We heard last night that Garrett Olson has been placed on waivers, which was a pretty strong indication that his time in the organization was coming to a close. And now, via Kirby Arnold, we can confirm that he's gone, because Olson's been claimed off waivers by the Pirates.
The Pirates, of course, were baseball's worst team last season, meaning they had the top waiver priority. Which must come as some consolation to Olson. Sure, the Mariners didn't feel like they needed him anymore, but the first team to have a chance to get him jumped at the opportunity. Now Garrett Olson will join a roster that already has a Scott Olsen, a Garrett Atkins and a Garrett Jones. The Pirates may not be very good, but at least now the fans will be too confused to know who to blame.
Olson was waived because the Mariners need to start making 40-man roster room for some of their non-roster invitees, like Adam Kennedy and Chris Ray. What I don't like so much is that Olson was waived while Aaron Laffey was brought into the organization on purpose, since Laffey has pretty much nothing going for him right now while Olson was a serviceable bullpen lefty last season, but I don't want to sound like I'm making a big deal out of this because we're talking about bullpen lefties. And not the good kind of bullpen lefties, like Arthur Rhodes or Brian Fuentes. The next tier. The kinds of bullpen lefties you'll settle for but never be comfortable with.
Olson, during his time in Seattle, was always a likable guy. The worst thing I think anyone ever had to say about him personally was that he was interesting, which tells you something about his character. Ultimately, though, while likability is a plus, performance takes priority, and Olson didn't perform as well as the team would've liked him to. I wish him all the best in Pittsburgh, where he stands a better chance of God I don't know