Though the Seattle Mariners designated Jackson Kowar for assignment, they weren’t necessarily hoping to lose him altogether.
Last week, the 29-year-old Kowar was DFA’d when the Mariners acquired catcher Jhonny Pereda from the Minnesota Twins. Seattle sent cash to Minnesota in the trade, but the two sides may as well have just traded the players one-for-one.
On Tuesday, Minnesota announced it claimed Kowar off waivers, filling a roster space opened by trading infielder Edouard Julien to the Colorado Rockies. Kowar, who was once a first-round pick for the Kansas City Royals, returns to the American League Central after a two-year stop in Seattle.
You don’t get to be a first-rounder if you don’t throw hard, and Kowar averaged 97.3 mph on his fastball last year at the major league level. But command has seemingly been an issue every time Kowar has returned to the majors, and after he ran out of options in Kansas City, he made only 15 major league appearances for the Mariners.
In 17 innings last year, Kowar allowed eight earned runs, struck out 15 batters, and surrendered four home runs. He’s now given up 19 long balls in 90 1/3 career major league innings.
The Twins were an ideal landing spot for Kowar because their bullpen depth chart is still recovering from the chaos of trading away their four best relievers at the deadline last July. Minnesota has signaled it wants to contend this year and will need some relatively unproven veterans like Kowar to channel their experience into newfound production.
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