8/14/26
While the Seattle Mariners celebrated a win to end their six-game losing streak, moves were being made behind the scenes as the M’s look to make a playoff push over the final month and a half of the season. The move made postgame signaled that the M’s aren’t quite ready to punt on the season as they optioned shortstop Colt Emerson back down to Triple-A Tacoma. Or so it seemed.
On Friday, the Mariners actually put Colt Emerson on the 10-day IL with left wrist inflammation. This could be a move that popped up because he was going to be sent down and now there isn’t a need for him to play through injury. This is likely the case and he would more than likely join the Tacoma Rainiers after his IL stint which in turn would make it more like a long rehab assignment.
Emerson made waves immediately when he was called up in May and was off to a hot start with six extra base hits in May. Since then, Emerson has just nine extra base hits and is batting .157 since the beginning of July. He has had major troubles with high fastballs and has struck out 83 times already in his big league career. While his defense remains pretty sharp, a lack of offense as a team makes it much harder to let Emerson figure things out. Watching him flounder for another month could see his confidence completely destroyed so allowing him to work on things with less pressure is the right move.
The shocking thing about all of this is that Seattle gave Colt Emerson an 8-year, $95 million contract back in March before he ever stepped onto a big league field. These big contracts to players before their debuts have become more popular due to the looming lockout as teams want to lock up young talent to big contracts before there is a potential cap on contract length. That is a popular topic as salary caps and floors could be introduced in 2027. Teams are hoping that these contracts will get grandfathered into the new CBA agreement so they have young guys locked up. Sources have claimed that there could be a cap of 4-5 years on the length of contracts giving players more opportunities to get new deals and allowing teams to cut losses on big investments sooner.
In a corresponding move, the M’s called up utility infielder Brock Rodden from Triple-A Tacoma. Rodden is a switch hitting utility infielder who is batting .262 in 92 games with Tacoma. He also has 19 home runs with 22 doubles, three triples, and 65 RBI.
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