Seattle Mariners buy reliever Ernesto Frieri for a dollar

What’s the going rate for an Ernesto Frieri these days? One dollar, as the Seattle Mariners found out.

We see plenty of MLB teams go shopping in the bargain bin throughout the season, but the Seattle Mariners took it to a new level yesterday. Per ESPN.com, they purchased relief pitcher Ernesto Frieri from the Texas Rangers for the grand total of $1.00.

That’s right, one U.S. dollar. There are items on the McDonald’s value menu that would set you back more than the cost of the 32-year-old right-hander. “Cash considerations” indeed.

Prior to his big sale, Frieri had bounced around a bit this year. After sitting out the entire 2016 season, he made his return pitching for his native Colombia in last spring’s World Baseball Classic. He pitched two scoreless innings in the tournament. The Yankees proceeded to sign Frieri to a minor league contract prior to the start of the 2017 campaign.

Frieri did not make the major league roster out of spring training, but continued to put in work at the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate. He posted a 3.00 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 10.3 K/9 rate in 21.6 innings for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. With no call-up in sight, Frieri opted out of his deal on June 1.

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He latched on with the Rangers a few days later, inking another minor league pact. Frieri was a bit more fortunate this time, earning a promotion on June 17. He logged seven innings of relief for Texas, allowing four runs (5.14 ERA) on six hits with six walks and five strikeouts.

Frieri’s poor showing resulted in him being designated for assignment in early July. He accepted a ticket back to Triple-A Round Rock, where he surrendered one run (1.42 ERA) on five hits with three walks and 10 strikeouts in 6.1 frames.

Like the Yankees and Rangers before them, the Mariners will hope to coax some of Frieri’s past success out of him by the end of the season. Four years ago he notched 37 saves as the Angels’ closer, and from 2010-2013 he managed a 2.79 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 12.3 K/9 over a total of 229.1 innings. Seattle manager Scott Servais believes Frieri could prove useful down the stretch, per ESPN.com:

"“I know a little bit about him. Good guy, somebody with major league experience that if we do start circulating guys up and down then he’s a guy that’s been there before that you can count on.”"

For now, Frieri will report to Triple-A Tacoma and wait for another shot. While his major league results have not been too encouraging this season, his numbers in the minors have been solid. Perhaps most noteworthy is that Frieri’s strikeout ability (career 11.5 K/9) doesn’t appear to have gone anywhere.

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It’s hard to see Frieri making much of a difference if he even does get called up, but the M’s figured they could use the bullpen depth in light of recent trade acquisition David Phelps hitting the DL yesterday with an elbow impingement and expected to miss two to three weeks.

And it only cost them a dollar, which is presumably far less than what the Indians paid when they bought Dave Winfield for a steak dinner in 1995.