Seattle Mariners Rumors: Danny Hultzen Cut By Mariners, Ending Hopes For Fans
Seattle Mariners rumors indicate Danny Hultzen is done with the team. The Mariners rumors follow years of injuries and surgeries that Hultzen has suffered through since Seattle selected him with the second overall pick in 2011. A report from Friday, November 20, states that new Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto has designated Danny Hultzen for assignment.
Dipoto needed to clear room on the 40-man roster to add infielder Patrick Kivlehan and outfielder Boog Powell. Both players had been on the Triple-A roster in Tacoma and needed to be protected as the Rule 5 Draft approaches. This meant the front office had to make a difficult decision about Hultzen, who has been on the Double-A Jackson roster.
While these Seattle Mariners rumors will make sense to die-hard fans of the team, it will also come with the disappointment that Hultzen never fulfilled the promise he showed in college. The Mariners made him the highly-paid No. 2 pick of the 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Virginia (Charlottesville, Virginia). After that, though, he had several long stints on the disabled list to recover from surgeries.
During five years with the Mariners (in the minor leagues), Hultzen posted a 2.70 ERA and a 15-9 record over 187 innings. Making 41 starts over that time, he finished with 204 strikeouts as well, showing that he might have a lot of promise if he could just stay healthy. It is that injury risk that Hultzen presents which has forced the team to move in a different direction.
Danny Hultzen will turn 26-years-old before the 2016 MLB season begins, but he likely hasn’t seen his last mention in Seattle Mariners rumors either. After getting designated for assignment, the Mariners now have 10 days to trade, release, or outright Hultzen and his contract to the minor leagues. During his time with the Mariners so far, Hultzen has made $8.5 million in salary and received a signing bonus of $6.35 million following the 2011 MLB Draft.
It’s possible that nobody claims Hultzen on waivers and the team can ask him to report to Triple-A Tacoma on a minor league deal. That would retain him within the organization for a while and give the team a window to see if he is close to getting the call to pitch at Safeco Field. It’s also possible that the organization gets a call from another team that wants to offer a lower level prospect in order to take a chance on Hultzen. That could be likely, because there are several rebuilding teams that could give him a minimum contract to pitch next year.
There are also going to be a lot of Seattle Mariners fans expressing frustrations on social media about some of the players that were selected after Danny Hultzen in the draft but worked out much better. Some of the more successful names from that draft class are Anthony Rendon, George Springer, Jose Fernandez, Sonny Gray, Kolten Wong, Blake Swihart, Trevor Bauer, Francisco Lindor, and Javier Baez. Those players are also just other picks from the first round and doesn’t cover players taken in the remaining rounds. This could link the word “bust” to Hultzen for a while.
This also will open a new chapter for Patrick Kivlehan and Boog Powell. These are two names that all Mariners fans should become very familiar with, as they will get a long look from management when Spring Training opens. There is even a possibility of one or both making the 25-man roster if continued improvement is shown down in Arizona. Within the next week, expect to hear more Seattle Mariners rumors about Danny Hultzen until he is traded, assigned, or released.
[AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin]
