The Mariners announced that they have designated a reliever Jackson Kowar by share. That opens up a 40-man roster spot for the rookies Johnny Peredawhich they got from the twins to get money. Minnesota designated Pereda for assignment last week when they signed the free agent catcher Victor Caratini on a two-year contract.
Kowar, 29, is the Royals’ first-round supplemental pick. He allowed 79 runs in 74 innings over parts of three seasons with Kansas City. They traded him to the Braves for an injured starter Kyle Wright during the 2023-24 season. Kowar’s time with the organization lasted less than a month, as the Braves traded him to Seattle as part of a multi-player deal. Jarred Kelenic in Atlanta.
It was a game changer that included a number of draft picks, but none of the players involved performed as expected. Kowar exploded during his first spring training as a member of the Mariners. He had Tommy John surgery and was out of action until May ’25. He was on and off the active roster for the next several months until suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in August.
Kowar has finally played 15 games in a Seattle uniform. He allowed eight runs over 17 innings, walking seven while recording 15 strikeouts. The Florida product gave up nine runs (five earned) in 16 Triple-A innings. He has an 8.21 earned run average with a 20.3% strikeout rate and a 13.1% walk percentage across 91 MLB innings.
Primarily a change-up fastball pitcher early in his career, Kowar reduced his changeup while consolidating his use of the slider last season. It resulted in fewer hits during his Triple-A tenure, though his control remains an issue. He sits around 97 MPH with a fastball and can hurt teams based on his arm speed and pedigree despite the poor MLB numbers. He’s out of options, so he’ll need to be cleared in camp or re-elected for assignment if another team is willing to give him a 40-man roster spot in the offseason.
Pereda is an accomplished catcher who has split his 48 major league games between three teams. He started 20 games for the Marlins the past two seasons and totaled 28 games between the A’s and Minnesota last year. The 29-year-old (30 in April) hit .241 with no home runs in 118 major league plate appearances. He has a solid track record in the minors, hitting .296/.392/.419 in just over 1,000 career Triple-A plate appearances.
The Venezuelan-born Pereda has a good arm and a strong defensive reputation. He also has a minor league option, so the M’s could send him back to Triple-A for the 2026 season. They signed Andrew Knizner to a $1MM free agent deal to work behind the scenes Raleigh. Trading Harry Ford it had left them with no other catchers on the 40-man roster. Pereda has a leg up on an unsigned invitee Nick Raposo as a top depth option in case one of the MLB catchers gets injured. Knizner is a career .211/.281/.316 hitter, so it’s not out of the question that Pereda is surpassing him in postseason work.
