The Seattle Mariners have claimed Nolan Kingham off waivers from the Rangers, while reports indicate Rob Refsnyder is going to retire.
The Mariners might not have played on Monday, but the wheels of Major League Baseball continued to turn. Executive Vice President and General Manager of Baseball Operations Justin Hollander announced via a press release, that Nolan Kingham has been claimed off waivers from the Rangers.
Kingham’s addition now brings the Mariners’ 40-man roster to 37 players and he has been designated for assignment in Triple-A Tacoma. He made his Major League debut on Aug. 3, allowing a hit, two walks and one earned run over 1.0 innings of action versus the Giants.
The 29-year-old was selected in the 12th round of the 2018 draft by the Braves and over six minor league seasons has compiled a 4.56 ERA, 377 strikeouts and 138 walks in 513.1 combined innings (127 games, including 88 starts). This season specifically has been a tough one for him, accruing a 6.99 ERA, 44 strikeouts and 17 walks over 46.1 innings in Triple-A Round Rock (11 games, including 10 starts).
Kingham has also spent parts of the past three seasons pitching in the Mexican League, and this year he produced a 1.82 ERA, 29 strikeouts and six walks in 34.2 innings (six starts). He will effectively be a depth option for the Mariners, with the potential bonus that he has a full slate of options to use if he can stay on the 40-man roster.
Wishing Rob Refsnyder all the best
After last season, Rob Refsnyder thought long and hard about retiring before the lure of $6.25 million persuaded him to return in 2026. (The most money he has ever earned in a season.) Now, following on his release by the Mariners on Aug. 4, he has apparently decided this time around that his playing days are indeed over.
Although Refsnyder himself has yet to confirm the news at the time of writing, it has been reported by Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. McTaggart advised that the 35-year-old was close to signing with the Astros, before instead deciding to retire.
Refsnyder endured a rough season in Seattle, as he produced career-lows of a -1.0 bWAR, .140 batting average and .211 OBP, along with an ugly .465 OPS and 34 OPS+. What really hurt was that he struggled mightily at the main job he was brought in to do, hitting just .147 with a .506 OPS versus left-handed pitching.
In fairness to the 2012 fifth round draft pick, he wasn’t helped by a right knee issue which lingered throughout this season and it does make you wonder what he could have achieved if he was fully healthy. Between 2022-25 with the Red Sox, he ranked fifth in batting average (.312) among all right-handed hitters with at least 500 plate appearances against lefties, third in OBP (.407) and sixth in OPS (.924).
Dan Wilson likely isn’t going anywhere
Dan Wilson has achieved a lot in his short time as Mariners manager, including helping the team win their first AL West title since 2001 and taking them closer than ever to a first World Series berth. However, there are plenty of people calling for him to be fired, with the team a season-worst seven games below .500 and having only won 20 of their past 51 games.
In fact, there was plenty of speculation that the Mariners could use Monday’s off-day to pull the trigger on Wilson, following a three-game home sweep by the Rays and with the 50 seasons weekend celebrations now out of the way. However, according to Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times, the M’s are unlikely to fire him at this stage.
Divish explains that Wilson is beloved within the organization, including by the ownership group and the players. We also know that President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto thinks the world of him, talking late last season about the positive influence the former M’s catcher has had on him.
The thinking is that no one has any interest in embarrassing one of their own and risk fracturing the relationship, which there have been examples of over the years. (To be fair, as with any organization.) Fans might not be happy about this, but for all the criticism Wilson has received this season, not all of it has been fair, combined with the reality that a lot of the struggles fall on a roster which has consistently failed to play up to their collective talent level.
Photos courtesy of Tim Rogers Photography
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