November 30: Mark Feinsand of MLB.com Gott’s salary is reported to be $1.2MM. The Mariners announced the deal soon after.
November 28: The Mariners have reached an agreement with a reliever Trevor Gott on a one-year deal, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (on Twitter). Financial terms are not disclosed. Gott Sports is a One Athlete Management client. Seattle’s 40-man roster will jump to 38 once the deal is finalized.
Gott signed a major league contract with the Brewers last offseason. He spent the entire 2021 campaign at Triple-A in the Giants organization, impressing the Milwaukee front office with a 31% strikeout rate at the minor league level. Milwaukee jumped early to add him, and he played a key role in their midfield this past season.
The right-hander has pitched 45 2/3 innings across 45 outings. The results were mixed, as he managed a 4.14 ERA while giving up eight home runs (1.58 per nine innings). He matched that with excellent strikeout and walk rates, however, striking out 23.7% of opponents to 6.5% walks. He averaged about 95 MPH on his fastball and north of 91 MPH on a curveball that served as his top pitch. Gott’s 10.5% swinging strike percentage and 43.7% grounder are near each major league mark, and he has held right-handed hitters to a paltry .200/.243/.333 line in 111 at-bats.
MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected Gott for a $1.4MM arbitration fee this winter, and the Brewers chose not to offer it. His average hits in 2022 are enough to land him in a 40-man spot with Seattle, and he hopes to find a way into an Opening Day bullpen role. Gott has used up his minor league option years, so the M’s must either take him on the minimum roster or make him available on waivers.
Between four and five years of major league service time, Gott will be eligible for future adjustments if he holds his roster spot the entire year. It could be many years for president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto and his staff if he does well. Gott also suited up for the Angels, Nationals and Giants in parts of seven seasons at the major league level.
The Mariners have an excellent bullpen that ranked sixth in the majors this past season in ERA at 3.33. Seattle’s relievers ranked fifth with a 26.6% strikeout rate, and only the Orioles blew away leads in the final innings. That was a significant part of the M’s 90-game winning streak for the second straight season and securing a Wild Card berth. Seattle subtracted from that with the contract sent Eric Swanson to Toronto to bring Teoscar Hernándezbut they will bring it back Andrés Muñoz, Diego Castillo, Matt Brash, Paul Sewald a Penn Murphy. Gott is expected to work in the lower ranks, at the very least, to expand the team that manager Scott Servais has.
