LAS VEGAS -- General manager Jerry Dipoto's first move of the Winter Meetings on Monday didn't create many waves as the Mariners claimed infielder Kaleb Cowart off waivers from the Angels. But Cowart's position -- with Seattle announcing he'll be given a shot at pitching as a two-way player -- raised a few eyebrows.
Cowart, 26, was a highly regarded pitcher coming out of high school in Georgia, but he chose to pursue a career as a position player and has played both infield and outfield throughout his pro career.

Cowart was the Angels' first-round Draft pick (18th overall) in 2010, the year before Dipoto became the Halos' general manager, so Dipoto is familiar with him in his early development.
"We had him from Rookie ball up while I was there," Dipoto said. "He's a super-talented athlete who has obviously had a tough time getting over the Major League hump as an offensive player. But as a high school senior, he was probably on as many Draft boards as a first-round talent pitcher as he was a first-round talent hitter."
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Dipoto was with the Diamondbacks when Cowart was drafted and said they viewed him more as a pitching prospect.
"He does a lot of things," Dipoto said. "He's a switch-hitter, has some power, usually gives you a pretty good at-bat. And he also throws mid- to upper 90s off the mound, which is pretty unique. He has one of the best throwing arms you'll see."
Cowart is out of Minor League options, and Dipoto envisions a possible "super utility player" who might add the ability to pitch out of the bullpen.

"We tried to do this with Kaleb for a bit back in 2014 and during that season, we put him on the bump and without having pitched since high school, it's 94 to 95 mph," Dipoto said. "He's recently begun doing that again with the Angels, and the results have been the same. He's 91-96 mph.
"It makes it awfully interesting. Our thought is we'll give him a chance to do both and see where that leads. If nothing else, it makes for a wildly interesting 25th player on a roster who can do a lot of different things."
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With Cowart's addition, Seattle's 40-man roster is now at 36 players.
Cowart played in 47 games for the Angels last season, hitting .134/.210/.241 with one home run and 10 RBIs in 112 at-bats. He also hit .287/.333/.457 with six homers and 45 RBIs in 64 games for Triple-A Salt Lake.
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Dipoto said the loss of vice president and assistant general manager Jeff Kingston to the Dodgers was "a big hit for us" and he'll look to quickly fill that position, most likely from what he believes are some strong options within the organization.
"Jeff spent much of the last 12 to 14 months really getting into the biomechanical research and it led him to [pitching coordinator] Brian DeLunas and a number of other people in the organization we've added over the last year," Dipoto said. "I'm going to learn my lesson and not proclaim how good they are because I'd like them to continue to work here awhile.
"But Jeff was kind of a trailblazer for us in that area, the biomechanics and bringing in a lot of the different tech we're starting to use now. First to identify players and then to develop them and then to assess how they're doing as we're going. We're so much farther advanced in technologies as an industry over the last three years. We, as an organization, have really been pushing toward the forefront, and Jeff was a really big driver in that during his time here."
Worth noting
• Bench coach Manny Acta, who previously has been a manager with the Nationals and Indians, has been given permission to interview for the Orioles' manager job. He's believed to be one of six candidates interviewing for that job, which is the only remaining managerial opening.
• Dipoto said the club is definitely interested in taking a Rule 5 Draft pick, and he believes there are some strong pitching prospects available. He also noted that picking 19th might make that difficult and indicated trading up is a possibility.
• Right-handed reliever Sam Tuivailala continues rehabbing from Achilles tendon surgery, but isn't expected back until late June at the earliest.