The Seattle Mariners lose a trio of relievers to free agency

Matt Magill, Carl Edwards Jr., and Nestor Cortes Jr. were outrighted to Triple-A, and each elected free agencyThe 30-year-old relief pitcher, Matt Magill, is one of three relief pitchers who was outrighted to Triple-A today. Jerry Dipoto is busy moving players around to reinstate some players from the 60-day injured list just like how Art Warren was put on waivers yesterday.

The five year MLB veteran was acquired by Seattle in 2019 from the Twins for cash considerations. He pitched a solid 3.63 ERA after joining the Mariners in 2019 and was a lead candidate to be the closer in 2020.

Things quickly changed after a few bad outings and would eventually find himself on the injured list. He had arthroscopic debridement surgery on his throwing shoulder in mid-September which ended his season.

Magill has elected free agency and will look for a new home in 2021.

Carl Edwards Jr. was outrighted and elects free agency

Carl Edwards Jr. was a free agent signing for the Mariners with the hope of him finding his Chicago Cubs days at an affordable price. We were certainly taking a chance on him.

Edwards Jr. won a ring with the 2016 Cubs and had a great stretch of performances from 2016-2018. As a pitcher with history of being great in postseason settings, it came as a little surprise that Dipoto did not want him to be a part of the bullpen upgrading he intends to do in 2021.

The 29-year-old reliever was injured and only pitched 4.2 innings for the M’s. He started on the injured list and ended on the injured list which is not a good sign. Edwards Jr. was placed on the 45-day IL with a forearm strain which takes time to recover from. He also elected free agency after being outrighted and will join Magill in the free agent market.

Southpaw Nestor Cortes Jr. also elects free agency

The 25-year-old lefty was acquired by Seattle from the Yankees in exchange for international bonus pool money in late 2019. Nestor Cortes Jr. did not do much for the Mariners in 2020. He did start one game and made four other relief appearances totaling 7.2 innings pitched, giving up 13 earned runs in that span.

Cortes Jr. surprisingly went 5-1 for the Yankees in 2019 as a reliever but had a whopping 5.67 ERA. Like the other two, Cortes Jr. was put on the injured list in August with a left elbow impingement and missed the remainder of the season.

Although Cortes Jr. is younger, he was not worth keeping for the Mariners and was outrighted. Like the other two, he also elected free agency. He has yet to prove himself in his three big league seasons and as I mentioned before, Dipoto has to juggle the roster around before the reinstated or DFA’d deadline which is just days after the World Series.

Cortes Jr. is not valuable enough for the Mariners especially as we look to build the bullpen to compete in what looks like an exciting 2021 and 2022 for Mariners fans.