SEATTLE -- Seattle Mariners Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto announced today the following roster move:
• Andrew Albers, LHP, released (player wishes to play in Japan).
Seattle's Major League (40-man) roster is now at 38 players.
Albers, 32, was 5-1 with a 3.51 ERA in 9 games, 6 starts, with the Mariners last season. He was acquired by Seattle from Atlanta in exchange for cash considerations in a minor league trade on Aug. 11. Following the trade, he was assigned to Triple-A Tacoma but did not appear with the Rainiers prior to being selected by Seattle. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound left-hander went 12-3 with a 2.61 ERA (35 ER, 120 2/3 IP) with 115 strikeouts and 19 walks in 26 games (17 starts) with Triple-A Gwinnett in the Atlanta organization in 2017.
In parts of 4 Major League seasons with Minnesota (2013 and 2016), Toronto (2015) and Seattle (2017), Albers is 7-6 with a 4.10 ERA (55 ER, 120 2/3 IP) with 79 strikeouts and 25 walks in 26 games (18 starts). He made his Major League debut with the Twins on Aug. 6, 2013 at Kansas City.
The native of North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada was originally drafted by Milwaukee in the 12th round of the 2004 MLB Draft out of John Paull II High School (North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada) but did not sign. He was selected and signed by San Diego in the 10th round of the 2008 MLB Draft out of the University of Kentucky. He was teammates with James Paxton at the University of Kentucky from 2007-08.