Mariners end relief reclamation project with latest release

The Mariners moved a lot of pieces around in the offseason. It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone to hear me say that, as they are constantly one of the most active teams in baseball. Part of that is Dipoto and Hollander just being active in general, but part of that is them being forced into action with a limited budget. We saw a lot of bullpen pieces move around, with some instantly slotting into the MLB discussion, and others just entering into the reclamation process down the road.

Well, it came out this afternoon that one of those projects have been released, as the Mariners decided to part ways with Mauricio Llovera.

Mauricio Llovera was let go by the Mariners

Llovera never made it to the bigs for the Mariners, and it shouldn't have come as that big of a surprise to know that he didn't. He spent most of 2023 with the Red Sox, posting a 5.46 ERA across 29.2 innings and a 1.517 WHIP. The Mariners sent him to their AAA affliate Tacoma Rainiers after bringing him aboard this offseason in the hopes of reclaiming some of what was seen from Llovera in 2022 with the Giants when he had a 4.47 ERA but a 3.72 FIP.

Unfortunately, Tacoma and Llovera did not get along. He would throw 16.2 innings there with a 4.80 ERA while struggling with a 4.3 BB/9 from his command issues. If there was any hope by the Mariners that he had figured things out, we likely would've seen him be given a shot in July or August as the Mariners struggled to field the combination of a healthy and productive bullpen. A handful of guys were given short looks, but Llovera was never one of them.

He is only 28, so it's likely that he gets on somewhere else to be given another shot with someone's AAA team. It's just not going to happen for the Mariners. Best of luck, Mauricio.