Mariners’ latest bullpen addition would have been a big story in 2020

The Seattle Mariners made a bullpen move that won’t change their winter plan, and that’s exactly the idea. Cole Wilcox is the name attached to this one. A 6-foot-5 righty who once carried the “future rotation piece” label after the Blake Snell blockbuster. In 2025, he’s a cash-consideration flyer: a project that fits when you’ve got 40-man flexibility and a pitching group that loves shaping pitch traits. Useful? Potentially. Headline-grabbing? Not remotely.

And that’s the right way to view it. The Mariners aren’t promising anything here beyond a look. Wilcox was designated for assignment by Tampa Bay earlier this week, Seattle had room thanks to recent free agents, and the front office took a no-cost peek at a once-notable arm.

Mariners take a flier on Cole Wilcox, a routine November bullpen add

Wilcox, now 26, arrived in Tampa Bay as part of a December 2020 trade that shipped Snell, the 2018 AL Cy Young winner, to San Diego. At the time, Wilcox ranked 11th in a loaded Rays system — slotted among names like Randy Arozarena, Shane McClanahan, Shane Baz, and ahead of future big leaguers Joe Ryan and Josh Lowe. Then came Tommy John surgery in September 2021, which erased his 2022 campaign and rerouted his development arc from “starter of the future” to “let’s see what still plays.”

The results since surgery have been, frankly, pedestrian. Across 250.1 minor-league innings over the past two seasons, Wilcox posted a 4.28 ERA with a 19.8 percent strikeout rate and 8.3 percent walk rate — numbers that say “organizational depth,” not “imminent leverage piece.” His lone big-league cameo didn’t help first impressions: one inning, four hits, seven runs (three earned), three walks, one strikeout. That’s not a scouting report, but it is a reminder that the learning curve at this level is unforgiving.

So why take the flier? Because the ingredients still fit Seattle’s kitchen. Post-TJ, Wilcox has leaned into a sinker/slider mix with a relief profile. That combo is catnip for the Mariners’ pitching group, which loves to tweak grip, seam, and shape to manufacture early contact and ugly swings. A big, downhill frame helps the sinker play at the bottom; a tuned slider gives him a chase pitch. If the shapes sharpen and the strikes tick up, you can squint and see a middle-innings path. If they don’t, this costs nothing and changes nothing.

The backdrop here is worth noting. The Rays designated him. The Mariners sent cash. This is the classic November transaction where both clubs get what they want: Tampa clears a 40-man logjam; Seattle adds a live arm to its spring competition without blocking any of the actual bullpen incumbents. Expect Wilcox to join a crowded pack of non-guaranteed relievers in Peoria fighting for taxi-squad proximity and Tacoma innings. He’s not arriving to bump anyone out of the seventh inning.

And about that 2020-sized storyline: it’s useful as a reminder of how prospect labels age, not as fuel for hype. Being “part of the Snell trade” looks great on a media guide; it won’t earn you leverage with two outs and traffic in April. The Mariners are, quite sensibly, treating Wilcox as a project, not a pillar.