Simeon Woods Richardson's roller coaster season continues. The former Twins right-hander signed a minor-league contract with the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday, according to his MLB.com transactions log. He was assigned to Triple-A Tacoma.
Late last month, the Blue Jays designated Woods Richardson for assignment for the second time since acquiring him from the Twins in early June. Woods Richardson cleared waivers both times he was DFA'd by Toronto. He elected free agency after the second DFA, allowing him to sign his contract with Seattle.
Woods Richardson had decent results with the Blue Jays, posting a 3.93 ERA over 18 1/3 innings. However, he allowed 12 walks and 14 hits while recording just 14 strikeouts with Toronto, suggesting he was lucky his ERA wasn't much higher.
The right-hander began the season in the Twins' starting rotation. Minnesota designated him for assignment in late May after he posted an awful 7.74 ERA over 47 2/3 innings. Then, the Twins traded him to the Blue Jays.
Woods Richardson has been involved in two trades between the Twins and Blue Jays. In 2021, the Blue Jays traded Woods Richardson and Austin Martin to the Twins for right-hander Jose Berrios. At the time, Woods Richardson and Martin were highly regarded prospects.
Woods Richardson's prospect stock tanked after being acquired by the Twins. He appeared in just one MLB game in both 2022 and 2023. He settled in as a solid back-end rotation arm in 2024, recording a 4.17 ERA over 133 2/3 innings. He also had a decent 2025 season, posting a 4.04 ERA over 111 1/3 innings.
Even though Woods Richards posted solid numbers in 2024 and 2025, he had below-average strikeout and walk rates during that span. While most people likely didn't think he would struggle as badly as he has this year, regression appeared extremely likely to occur for the right-hander.
How will Simeon Woods Richardson's career progress after signing with Mariners?
Woods Richardson still has plenty of time to turn his career around, as he is just 25 years old. Long-term, he would probably have more success if he converted to a full-time reliever. He has already begun getting more relief experience, as all eight of his appearances with the Blue Jays came out of the bullpen.
If the Mariners don't promote Woods Richardson before the end of the season, he will hit free agency again. There's a decent chance he will be promoted to the big leagues soon, as Seattle right-hander Emerson Hancock suffered an adductor strain this past weekend.
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