The Seattle Mariners claimed switch-hitting first baseman and outfielder Michael Toglia off waivers from the Cincinnati Reds on Friday, bringing a former first-round pick — and a Gig Harbor product — back to Washington, via the MLB transaction wire.
Seattle’s 40-man roster remains at 39, a detail that suggests Toglia will stay on the 60-day injured list while he recovers from season-ending right-shoulder surgery.
Players on the injured list generally cannot be placed on outright waivers, so the claim is widely read as a pickup off release waivers, with Toglia not counting against the active 40-man until clubs must reinstate injured players after the World Series.
Toglia, 28, was born in Phoenix and starred at Gig Harbor High School before playing three seasons at UCLA.
The Colorado Rockies selected him in the 35th round out of high school in 2016, then took him again with the 23rd overall pick in 2019. He signed for $2.7 million and reached the majors in August 2022.
At 6-foot-5 and about 226 pounds, he throws left and has spent most of his career at first base, with occasional corner-outfield and designated-hitter work.
The big-league results have never matched the draft pedigree. In 290 games with the Rockies from 2022 to 2025 and the Reds in 2026, Toglia has hit .198/.275/.384 with 42 home runs and 109 RBI.
His best season came in 2024, when he slugged 25 homers and posted a .218/.311/.456 line with roughly 2.1 bWAR in 116 games. Contact has been the persistent problem: he struck out in more than 39 percent of his plate appearances in 2025 while hitting .190/.258/.353, and Colorado non-tendered him that November.
Cincinnati signed him to a minor-league deal in January. At Triple-A Louisville he looked like the power bat teams keep betting on, hitting .273/.373/.547 with 22 home runs and 65 RBI in 97 games.
The Reds selected his contract on August 11. The stay lasted 10 games and 28 plate appearances — he went 3-for-26 with 12 strikeouts — before he dislocated his right shoulder diving for a ball in left field against Arizona.
He was transferred to the 60-day injured list on September 4 and underwent surgery to repair the dislocation and a labrum tear.
For Seattle, the claim is low-cost depth at first base and the corners, with a hometown angle attached.
Toglia is out of minor-league options, so if the Mariners keep him on the 40-man through the winter he will have to make the club out of spring training or be designated for assignment again. The power is real.
Whether he can make enough contact to use it in the American League is the question the organization is buying time to answer.
