Seattle, WA
In a Seattle state of mind, Carlos Vargas impresses with retooled command
Last night’s ugly loss to the Tigers had a few redeeming moments, although mostly on the offensive side of the ball, as will be the case when the pitching uncharacteristically gives up 18 hits and nine runs. But there was one bright spot on the mound: pitcher Carlos Vargas announced himself to Mariners fans in a big way, with a heroic nearly 3.2-inning effort where he allowed one inherited runner to score and had one run score on a combination of tough-luck hits (ground ball single, parachute single that should have been caught, ground ball single well off third base that Polanco couldn’t make a play on).
“Vargy, that was huge last night, being able to give us as many innings as he did” said Mariners manager Dan Wilson. “He had so many quick innings because he was attacking the zone and his ball was moving and they weren’t able to square it up, so that really gave us some much-needed length in the game.”
Mariners fans might not know Vargas as well, but Tacoma Rainiers fans are well acquainted with the slender hurler, who was acquired in the Eugenio Suárez trade-slash-salary dump with the Diamondbacks prior to the 2024 season. While trade-mate Seby Zavala got the most big-league playing time of the two that season, Vargas was the most interesting piece in that deal, with a sinker that even outdueled Andrés Muñoz’s in heat and an equally spicy four-seamer, both of which zipped in around 98-99. The caveat, because of course teams don’t give away these kinds of relievers for free, is that Vargas struggled to command that big stuff, a primary reason why the pitching-savvy Guardians, who originally signed Vargas as an IFA in 2016, flipped him to Arizona in a minor-league deal in the first place.
Vargas spent all of 2024 with Tacoma Rainiers, working on dialing in his command. Command is famously one of the hardest things to fix, but the Mariners pitching lab saw tantalizing stuff from Vargas, whose Stuff+ grades out very well, and a possibility to coax him into a more zone-focused mentality. Mariners pitching development preaches that pitchers should trust their stuff, throw their best pitches the most often, and not be afraid to throw in the zone. Vargas took those lessons to heart; he cut his walk rate in Tacoma literally in half from where it was in Arizona, the first single-digit walk rate of his career since he was at Low-A.
“Here they teach you, attack the strike zone,” said Vargas through translator Freddy Llanos, describing the changes he’s made in Seattle not as mechanical, but in mentality. “Always get ahead in the count, go out there and compete.”
Along with the walks, Vargas’s strikeouts also dropped, as he dialed back his highest-octane stuff. His sinker now comes in at a more modest 96 vs. 99. Between the upped sinker usage in lieu of his four-seamer from his Arizona days and the scaling back of his velocity, his profile is now firmly that of a groundball specialist in lieu of a strikeout maven. Contrast the two sinkers, first from Vargas in 2023 during his big league debut season, with a firm, running fastball that has almost purely arm-side movement and minimal drop:
Take that against one of his better sinkers from his Monday night outing against Detroit, which now features a significantly more drop-focused movement profile (and a more useful visual angle, thank you ROOT):
He still throws a hard cutter, at 92, which is his primary whiff-getting pitch, with sharp late downward break. He rounds out the arsenal with two secondaries he throws almost exclusively in two-strike or favorable counts: a changeup for weak-contact outs at the bottom of the zone; and a slider with has plus drop that he’ll throw up in the zone for whiffs and flyouts (and, in one regrettable instance, a Luis Urías home run).
While some organizations tinker with pitchers’ mechanics, encouraging them to change arm angles or change their position on the pitching rubber, Mariners pitching coach Pete Woodworth said that’s not at all a part of Seattle’s pitching development, which hammers home attacking the zone and trusting your stuff. “We show them what happens in two-strike counts” he said. “It’s just that easy. No one wants to believe it, but it is.”
In fact, he says the next step for Vargas—as it is for several of his pitchers—is getting him to expand the zone low with two strikes, and getting him off the plate.
For Vargas, he’s embraced the bigger-picture mentality.
“I’m just trying to be focused all the time” he said through Llanos. “Focused on intent, and how I can stay here, and how I can help the team. And I feel like every step I take, it’s with a purpose.”
That focus was on display last night as Vargas kept the Mariners in a game that looked to be a runaway blowout early on. His efforts saved the rest of the bullpen, and demonstrated his newfound zone-focused mentality and sense of intention, as he competed with every pitch, seemingly without regard for the scoreboard.
“Player of the game,” said Wodworth. “Maybe player of the week.”
Seattle, WA
Seattle Seahawks land 2 players on list of potential salary cap cuts in 2026
No matter how the playoffs go for the Seatte Seahawks, general manager John Schneider and his team are looking at a very busy offseason ahead.
In addition to their usual preparations for the 2026 NFL draft, Seattle has a ton of important players who are about to become unrestricted free agents. That list includes special teams superstar Rashid Shaheed, running back Ken Walker and defensive standouts Boye Mafe, Riq Woolen and Coby Bryant.
It’s going to be really difficult to keep that entire group together, even with a lot of cap space projected to be open in 2026. The Seahawks may have to create room with some salary cap casualties after the season is over.
On that note, Over the Cap has listed a pair of Seattle players as potential cap casualties. Let’s review both of them.
OLB Uchenna Nwosu
Coming in at No. 46 on OTC’s list is veteran edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu, who has one year remaining on his contract with a cap hit just over $20 million. Nwosu has been valuable when he’s on the field but he’s also missed a ton of time due to injuries and it will be difficult to justify his cap hit with so many other players to pay.
Seattle can save a little over $11.5 million if they cut Nwosu, before June 1 or after. However, they would also take on a dead money hit north of $8.5 million, which takes a lot of the flavor out of those cap savings.
