The Seattle Mariners suddenly find themselves facing a familiar problem: their bullpen, once viewed as one of the team’s biggest strengths, is being stretched dangerously thin.
Seattle entered the season with an impressive collection of relief arms, giving manager Dan Wilson plenty of options when games reached the late innings. But injuries have steadily chipped away at that depth. Carlos Vargas, Matt Brash and Cooper Criswell have all been sidelined, leaving the Mariners waiting for reinforcements that are only now beginning to move toward possible returns.
With the bullpen operating under increasing pressure, Seattle could afford to explore just about every reasonable option available.
And one particularly familiar name has just become available.
Former Mariners reliever Paul Sewald was designated for assignment by the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday afternoon, putting him on the verge of potentially becoming a free agent. Given Seattle’s current bullpen situation, it may be worth picking up the phone and finding out whether the veteran right-hander has any interest in coming back to the Pacific Northwest.
At first glance, Sewald’s 2026 numbers make the idea look questionable.
Look a little deeper, however, and there is at least a case for the Mariners taking a low-risk gamble.
Sewald’s Numbers Are Ugly — But They Don’t Tell the Whole Story
There is no getting around the biggest problem.
Sewald has struggled badly this season, posting a 6.23 ERA over 39 innings. His biggest issue has been the long ball. He has surrendered 12 home runs already, a staggering number for a pitcher working primarily in relief.
That works out to approximately 2.8 home runs allowed per nine innings, an extremely high figure. For perspective, the all-time single-season record for a reliever with at least 45 appearances is around 2.9 home runs per nine innings.
In other words, Sewald is operating dangerously close to historically poor territory when it comes to keeping the ball inside the ballpark.
That explains why Arizona eventually decided it had seen enough.
The Diamondbacks had already removed Sewald from the closer’s role at the end of July. The DFA decision was therefore less of a surprise than the final step in a disappointing tenure.
Assuming he clears release waivers, Sewald should have the opportunity to choose his next destination.
And that’s where Seattle becomes interesting.
Why Would the Mariners Even Consider Him?
The obvious question is simple: Why would a team trying to strengthen its bullpen want a pitcher carrying a 6.23 ERA?
The answer has less to do with Sewald’s current statistics and more to do with the alternatives available to Seattle.
The Mariners already have a strong group at the top of their bullpen. Andrés Muñoz remains one of the team’s premier late-inning weapons, while Jose A. Ferrer, Gabe Speier, Eduard Bazardo and Seranthony DomÃnguez give Wilson several reliable options.
But depth is becoming a concern.
Behind those established arms, Seattle has increasingly been forced to rely on pitchers such as Josh Simpson, Michael Rucker and Nick Davila.
There is nothing inherently wrong with giving younger or less-established relievers opportunities. That’s part of building a roster.
The problem comes when those pitchers are suddenly asked to handle important innings because the manager has no other choice.
There is a significant difference between using a reliever in a low-pressure situation and handing him the ball with runners on base in the seventh or eighth inning of a close game.
That’s the position Seattle increasingly finds itself in.
And that makes the Sewald question more complicated than simply looking at his ERA.
Would the Mariners really be worse off by bringing Sewald into the organization and seeing whether he can rediscover something?
That’s difficult to say with certainty.
But considering what is currently available, there is very little downside to exploring the possibility.
Seattle Knows Exactly What Sewald Can Be
This isn’t some random reclamation project involving an unknown pitcher.
Seattle already knows Paul Sewald extremely well.
During his previous stint with the Mariners, Sewald transformed himself from a relatively unheralded reliever into one of the most dependable bullpen weapons in baseball.
From 2020 through 2023, Sewald became a major part of Seattle’s pitching identity. He made 172 appearances for the club and produced a 137 ERA+, establishing himself as a legitimate high-leverage reliever.
His success became one of the better development stories of the Mariners’ recent era.
Seattle identified something in Sewald’s pitching profile, helped him maximize it, and watched him become a trusted weapon late in games.
Eventually, however, the rest of baseball caught up.
The pitching approach that once made Sewald such a difficult matchup became much less surprising to hitters. His vertical approach and pitch characteristics were no longer the secret weapon they had once been.
Across the last three seasons, he has posted a 5.13 ERA.
That’s not a temporary blip.
It is evidence that Sewald isn’t the same pitcher he was when he became a cult favorite in Seattle.
Still, “not the same pitcher” does not automatically mean “cannot help.”
There are still some intriguing indicators hiding underneath the ugly ERA.
There Are Still Signs of a Useful Pitcher
Perhaps the most encouraging statistic is Sewald’s strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Despite his struggles, he has produced a 4.89 K/BB ratio this season.
