Former Seattle Mariners’ Frustration in Camp Again, This Time As Volunteer Coach
Former Seattle Mariners’ outfielder AJ Pollock is back in M’s camp as a volunteer assistant coach this spring.
It sounds like Pollock is thinking about getting into coaching and this is kind of a test run for him.
Per Shannon Drayer of Seattle Sports 710:
AJ Pollock is in the clubhouse. He will join the Mariners for spring training in a similar role as Tom Wilhelmsen in assisting with the team where needed while getting an up-close look at coaching.
Pollock has not officially retired yet but this move could certainly signal the end of his playing days. The 36-year-old Connecticut native has spent 12 years in the big leagues with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago White Sox, Mariners, and San Francisco Giants.
He struggled as a member of the M’s in 2023, hitting just .173 over 49 games. He was eventually traded to the Giants and played only five games for San Francisco.
Pollock was an All-Star with the Diamondbacks back in 2015 when he finished the year with 20 homers and 39 stolen bases. Lifetime, he’s a .273 hitter with 145 homers and 122 stolen bases. He also won a Gold Glove in 2015 and received MVP votes that season.
As for the Mariners team that he’s working with, they finished 88-74 last year and missed the playoffs by 1.0 game. They’ve completely re-tooled their roster this year, bringing in Luke Raley, Jorge Polanco, Luis Urias, and Mitch Haniger. They’ve let go of Marco Gonzales, Jarred Kelenic, Eugenio Suarez, and Robbie Ray.