In 45 games with the Seahawks, Nwosu has tallied 19.5 sacks, 52 QB hits, 24 tackles for a loss, five forced fumbles and eight pass breakups.
That’s a lot of good production across the board as an all-around defender, but he’ll turn 30 years old before next season is over and there are a lot of mouths to feed for Mike Macdonald’s defense.
Over the Cap projects there’s a 58.5% chance that the Seahawks will wind up cutting him. Our best guess is that will be the case, especially if they want to pursue someone like Maxx Crosby on the trade market.
K Jason Myers
The only other Seahawks player who made the list (at No. 77) was placekicker Jason Myers, where the team has an interesting choice to make.
Myers has been around since the 2019 season and he’s come through for them more often than not. In 117 games he’s converted 200 of 232 field goal attempts, coming out to 86.2%. On extra point attempts he’s gone 292/307 for 95.1%.
Those are very solid numbers for an NFL kicker, and when you have a solid option at this position you don’t mess with it.
Another factor working in Myers’ favor is that Seattle really can’t save all that much money by cutting him. According to OTC’s numbers the Seahawks would create $5.1 million in cap room by cutting him, with a dead money hit of $1,875,000.
Five million might get Seattle a decent backup for their interior offensive line, or another contributor to Mike Macdonald’s defense. It’s not enough to really move the needle for this roster, though.
OTC gives it a 52.5% chance that Myers will get cut, but we don’t see that happening. If they want to lower his cap hit, the Seahawks can create a little over $3 million for 2026 with an extension. That’s the only move they should be looking to make at this spot.
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Seattle, WA
Kraken Extend Streak In Comeback OT Loss | Seattle Kraken
And while Dunn’s head coach insisted afterwards he doesn’t believe in “measuring stick games” the Kraken measured up fairly well in this one considering they played a pretty poor first period and needed half of the second frame to get any type of offense going against the league’s No. 2 defensive unit.
But they eventually got it going and the salvaged point, as Dunn mentioned, was huge in that it allowed the Kraken to remain in third place in the Pacific Division – just two points behind leaders Vegas and Edmonton – as they now embark on a five-city road trip. They extended their points streak to 10 games in the process, going 8-0-2 that stretch to transform a season hinging on the brink.
Mats Zuccarello got the overtime winner for Minnesota, converting a Kirill Kaprizov pass off a 2-on-1 break after the Kraken had been foiled just moments prior on their own odd-man rush. That foiled an outstanding night for Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer, who’d made several huge stops in both overtime and the third period to keep things tied, as well as prior to that frame to give his team the shot at a comeback.
The Kraken had spent the past week filling opposition nets with pucks but waited until the final 17 minutes to score their first goal of this game. By that point, they’d been trailing 2-0 since a pair of 42-foot wrist shot goals by Ryan Hartman and Brock Faber in the first period silenced the home crowd.
“The first period was awful, and our execution was probably the biggest part of that,” Dunn said. “It’s just tough when you’re chasing the game a little bit to start the game. So, we kind of set ourselves up for the second period to come out and play the right way and I thought as the game went on, we got a lot better.
“And I thought it was a pretty competitive game both ways. A lot of chances both ways.”
Grubauer kept things close from there, stopping 31 of 34 shots on the night to give his team a chance to get back in it.
Adam Larsson then got the Kraken on the board three minutes into the final period with a slap shot goal from the right circle after Dunn had rung one off the post on a prior blast seconds earlier. And the Kraken weren’t done yet.
The Wild ran into penalty trouble not long after and the Kraken capitalized on the power play with Matty Beniers banging home a net front rebound off a Jared McCann shot that lifted the home side into a 2-2 tie and sent the Climate Pledge Arena crowd into a frenzy.
Seattle, WA
Valter Walker vs. Marcin Tybura booked for UFC Seattle
Heavyweights will collide in “Rain City.”
MMAmania.com confirmed with multiple sources today (Thurs., Jan. 8, 2026) that No. 10-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight Marcin Tybura will take on surging Brazilian prospect Valter Walker at UFC Seattle on Sat., March 28, 2026, inside Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington.
Walker (15-1) stumbled out of the gate in his UFC debut, suffering a loss to Lukasz Brzeski in 2024. Since then, however, “Clean Monster” has completely rewritten the narrative — and the UFC record books.
Walker opened 2025 by submitting Don’Tale Mayes with a heel hook (watch highlights), his second straight victory via the technique. Five months later, he followed it up with another first-round heel hook against Kennedy Nzechukwu (watch highlights), setting a new UFC record for most consecutive heel hook submission wins with three.
But he wasn’t finished.
At UFC 321 in Oct. 2025, Walker once again locked in a first-round heel hook — this time against Louie Sutherland — tying Rousimar Palhares for the most heel hook submissions (four) in UFC history while extending his own record for consecutive heel hook finishes (watch it).
A win in Seattle would almost certainly vault Walker into the Top 10 of the Heavyweight rankings.
Tybura (27-10), meanwhile, will be defending his No. 10 spot when he steps into the cage. The Polish veteran went 1-1 in 2025, handing highly touted U.K. prospect Mick Parkin his first professional loss at UFC London before suffering a quick knockout loss to debuting Ante Delija at UFC Paris (watch highlights), snapping a two-fight win streak.
Now 40 years old, Tybura is 5-3 over his last eight appearances.
Here are some other bouts currently scheduled for UFC Seattle:
Casey O’Neill vs. Gabriella Fernandes
Alexa Grasso vs. Maycee Barber
Nicolle Caliari vs. Carol Fiori
To checkout UFC’s upcoming schedule of events click here.
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