Pitcher Erasmo Ramirez faces long odds trying to make Seattle Mariners’ roster
PEORIA, Ariz. – Erasmo Ramirez knows he’s in no-man’s land as he prepares for his spring debut today when the Mariners make the short drive to Glendale, Arizona, to play the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Ramirez is out of options – which means he can’t be sent back to the minors unless he clears waivers – but he faces long odds in his bid to win a roster spot.
“I know the only way to stay with the Mariners is to clear waivers,” Ramirez said. “But I can’t worry about that.
“I’m just worried about staying healthy and doing what I need to do: Just keep the ball down and throw strikes…and wait for news.”
Ramirez ranks, at best, seventh in line for a spot in the five-man rotation behind (not necessarily in this order) Felix Hernandez, James Paxton, Hisashi Iwakuma, J.A. Happ, Taijuan Walker and Roenis Elias.
At many clubs, Ramirez might find duty, perhaps temporarily, as a long reliever. But the Mariners have Tom Wilhelmsen in that role, which leaves no apparent space for Ramirez in what projects as a seven-man unit.
“We’ve got some talented arms in that bullpen,” manager Lloyd McClendon said. “The competition might even be stiffer down there (than in the rotation).”
Even so, the Mariners aren’t yet willing to simply jettison Ramirez, who is still just 24 and not likely to gain eligibility for arbitration for two more seasons.
The Mariners could try to slip him through waivers, but a quick canvass of officials from rival clubs suggest Ramirez is unlikely to go unclaimed largely because of his limited cost liability.
A trade is possible, but as one rival front-office official noted, “How much are you going to give up for a guy who is likely to be on waivers in a few weeks?”
Ramirez was a major disappointment a year ago when he failed to win a big-league game after beating the Angels on April 1. He finished 1-6 with a 5.26 ERA in 17 games and spent much of the summer at Triple-A Tacoma.
Looking back, he now says: “I just got excited too much. The first few innings, usually, I’d be good. Then I’d get excited and try to do more. You can’t do that. Most of the time, it was just one inning that hurt me.
“In those innings, I’d try to throw my breaking ball to be perfect, and that was a big mistake. A lot of times, it was just one pitch.”
That one pitch, too often, resulted in a home run. Ramirez gave up 13 homers last year in 75 1/3 big-league innings, which continued a career-long trend: 31 in 206 2/3 innings.
Ramirez showed signs of a turnaround late last year by going 4-1 with a 2.45 ERA in his last five games at Tacoma. Then came an eye-popping winter in Venezuela: One earned run in 30 innings.
“He threw very well,” general manager Jack Zduriencik said. “The thing that’s changed is that’s what he looked like a couple of years ago compared to how he looked the last two years. That was the change.”
Mariners 9, Padres 4
The amped-up heart of the Mariners’ order – Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager – debuted Thursday by going a combined 6 for 9 with three runs and three RBIs to lead Seattle to a 9-4 victory over the Padres in Peoria, Arizona.
Pat Kivlehan put the game away with a three-run homer in a four-run eighth inning as the Mariners improved to 2-0.
M’s starter Roenis Elias pitched two scoreless innings, which matched Taijuan Walker’s effort in Wednesday’s opener. The two are battling for the rotation’s final spot.
Choi undergoes surgery, Is DFA’d: The Mariners designated first baseman Ji-Man Choi for assignment Thursday shortly after he underwent surgery to repair a broken right leg, which he suffered in action on Wednesday. The move came after Texas returned reliever Edgar Olmos to the M’s when MLB voided the Rangers’ waiver claim after an examination revealed Olmos had a shoulder injury.