Minor League Baseball

Former Seattle Mariners 1B, Who Signed MiLB Deal with Rangers, Coming Back to Majors

Rowdy Tellez, who popped 11 home runs for the Mariners before being designated for assignment in June, is joining the Texas Rangers, per reports.
Brady Farkas|
Seattle Mariners first baseman Rowdy Tellez (23) runs to third against the Athletics during the third inning at Sutter Health Park on May 5.
Seattle Mariners first baseman Rowdy Tellez (23) runs to third against the Athletics during the third inning at Sutter Health Park on May 5. | Dennis Lee-Imagn Images

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Texas RangersSeattle Mariners

According to a report from Jon Heyman of the New York Post, former Seattle Mariners first baseman Rowdy Tellez is being promoted to the big league club with the Texas Rangers.

After being designated for assignment by the M's in July, Tellez signed a minor league deal in Texas. There is room for him on the Rangers roster as they just put Jake Burger on the injured list.

The 30-year-old got 15 minor league at-bats, going 5-for-15 with two home runs and four RBIs.

An eight-year veteran of the Toronto Blue Jays, Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates and Mariners, Tellez is a .232 career hitter with 116 homers at the big-league level. He hit .208 for the Mariners with 11 homers. He had been signed to a minor league deal in the offseason and paired with Donovan Solano as a first base platoon after making the roster out of spring training. He played in 62 games with Seattle and became more valuable to the roster once Luke Raley was injured at the end of April, but Raley's return, coupled with Dominic Canzone's emergence, made Tellez expendable.

The Mariners enter the second half of the season at 51-45 and in second place in the American League West. They are five games behind the Houston Astros and will open the second half on Friday night against Houston at T-Mobile Park.

The M's do have a 1.5-game lead on the Tampa Bay Rays for the third and final wild card spot. They haven't been to the playoffs since the 2022 season.

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WHAT DOES IT MEAN? The Mariners selected Kade Anderson of LSU at No. 3 overall in the MLB Draft, so what does it mean for the rotation moving forward? CLICK HERE:

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is the senior writer for “Minor League Baseball on SI’’ and the host of “The Payoff Pitch’’ podcast, which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. Follow Brady on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady.

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