Mariners claim left-hander reliever off waivers from the Cubs

The Mariners added some minor-league bullpen depth and claimed left-hander Dario Alvarez off of waivers from the Chicago Cubs, the team announced on Wednesday.

Alvarez was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma and he’ll report to minor league camp on Thursday, upping the Mariners’ 40-man roster to 38 players with a week remaining in spring training.

“We were looking for a guy who could create some depth, bullpen-wise,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said.

Alvarez appeared in 16 1/3 innings for the Rangers last season, striking out 17 while posting a 2.76 ERA. Alvarez is 29 years old and appeared in parts of the past four major league seasons. He’s 6-1 with a 5.06 ERA in 56 appearances, all out of the bullpen with a solid strikeout rate – 11.4 per nine innings.

Alvarez, who is from the Dominican Republic, made his major league debut in 2014.

This seems essentially like a replacement for Sam Moll, who less than a week ago went to the Blue Jays after being claimed off waivers. The other two left-handed relievers on the Mariners 40-man roster are James Pazos and Marc Rzepcyznski.

This story was originally published March 21, 2018 at 1:54 PM with the headline "Mariners claim left-hander reliever off waivers from the Cubs."