The Mariners have signed utiltyman Cole Tucker to a minor league deal, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports (X link). The contract contains an invitation to Seattle’s big league Spring Training camp.
Tucker also signed a minors deal with the Rockies last winter, though it didn’t lead to much time in the majors. His contract wasn’t selected to the active roster until August, and Tucker appeared in only five MLB games amidst twice being designated for assignment and then outrighted off the 40-man roster. At season’s end, Tucker had the ability to elect minor league free agency and hit the open market once more.
Picked 24th overall in the 2014 draft, Tucker showed flashes of that high draft pedigree during his time in the Pirates’ farm system, but he has a modest .250/.350/.382 slash line over 1107 career plate appearances at the Triple-A level. The Pirates gave him multiple looks in the majors, but Tucker has struggled to a .216/.266/.318 slash over 479 PA against MLB pitching. Pittsburgh DFA’ed Tucker during the 2022 season and he was claimed off waivers by the Diamondbacks, though the Phoenix native didn’t receive any time at the big league level with his hometown team.
Tucker was drafted as a shortstop but has moved into more of a multi-positional role in an effort to increase his value of catching onto another big league roster. Between this positional versatility and a switch-hitting approach, Tucker fits the profile of a useful bench piece if he can get any consistency going at the plate. The Mariners have Josh Rojas, Dylan Moore, and Sam Haggerty already lined up for roster spots, so while Tucker may face an uphill battle in winning a job in Spring Training, he could be a good depth piece for Triple-A if he agrees to remain in Seattle’s organization.