Low Key Mariner Moves Last Week

I haven’t been around lately and I’d love to say this last week is going to be my last of disappearing from the blog for awhile but that wouldn’t entirely be true. That said, there was a couple of moves that were quiet and under the radar moves by the Mariners this last week.

According to BaseballAmerica they signed former University of Washington rotation stud Andrew Kitteredge as well as prep right hander Dylan deMeyer and lefty Philippe Valiquette.

According to Conor Glassey he actually saw Valiquette touch 100 mph. This is exciting to know that the Mariners are continually seeking talent to add to the organization.

Valiquette, 24, is a former Cinncinatti Reds farm hand that took part in last years Arizona Fall League and was released this past week.

"You don’t see legit 100s on the radar gun from the left side very often. It was, to the say the least, an impressive fastball.The command wasn’t great and the secondary stuff was borderline awful, but the fastball was enough for him to make hitters look foolish. Given the velocity, I figured when I checked his career minor league line upon returning home that he’d be running big strikeout totals at the least. To my surprise, he’s only racked up 245 strikeouts in 311 innings pitched over six minor league seasons, and his second trip through Double-A isn’t going very well this year. The walks aren’t a big surprise, but I was shocked to see that he’s been this ineffective in the low minors with a huge fastball. – Dave Cameron, Fangraphs"

He may not ever turn into anything but guys that can throw that hard always get peoples attention. He’ll be someone to keep an eye on going into next year’s spring training.

Dylan deMeyer was a former prep pitcher from SoCal who was a Non-Drafted Free Agent. Previously deMeyer had signed onto Galveston (Texas) JC but decided that he wanted to start his career in proball now, rather than going back into the draft next year.

deMeyer stands at 6’3 and his weight isn’t listed though I can’t imagine that it’s more than 170 lbs judging by the most recent video of him. He has plenty of projection and though there isn’t much information out there I know he throws a curveball/fastball combo. He’s someone that I’ll be keeping an eye on for next year.

The guy that most people would consider the least exciting is Andrew Kittredge. But you know me, I’m not most people. I’ve got an affinity for young arms that put up slightly encouraging stats. Kittredge falls solidly into that category and I even wrote about him prior to the start of the season.

He became academically ineligible a few weeks prior to the start of the (previously named) Pac-10 season. It was believed that he would be by the middle of the season but then he withdrew from Washington. He never entered into independent ball which is what I thought for sure he would do. He just kind of fell off the map. Come the draft and he fell off the radar completely becoming a non-drafted free-agent.

Kittredge, 21, has some interesting stuff and put some decent numbers while in the Cap Cod League in 2010. So/9 – 7.98, BB/9 – 2.15 and an ERA of 3.99. He’s got some problems with his game but but this organization has done an awesome job of balancing character with talent and talented characters.

I hope to see him pitching in Clinton next year.