Seattle Mariners Sign Ryan Cook To Mitigate Anthony Bass Disaster

The Seattle Mariners once again had a busy day on Thursday. In a bit of a surprise, Anthony Bass, the long reliever recently acquired from the Texas Rangers, requested to be released by the Mariners so he could pursue a baseball career in Japan. Keep in mind that for players who are in between Triple-A and MLB quality, the amount of money that can be made in Japan compared to MLB can be substantial.

It’s not as if this type of thing never happens, but to have a player new Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto just traded for want to go to Japan before spring training even starts doesn’t look good for the organization. The releasing of Bass also puts a whole new spin on the trade the Mariners made to acquire him. With Bass gone, the Mariners essentially traded closer Tom Wilhelmsen, outfielder James Jones and Pat Kivlehan (one of the Mariners’ top prospects) for Leonys Martin. I imagine without Bass in the deal, the Mariners would have gotten away with only trading two of the three.

Looking at the positives of this, Bass must have thought he was headed towards Triple-A with the options Dipoto has given himself for the bullpen. I honestly believe that Martin will be the center fielder of the future the Mariners were hoping for when they made the deal, so giving up what the Mariners did will seem small in the future. The roster opening also let Dipoto make another move, signing relief pitcher Ryan Cook just hours after releasing Bass. Although Cook is not considered a long reliever, his potential is higher than Bass.

Cook is another bounce-back candidate signed by the Mariners this offseason coming off an abysmal 2015. He was an All-Star in 2012, along with a 2.60 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 197 strikeouts in just under 191 innings from 2012-14. In 2015, he was blown up for 18 earned runs in just 8.1 innings between the Oakland A’s and the Boston Red Sox. Needless to say, he spent most of his time in the minors last season.

The Mariners once again decided to give a bounce-back candidate a one-year contract when signing Cook. With a $1.1 million contract after incentives, it’s probably a safe bet that unless Cook has an awful spring training, he will be part of the bullpen to start the season. I’m not sure that Cook will be the pitcher he was in 2012, but hopefully he can find a bit of middle ground between his All-Star season and last year’s disaster.