Mariners sign reliever Gott to 1-year deal

SEATTLE -- The Mariners bolstered their bullpen on Wednesday by signing veteran right-hander Trevor Gott to a one-year Major League contract. The deal is worth $1.2 million, according to a source.

Gott represents at least one reinforcement to the bullpen, which was statistically one of MLB’s best last season, after Seattle dealt leverage reliever Erik Swanson to Toronto in the swap that netted Teoscar Hernández on Nov. 16.

The 30-year-old Gott -- who has played in parts of seven seasons with the Angels, Nationals, Giants and Brewers -- was non-tendered by Milwaukee when in line to make roughly $1.4 million, per Cot's Baseball Contracts. He posted a 4.14 ERA and 96 ERA+ (league average is 100) while racking up 44 strikeouts and walking 12 over 45 2/3 innings last season, his first with the Brewers after spending all of 2021 with the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate. The 186 batters he faced slashed .205/.269/.392 (.661 OPS) with eight homers.

Though Gott's numbers weren’t as strong as Swanson’s, the Mariners are banking on their prominent pitching development and coaching staffs to unearth more value, much like they did with Swanson, Paul Sewald and others. For those reasons, they were confident in dealing from a talent surplus to acquire the two-time Silver Slugger Award winner Hernández.

In returning Sewald, Andrés Muñoz, Diego Castillo, Matt Brash and more in 2023, Gott will likely enter Spring Training vying for a lower-leverage role.

With the addition of Gott, the Mariners’ 40-man roster is now at 38 at the onset of the Winter Meetings, which begin Sunday in San Diego.