Steven Souza Jr. signs minor league contract with Mariners

The Seattle Mariners added some recent playoff experience in signing free agent Steven Souza Jr. to a minor-league contract.

You might remember Souza from playing in 10 of the Dodgers’ 12 postseason games last year, after playing in 17 regular season games with Los Angeles.

2021 was a comeback year for Souza, who missed the bulk of 2019 and 2020 seasons after a devastating knee injury. He signed a minor league contract with the Dodgers in April, and was called up to the majors for two separate stints during the regular season. He was 5-for-33 (.152/.222/.333), including a game-winning home run on June 18 in Arizona.

Souza spent the bulk of his year with Triple-A Oklahoma City, hitting .274/.396/.554 with 12 home runs and 14 doubles in 56 games. The Dodgers designated Souza for assignment twice during the season, but added him back to the 40-man roster for the postseason, where he was 1-for-8 with a walk in 10 appearances as a reserve in October.

Souza, who turns 33 in April, has hit .230/.320/.414, a 100 OPS+ with 72 home runs in 499 games over parts of seven major league seasons.