Mariners sign another former Phillies reliever in small move that could help bullpen

As Mariners fans sit and wait for Jerry Dipoto to add to this offense, the team's President of Baseball Operations is making moves, building around the edges of the roster and establishing some depth, especially in the bullpen.

For all of Dipoto's faults when it comes to building an offense, there is one thing that he and his group have done better than just about anyone: construct a bullpen full of names that no one is very familiar with.

Dipoto has resurrected the careers of guys like Paul Sewald and Justin Topa, while turning a number of arms into solid contributors (Drew Steckenrider, Collin Snider, Casey Sadler, Gabe Speier etc.). This extensive list results in many Mariners fans diving deep into each arm that the team adds to the bullpen, no matter how insignificant it may seem at the time.

Well, here we go again, as Dipoto added a very intriguing arm to his stable of relievers he has just begun to construct for the 2025 team.

Yunior Marte could become the next great story out of the Seattle Mariners bullpen

The Mariners brought in Yunior Marte on a minor-league deal last Saturday in a move that may have flown under many fans' radar. A 30-year-old that has struggled to stick at the Major League level with a career 5.64 ERA in 113 1/3 innings may not seem like an exciting move for a team just begging for a shot of excitement. However, these are exactly the type of moves that Dipoto has knocked out of the park in recent years.

Marte signed with the Royals in 2013 and didn't make his debut until 2022. He has been solid in the upper levels of the minor leagues, logging a 4.08 ERA with 10.6 K/9 in Triple-A. Seattle will hope to replicate his minor league success and will have a lot of tools to work with.

Marte throws a heavy sinker that averaged 96.2 mph and opponents hit just .213 against it. You can see here how much movement he gets, and fully understand how uncomfortable a pitch it is to hit when he's dialed in. Marte also has a solid slider that generates a lot of spin but hasn't been able to turn into an effective pitch ... but this is where the Mariners excel.

If they can get Marte's slider to be a plus pitch, along with his above average sinker, this could be another name in the long list of minor league free agents and former DFA'd players that Dipoto has turned into a contributor.