Mariners claim OF Keon Broxton off waivers from Baltimore 

SEATTLE, Wash. -- Seattle Mariners Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto announced today the following roster moves:

• Keon Broxton, OF, claimed off waivers from Baltimore.
• Connor Sadzeck, RHP, transferred to 60-day Injured List.

Seattle’s Major League, 40-man, roster remains full at 40 players.

Broxton, 29, was designated for assignment by Baltimore on July 21. He started the season with New York-NL where he hit .143 (7x49) with 5 runs scored, 1 double, 2 RBIs, 4 stolen bases and 4 walks in 34 games. He was acquired by Baltimore in exchange for international bonus pool money on May 22. In 37 games with Baltimore, he hit .204 (21x103) with 14 runs scored, 3 doubles, 4 home runs, 9 RBIs, 4 stolen bases and 8 walks. In total, Broxton is batting .184 (28x152) with 19 runs scored, 4 doubles, 4 home runs, 11 RBIs, 8 stolen bases, and 12 walks in 71 games between New York-NL and Baltimore this season.

Broxton was originally selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the third round of the 2009 MLB First-Year Player Draft. He spent 5 Minor League seasons with the Diamondbacks organization before he was acquired by Pittsburgh in exchange for a player to be named or cash on March 27, 2014. He appeared in parts of 2 Minor League seasons between 2014 and 2015 with AA Altoona and AAA Indianapolis before making his debut with the Pirates in 2015. Broxton made his Major League debut with Pittsburgh as a pinch runner on September 21, 2015 vs. Colorado, recording a stolen base and scoring his first career run without having an at bat. He was acquired by Milwaukee from Pittsburgh in exchange for INF Jason Rogers on December 17, 2015. He appeared in parts of 3 Major League seasons with Milwaukee before he was acquired by New York-NL in exchange for Bobby Wahl, Adam Hill and Felix Valerio on January 5, 2019. In total, he has appeared in parts of 5 MLB seasons, batting .215 (183x853) with 131 runs scored, 31 doubles, 7 triples, 37 home runs, 90 RBIs, 58 stolen bases and 99 walks.

Sadzeck, 27, was originally placed on the 10-day injured list on June 4 (retroactive to June 3) with right elbow inflammation. He is 0-1 with 1 save and a 2.66 ERA in 20 games with the Mariners this season. He allowed 4 earned runs in his last 8 games (9.0 IP / 4.00 ERA) after allowing only 3 in his first 12 games with (14.2 IP / 1.84 ERA), including allowing 5 runs (2 ER) in his last 4 games prior to being placed on the IL. Sadzeck was acquired from the Texas Rangers on April 1. The 6-foot-7, 240-pound right-hander made his Major League debut with the Rangers on Sept. 1, 2018 vs. Minnesota. He went on to post a 0.96 ERA (1 ER, 9.1 IP) with 7 strikeouts and 11 walks in 13 games (2 starts) with Texas last season.

Sadzeck was converted from a starting pitcher to a reliever midway through the 2017 season and since then has averaged nearly 11.0 strikeouts-per-9.0-innings at the Minor League level. He was sidelined for the 2014 campaign, as well as part of the 2015 season, after undergoing ligament transplant “Tommy John” surgery on March 26, 2014.

Sadzeck was originally selected by Pittsburgh in the 45th round of the 2010 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Crystal Lake Central (IL) High School but did not sign. After one season at Howard (TX) College, he was selected by the Rangers in the 11th round of the 2001 Draft. In 6 Minor League seasons in the Rangers organization, he compiled a record of 35-29 with a 4.19 ERA (247 ER, 531.0 IP) with 497 strikeouts and 247 walks in 155 games (91 starts).