ST. PETERSBURG, Florida - Seattle Mariners Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto announced today that infielder Taylor Motter has been recalled from AAA Tacoma and infielder Danny Espinosa has been placed on waivers for the purpose of granting him his unconditional release.
Motter, 27, hit .350 (35x100) with 24 runs scored, 6 doubles, 1 triple, 7 home runs, 18 RBI with 14 walks and 6 stolen bases in 25 games with AAA Tacoma after being optioned on July 24. Prior to being recalled had recorded 5 consecutive multi-hit games (8/14-18), batting .700 (14x20) with 9 runs scored, 2 doubles, 1 triple, 2 home runs and 6 RBI. Motter began the season with Seattle, appearing in 70 games with Seattle, batting .204 with 24 runs scored, 11 doubles, 7 home runs and 23 RBI. In his first 18 games this season (April 4-26), he hit .262 (16x61) with 7 doubles, 5 home runs and 13 RBI, but hit .180 (27x150) with 4 doubles, 2 home runs and 10 RBI in 52 games since April 27. Defensively, he appeared at every position except center field, pitcher and catcher.
Motter was acquired (with INF Richie Shaffer) from the Tampa Bay Rays on Dec. 16, 2016 in exchange for Dalton Kelly (inf), Andrew Kittridge (rhp) and Dylan Thompson (rhp). He made his MLB debut with the Rays in 2016, appearing in 33 games.
Espinosa, 30, appeared in 8 games with Seattle after signing as a free agent on July 24. Overall he hit .188 (3x16) with 2 runs scored, 2 doubles and 2 RBI in 8 games with the Mariners. He began the season with the Los Angeles Angels, batting .162 (37x228) with 27 runs, 8 doubles, 6 home runs and 29 RBI in 77 games. Espinosa was designated for assignment by the Angels on July 16 and released on July 20.
In parts of 8 Major League seasons with the Nationals (2010-16), Angels (2017) and Mariners (2017), Espinosa is a career .221 (638x2888) hitter with 366 runs, 139 doubles, 12 triples, 98 home runs and 316 RBI in 864 career games. The native of Santa Ana, CA, was originally selected by Washington in the 3rd round of the 2008 MLB Draft out of Long Beach State University.