That’s a strong figure and suggests that his command hasn’t completely disappeared.
He is also still generating swings and misses at a rate that ranks around the 70th percentile among MLB pitchers.
That matters.
A reliever who cannot miss bats and cannot control the strike zone would be much harder to justify bringing back. Sewald, however, still possesses some of the traits that made him successful in the first place.
His performance against right-handed hitters is another reason Seattle could find a use for him.
Righties have managed just a .593 OPS against Sewald this season.
That is a meaningful split and potentially gives Wilson a very specific way to deploy him.
Instead of expecting Sewald to become the closer again, the Mariners could use him selectively against right-handed-heavy portions of opposing lineups.
That would lower the burden and potentially give him a better chance to succeed.
The Mariners wouldn’t need Sewald to become the pitcher he was several years ago.
They would simply need him to be better than some of the available alternatives.
Seattle Has Room to Take the Gamble
Another factor working in favor of a potential reunion is roster flexibility.
Seattle claimed Nolan Kingham from the Texas Rangers on Monday, yet the Mariners’ 40-man roster still sits at 37 players.
That gives the organization room to maneuver.
If Seattle wanted to add Sewald to the 40-man roster, it could do so without immediately needing to make a difficult roster decision.
And there are multiple ways the Mariners could structure the move.
The most aggressive option would be signing Sewald to a major-league deal and immediately putting him into the bullpen.
That would give Wilson another experienced arm while the team waits for Vargas, Brash and Criswell to return.
But Seattle doesn’t necessarily have to go that far.
A minor-league contract could also make sense.
The Mariners could send Sewald to Triple-A Tacoma, allow him to work through his issues and evaluate whether the veteran has anything left.
If an injury hits the bullpen or the team needs another arm, Sewald would already be inside the organization and available for a call-up.
That’s considerably more appealing than watching him join another team and potentially rediscover his form elsewhere.
This Isn’t About Recreating the Old Sewald
There is one thing Seattle absolutely should not do: expect Sewald to walk back into the clubhouse and immediately become the dominant reliever he was during his first stint.
Those days are gone.
The league has adjusted.
Sewald has struggled.
And 12 home runs allowed in 39 innings is not something that can simply be ignored.
But that’s also why the potential move would make sense only as a calculated gamble.
The Mariners don’t need to bet their season on him.
They don’t need to hand him the ninth inning.
They don’t need to pretend the last three years never happened.
They simply need another experienced arm who might give them something.
And compared with relying exclusively on replacement-level options, Sewald could provide at least some upside.
That’s ultimately the argument.
If Seattle’s bullpen were fully healthy, bringing Sewald back might seem unnecessary.
But it isn’t.
The Mariners are currently waiting for multiple injured relievers to return, and every extra dependable arm could make a difference during that stretch.
Sometimes the Best Move Is Simply Taking the Chance
There’s an element of desperation here, and pretending otherwise would be dishonest.
This is essentially a “why not?” move.
Sewald’s recent track record doesn’t inspire tremendous confidence. His home-run problem is legitimate, his ERA is ugly and opposing hitters have clearly figured out some aspects of his approach.
But baseball rosters are rarely built entirely around perfect options.
Sometimes you need to find the pitcher who has at least shown he can succeed before.
Sewald has done exactly that.
He has pitched meaningful innings for Seattle.
He has performed under pressure.
He has experience in high-leverage situations.
And, perhaps most importantly, the Mariners already know what they are getting in terms of personality, preparation and familiarity with the organization.
Even if he isn’t the dominant reliever from his earlier Seattle years, there may still be a useful version of Paul Sewald hiding somewhere underneath the recent struggles.
Seattle has enough bullpen uncertainty to justify finding out.
The Mariners don’t have to promise him a major role. They don’t have to put him in the ninth inning. They don’t even have to guarantee that he stays on the roster.
They could simply bring him in, evaluate him and see whether their pitching infrastructure can help him find something that Arizona couldn’t.
If it works, Seattle gets another experienced weapon.
If it doesn’t, the Mariners haven’t sacrificed much.
And that’s why a reunion makes sense.
The Mariners’ bullpen needs help, and Sewald is suddenly available.
Maybe he isn’t the same pitcher who once became a star in Seattle.
Maybe his best days really are behind him.
But with the bullpen currently operating without several important pieces, the Mariners can afford to take a chance on someone who has already proven he can thrive in their system.
At this point, the question isn’t whether Paul Sewald is still the pitcher he used to be.
He isn’t.
The question is whether he’s still better than the alternatives Seattle currently has available.
Given the circumstances, that’s a question worth answering.
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