Seattle Mariners Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto announced today that the club has signed outfielder Guillermo Heredia.
 
To make room on the Major League 40-man roster, catcher Jesus Sucre has been placed on the 60-day disabled list.
 
Heredia, 25, who defected from Cuba in early 2015, played six seasons with Matanzas in the Serie Nacional Cuban League, where he hit .285 (336x1177) with 231 runs, 57 doubles, 15 triples, 23 home runs and 121 RBI in 374 games.
 
As a 21-year-old in the 2011-12 season, he broke through by hitting .343 with a.439 on-base percentage and a.527 slugging percentage in 443 plate appearances and won a Gold Glove award in center field. Defensively, he appeared at all three outfield positions (CF - 171; LF - 1; RF - 1) for Matanzas, compiling a .987 fielding percentage, committing 9 errors in 415 chances, while recording 19 assists in his career.
 
In six games in the 2013 World Baseball Classic, the 5-foot-11, 180-pound outfielder hit .167 (3x18) with 2 runs, 1 RBI and 2 walks. Heredia has not played competitive baseball since 2014.
 
Sucre, 27, had surgery to repair damage in his right ankle on Jan. 26, 2016 in Seattle after fracturing his right fibula during winter ball in Venezuela on Jan. 17. He spent most of last season with Seattle, hitting .157 (20x127) with 9 runs, 6 doubles, 1 home run and 7 RBI in 50 games. In six games with AAA Tacoma, he hit .261 (6x23) with 3 runs and 2 RBI.
 
In parts of three Major League seasons, he has hit .178 (38x214) with 14 runs, 8 doubles, 1 home run and 15 RBI in 79 games. In the minors with Atlanta (2006-11) and Seattle (2009-2015), he has hit .258 (500x1939) with 179 runs, 88 doubles, 4 triples, 21 home runs and 195 RBI in 548 games. He was originally signed as a non-drafted free agent on May 25, 2005 by Atlanta.