The Mariners have released right-hander Asher Wojciechowski and left-hander Ian McKinney from their minor league contracts, according to Triple-A Tacoma director of media relations Paul Braverman (Twitter link). Both Wojciechowski and McKinney initially re-signed with Seattle in February.
Wojciechowski has pitched in parts of five MLB seasons since 2015, including a single game with the Yankees during the 2021 campaign. After being released by New York last summer, Wojciechowski signed on with the Mariners on a minors contract but didn’t receive a call to the big leagues, and he elected free agency once the offseason began.
The righty has a 5.93 ERA over 202 career innings, in large part due to a whopping 45 home runs allowed. A first-round pick for the Blue Jays back in 2010, the 33-year-old Wojciechowski has become a journeyman, pitching with nine different organizations at the major and minor league levels across 13 pro seasons.
McKinney is only 27 years old, but has nine seasons in the minors on his resume, pitching in the Cardinals system from 2013-18 and then joining the Mariners in 2019 following a brief stint in independent ball. The southpaw didn’t reach the Triple-A level until 2021 but the results haven’t been good — McKinney has a 7.22 ERA, 15.86% strikeout rate, and 12.75% walk rate over 76 innings in Tacoma in 2021-22.
While neither pitcher was performing well for the Rainiers, the releases do remove two swingman/long relief options from the Mariners’ depth chart. The M’s have gotten a lot of stability out of their rotation this year, with Marco Gonzalez, Robbie Ray, Logan Gilbert, and Chris Flexen all making their starts, and star prospect George Kirby stepping with some quality work after Matt Brash struggled over five outings.
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