Credit: Shawn E. Davis/MiLB.com

Cheney Stadium will likely be the host of a couple Seattle Mariners signings in 2020. Patrick Wisdom is on the 40-man roster and Jose Marmolejos is on a minor league contract. Both are corner players with some pop. No word if Joe Intelligence or Miguel Charisma are also being scouted by the Mariners.

R Hat R City may be over, but you can still donate to Jason Lee Middle School’s “Watt’s Up!” solar project.

Stay up to date on Tacoma Rainiers news at TacomaRainiers.com 

Mariners Organization News

Some people retire, other people are like Ichiro and strike out 16 batters and go 3-for-4 while supposedly retired.

Monday was Major League Baseball’s Non-Tender deadline. The Mariners did not tender contract offers to OF Domingo Santana and INF Tim Beckham, effectively making them Free Agents.

MLB and PCL News

The 2019 Winter Meetings start on December 8. Front office personnel from all levels of organized baseball are descending on San Diego for the five-day event which could be the location of a few blockbuster transactions.

U.S. Soccer Development Academy star Ray Serrano is back with us in 2020. The winger is looking forward to translating his awards with the Sounders Academy into success with Tacoma Defiance. He already has 5 goals with the Academy this fall and is off at the Winter Cup with several Defiance teammates this week. Their match Thursday (12:30 p.m. PT) against NYCFC will be streamed by the Development Academy.

Stay up to date on Tacoma Defiance news at TACDefiance.com.

Sounders Organization News

After playing three matches with Defiance and 18 with Seattle Sounders, defender Saad Abdul-Salaam is off to FC Cincinnati. The right back/centerback will be fitting into a defense that needs help. FCC gave up a league-leading 75 goals in 2019.

Jordan Morris is up for U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year. Morris stands a chance at taking the crown just one year after an ACL injury.

MLS and USL News

Orlando City and Real Salt Lake both named coaches this week. At RSL, former Monarchs head coach Freddy Juarez is taking over the First Team in a permanent role. OCSC is committing to Oscar Pareja, the former Dallas head coach.

The Tulsa Roughnecks are no more. They are now FC Tulsa.

It's everyone's favorite graphic. 👇#FCTulsa | #TulsaRise pic.twitter.com/B6lawozNSY

— FC Tulsa (@FCTulsa) December 4, 2019

Former Defiance midfielder Ray Saari is a free agent, while Sacramento Republic retained the services of defender Jordan McCrary.

Our city has an official poet, the eighth in Tacoma’s history, actually. Current Tacoma Poet Laureate Abby E. Murray is working to bring poetry from downtown to both South and East Tacoma. Murray shares her poems about life in and out of military and arts communities.

We are prepping for the 4th Annual Downtown Tacoma Holiday Haul Crawl. Stop by our FREE winter wonderland at 938 Broadway on Saturday, Dec 14 (10 a.m. – 6 p.m.) to get a picture with your favorite Tacoma team mascots and Santa Claus himself. We’ll have merchandise available for purchase on-site and other great photo opportunities for the entire family.

Events around R City

• December 4: Seattle Sounders Talk – Moneyball in Soccer with Seattle Sounders Director of Performance Analytics Ravi Ramineni at RAIN 2304.
• December 7: Destiny City Comics & Arts Festival Holiday Edition 2019 – meet the creator of the comic Stumptown, now a hit TV show, as well as other artists.
• December 14: We’ll be at 938 Broadway for the 4th Annual Holiday Haul Crawl from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Stop by for a photo with Santa and say ‘hey’ your favorite Cheney Stadium mascots.

The Tacoma Team Store is open Monday through Saturday until Christmas from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 24/7 online. Click here for Rainiers and here for Defiance.