With several players on the 60-day injured list and a post-World Series deadline looming to either re-add those players to the 40-man roster or designate them for assignment, the Mariners made six roster moves Friday afternoon.
Players removed from the 40-man roster:
- Sam Haggerty, INF/OF, outrighted to Triple-A Tacoma.
- Shed Long Jr., INF/OF, outrighted to Triple-A Tacoma.
- Darren McCaughan, RHP, outrighted to Triple-A Tacoma.
- Marcus Wilson, OF, outrighted to Triple-A Tacoma.
- Ljay Newsome, RHP, claimed off waivers by St. Louis.
- Ryan Weber, RHP, outrighted to Triple-A Tacoma; Weber declined the outright and elected free agency.
“The bottleneck of talent that we have right now, it’s getting crowded,” manager Jerry Dipoto said in the news release. “And we probably have more depth than we’ve ever had at least in our years here. And that’s what good teams have. They have that type of depth.”
The most notable of the player list was infielder Long, who was once expected to be the team’s second baseman. But a stress fracture in his shin during the 2020 season never allowed Long to take control of the role. After offseason surgery, he was delayed in starting the 2021 season. When he was finally cleared to play, he was used in a part-time role this season before the shin became an issue again, ending his season.
His agent, Nate Heisler, said that Long will become a free agent after the World Series.
Heisler texted this statement:
“Shed played through a stress fracture in his shin during both the 2020 and 2021 seasons and clearly it negatively impacted his performance. He did this because of his intense desire to help the Mariners, but in hindsight he should have shut down sooner and rehabbed to get back to 100%. He underwent surgery after the 2020 season and then a second surgery on the same injury last week.
“The good news is that the second procedure, performed by renowned orthopaedic surgeon Dr. David Helfet, was a great success. The rod (inserted in 2020) was removed without difficulty and the surgeon was able to stimulate bone growth from inside the canal. Prior to surgery the bone had stopped healing but last week the stress fracture was opened, grafted and plated in compression with one plate and six screws. Once the bone heals over the next 1-2 months, he shouldn’t feel any of the metal and can get back to full activity. He will be 100% ready to go for spring training and looks forward to joining a new organization for the 2022 season.”
The Mariners acquired Long from the Reds before the 2019 season in a three-team trade that sent minor-league outfielder Josh Stowers to the Yankees.
Over the past two seasons, Long played in 68 games, posting a .184/.250/.325 slash line with nine doubles, a triple, seven homers, 26 RBI, five stolen bases, 20 walks and 76 strikeouts.
Seattle’s 40-man roster is now at 37 players.
With the Mariners not expected to exercise Kyle Seager’s 2022 club option, they will have one additional spot. Seattle still has six players on the 60-day injured list that must be re-added by five days after the World Series.
The six players are:
- Ken Giles, RHP
- James Paxton, LHP
- Justin Dunn, RHP
- Nick Margevicius, LHP
- Kyle Lewis, OF
- Evan White, 1B
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