extreme in his latest revival. Over the past six years, he’s slashed .310/.361/.444 against lefties with a 122 wRC+, compared to a .285/.349/.395 line and 107 wRC+ against righties.
It was reported this offseason that the M’s were working around $15-16MM in cap space. Salano will use a small portion of that while bolstering the infield group. That still leaves some dry powder for another infield. It was previously reported that they are interested in bringing back Turner, although Solano’s signing may make that difficult to put together.
It’s also possible that the M’s dared to completely overhaul the image, as there have been rumors that they could trade. Luis Castillo as a way to free up some spending capacity. Whether they go that route or just get some more in-field additions remains to be seen. Pitchers and catchers will be reporting to spring training in about a month.
Kitchen, 28 next month, has limited major league experience. As is expected in the Rockies’ system, he was designated to the big league roster in June but was assigned to assignment the next day without appearing in a game. He went to the Marlins on waivers and made four appearances for that club, allowing 11 earned runs in seven innings. A second DFA in September put him back on waivers, prompting the Mariners to file a claim.
Although Kitchen has a poor 14.14 earned run average, it is a small sample of his major league career. His minor league track record was solid, as the rest kept the ball on the ground. In 2024, pitching for three leagues, he logged 52 1/3 innings in the minors. During that time, he had a 3.78 ERA, a 15.1% strikeout rate, a 6.8% walk rate and a 55.1% ground ball rate.
The M’s will now have a week to figure out what’s next in the kitchen, whether that’s a trade or another trip to the waiver wire. The stoppage process takes 48 hours, so any trade will have to settle in the next five days. Kitchen still has a few option years and less service time left, so a club willing to give him a roster spot could keep him with cheap depth for the foreseeable future.
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