PEORIA, Ariz. -- Rowdy Tellez identified the Seattle Mariners as the ideal landing spot this winter. When the Mariners reciprocated, he jumped.
"I was already packed and ready to go,” said Tellez, who makes his home in Florida. “When they called, I said, ‘Perfect.’
“It’s very similar to places I’ve been before, good pitching staffs and players that want to win. You have guys who have played at high levels for a long time.”
Tellez is in Spring Training on a Minor League contract that will pay him $1.5 million if he makes the Opening Day roster and includes opt-outs if he is not on the 40-man roster on March 23, May 1 or June 1, according to sources.
Tellez’s combination of left-handed power and veteran presence gives the Mariners a lot to consider as they look to balance a roster that includes left-handed hitters Luke Raley and J.P. Crawford and switch-hitters Cal Raleigh and Jorge Polanco.
Primarily a first baseman, Tellez also has been used as a DH in a 105-homer, seven-year career that began in Toronto and has included stops in Milwaukee and Pittsburgh.
“When you look at what Rowdy’s been through, the leadership that he can bring, the experience that he has, it’s an interesting piece, and [we’re] definitely going to continue to watch,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “I think he’s really attached to this group pretty quickly, as most guys do."
Tellez’s selling point is his power. He hit 21 homers for the Blue Jays in his first full season in 2019 and is only two years removed from a 35-home run season with the Brewers in 2022, his only full season as a healthy, everyday player.
While injuries, including a fractured ring finger on his left hand suffered in July 2023, have kept him from reaching that level of production since, he is certain that the pop remains. You don’t forget how to walk.
“My swing feels good, like it did a couple of years ago,” he said. “I’m ready to go and happy with where I am at.”
Tellez, 29 on March 16, had 13 homers in each of the past two seasons, with the Brewers in ‘23 -- the year he debuted on the mount while pitching the final inning of the Brewers’ NL Central-clinching victory over Miami -- and last year with Pittsburgh.
He was on pace for a 20-homer season in 2023 before the forearm and finger injuries kept him out for six weeks. The finger injury, suffered while he was shagging fly balls before a game in Cincinnati, was the most frustrating. Tellez had surgery to repair it that night, but it never felt right; he had 12 homers in 79 games before the injury, but one in 27 after that.
“That one sucked,” Tellez said. “That one really took a toll, and then trying to come back made it even worse.”
Things did not feel right until the middle of 2024. After a sluggish start, he hit 11 homers in 203 at-bats with a .788 OPS in his final 68 games with the Pirates, a stretch that seemed to indicate all was well -- but it ended on a sour note. The Pirates released him in late September, just four plate appearances short of 425, a plateau that would have triggered a $200,000 bonus.
“You can use it as motivation, put a chip on your shoulder,” Tellez said. “But ultimately it narrowed down to me and I wasn’t playing good enough. It’s a business. They made a business decision.”
Now with the Mariners, Tellez has spent time in camp with hitting coach Edgar Martinez, who emphasizes the mental part of hitting.
“He’s like an open book that has hundreds and hundreds of chapters,” Tellez said. “Just picking his brain as much as you can. When you can deal with a Hall of Famer, it is only going to benefit you.”