Mariners claim former Rangers outfielder Leody Taveras off waivers

Tim Booth, The Seattle Times on May 6, 2025

Published in Baseball

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WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Looking to add some outfield depth, the Mariners tapped into an AL West rival on Tuesday.

The M’s claimed outfielder Leody Taveras off waivers from the Texas Rangers in what should be an upgrade to Seattle’s outfield depth as the club continues to deal with the absences of both Victor Robles and Luke Raley stuck on the injured list.

Taveras was placed on waivers by the Rangers on Sunday.

Taveras, 26, appeared in 30 games this season for the Rangers with 24 starts in center field. He was batting .241 with a .601 OPS in the early stages of the season.

Two years ago, Taveras was a breakout star as part of the Rangers’ run to the World Series title. Taveras posted a .266/.312/.421 slash line appearing in 143 games in the regular season in the best season of his career to date. During the postseason, Taveras started all 17 games of Texas’ run to the title.

Taveras saw his numbers at the plate dip last season to .229/.289/.352 but he also stole 23 bases and walked 42 times, both career bests.

Taveras is out of minor league options, meaning he will need to be added to the major league roster when he reports, which is not expected to happen until Wednesday at the earliest. The easy move for Seattle would be to option rookie outfielder Rhylan Thomas back to Triple-A Tacoma, but with Randy Arozarena nursing a sore hamstring, the addition of Taveras could give the M’s the flexibility to consider a short stint on the IL for Arozarena — or at the least giving him some days off in the field.

The Mariners designated for assignment Luis F. Castillo — aka “the pebble” — to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Taveras. Castillo made two starts for the M’s earlier this season and was 0-1 with a 5.02 ERA in four starts for Tacoma.