Mariners Designate Miles Mastrobuoni for Assignment, Select Weston Wilson
The Mariners selected the contract of an infielder/outfielder Weston Wilson. Infield/outfield partner Miles Mastrobuoni selected in the corresponding flow. Before the official announcement, Adam Jude of The Seattle Times noted that Wilson was in the clubhouse. Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reported that Mastrobuoni will likely be optioned for assignment to make room.
Kramer suggests the trade has something to do with the Mariners being set to deal with a lot of lefties. The Red Sox are slated to start southpaws Guard Suárez, Connelly Early again Payton Tolle this weekend. Seattle’s regular lineup is heavily loaded with remaining bats, incl JP Crawford, Josh Naylor, Dominic Canzone, Luke Raley, Cole Young again Colt Emerson. Rights Connor Joe again Rob Refsnyder they are on the bench but Joe has a .189/.302/.324 line this year and Refsnyder is at .143/.214/.242.
Mastrobuoni and Wilson are both multi-position types but the former starts from the left and the latter from the right. The 31-year-old Wilson has a .240/.331/.413 line in 291 plate appearances from 2023 to 2026, a line that translates to a 108 wRC+. That breaks down as a .248/.351/.456 line and 124 wRC+ against southpaws compared to a .229/.302/.352 line and 83 wRC+ in the other half of the division.
Defensively, Wilson has major league experience in every position on the diamond except shortstop and catcher. Although he never played shortstop in the big leagues, he spent a good amount of time there in the minors. He should give manager Dan Wilson a good amount of flexibility in trying to get through this gauntlet of lefties. He was with the Orioles earlier this year but stumbled on that team’s roster, allowing Seattle to sign him to a minor league deal this week.
After this Boston series, the Mariners play the Pirates, which is a good change. Wilson is out of options, so he’s probably in line for a short stay on the roster if the M’s want to shake things up again in a few days. Then again, Joe is picky and has been struggling, so dropping him might be another possibility.
Improving the system will cost Mastrobuoni his place. The 30-year-old is in his fifth major league season, having spent time with the Rays and Cubs. He was acquired by the Mariners in a cash deal in February of 2025 after being designated for assignment by Chicago. He was an active bench player but a slow hitter. From 2022 to 2024, he hit .231/.296/.276 in 447 plate appearances but played all four infield positions and the corner outfield.
He didn’t make it this year. He started the season on the 10-day injured list due to right calf strain. He was later transferred to IL for 60 days. He worked a little over a week ago. He has a .217/.269/.217 line in 27 plate appearances since.
Mastrobuoni ran out of his final option year in 2025, leaving him without options. He may have started the season on the roster bubble but the IL placement allowed him to stay in the mix for almost half of the season, but now he has failed.
DFA limbo can last for up to a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the M’s can take five days to evaluate trade interest. If he were to clear the waiver, he would remain in the program as an undrafted depth. He has no direct previous employment and is just shy of three years of service, so he would have no right to refuse a direct assignment in favor of a free offer.
Photo courtesy of Rafael Suanes, Imagn Images
