Some items from around the AL West…
- The Mariners apparently aren’t planning to make Nelson Cruz available in trade talks, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes. The newly-acquired Ryon Healy will be used at first base, leaving Cruz to his usual role as Seattle’s designated hitter. A 37-year-old, DH-only player entering the final year of his contract would seem like a logical trade chip on paper, though Cruz has been such a valuable hitter for the M’s that moving him would be a questionable move for a team planning to contend in 2018. Cruz has done nothing but rake since coming to Seattle three seasons ago, batting .292/.368/.557 with 126 homers over 1967 plate appearances.
- Healy was acquired for Emilio Pagan, and between losing Pagan and fellow righty Thyago Vieria (in another deal with the White Sox), Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto told MLB.com’s Greg Johns and other reporters that he feels his team was able to spare the arms. “Right-handed bullpen is a place we felt we had a little depth, and we turned some of that depth into a first baseman, which was not an area we were quite as flush,” Dipoto said. While the M’s were hit hard by injuries last year, they do have a number of rotation and bullpen options on hand, including several youngsters rising through the farm system. (For a full overview of the Mariners’ pitching options, check out their roster page at Roster Resource.)
- Evan Gattis logged more time at catcher than designated hitter in 2017, but it’s very likely to be the other way around next season, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle reports. The Astros plan to use Gattis almost exclusively at DH (replacing the departed Carlos Beltran) and find a more traditional No. 2 catcher to place behind Brian McCann. Houston could go outside the organization to find McCann’s next backup, but the team may like in-house option Max Stassi enough to give him the role, Kaplan relays. Both Stassi and fellow reserve catcher Juan Centeno will be out of options next season, and Kaplan suggests that the Astros will try to keep the latter in the organization by sending him through outright waivers in the coming months.
- The Athletics have a full 40-man roster, which MLB.com’s Jane Lee notes could lead to some shuffling before Monday evening’s deadline to set rosters in advance of the Rule 5 Draft. Lee lists five prospects (outfielder B.J. Boyd and right-handers Heath Fillmyer, Casey Meisner, Lou Trivino, and Jake Sanchez) as potential candidates to be added to Oakland’s 40-man, lest they be taken by another team in the Rule 5 Draft, which takes place in December.
Gattis as a full time DH makes little sense. He hits much better as a catcher. If the organization isn’t happy with his defense, they should non-tender him or trade him.
I’d rather rotate the DH.
Why does he hit better as a catcher compared to DH?
no clue, but statistics confirm that statement
It just means he has more value as a catcher than a DH
exactly if you want to be a full-time DH you better hit a lot. as a part-time DH part-time catcher he’s great
Some players have said that they are not able to focus as much when they DH only instead of playing the field as well (although others have said that they don’t feel different either way). If it matters in his head then it is a real factor to him.
Because he played catcher more then DH. Does not meab he cannot his unless he is not. DH
He was full time DH two years and gave replacement level production. Much better as a catcher. I don’t have the numbers on me, but they’re glaringly different.
Its fairly common for this scenario to happen. Some players prefer playing and not sitting….maybe it keeps them in the game psychologically. I believe Jim Thome spoke about it once, but he adjusted.
Obvious the Astros think its just an anomaly and SSS. I’ll leave it up to Hinch and Luhnow to decide as they have done a pretty good job to date.
Even if he is better offensively as a catcher, he’s still very good offensively as a DH. Foolish to release or trade his bat over defense.
I agree with the idea of rotating the DH though. Utilizing Marwin’s Versatility I feel kept a lot of guys fresh/healthy and frankly I don’t want to seem him as an everyday LF should Fisher not figure things out. Personally if I’m Lunhow I’m looking for an affordable OF or 1B to add depth and give more rotation options. They may already have that with Moran and JD Davis, but insurance never hurts.
The Mariners front office are famous for making ill-sighted moves- trading away Chris Taylor, Jason Varitek, Shin Soo Choo and Adam Jones to name a few and trading Nelson Cruz would be just one more bonehead decision. Since Cruz was signed the M’s have been transformed from a team that struggles to score a couple runs per 9 innings to a team that slugs with the best of them. Nelly can carry the team for weeks at a time and it’s anemic when he is out of the lineup. Not happening
Nelson Cruz isn’t a prospect that the Mariners gave up on.
Maybe this is a better analogy- trading away Rafael Soriano, or how about Freddy Garcia? I’m curious, you’re an Ms fan, You think we should trade Cruz?
Potentially Taijuan Walker. (but to be fair, who would’ve thought Chris Taylor would’ve been what he turned out to be? At most, he would’ve been a utility guy).
No mlb1225 the Mariners thought Taylor was only a utility guy. They missed judged him. The Dodgers did not
The dodgers couldn’t possibly believe he was ever going to have the season he just had.
@JDGoat Ditto
Chris Taylor has never put up numbers like these even in the minors. No one saw this coming. Nothing in his profile ever suggested he was the player he was last season. We’ll see if he can still be that player next year. 21 hrs for a guy who never popped more than 8 in the minors. He came out of nowhere.
Nobody saw an all-star level season out of Chris Taylor. He wasn’t some can’t miss prospect.
Varitek, Choo, and Jones don’t belong in any indictment of the current Mariners FO.
A blanket statement about Mariners GMs across multiple administrations based on four misses and no other context doesn’t represent very good analysis either.
First let me say, I’m a huge Mariners fan. Each reply here misses the point- my team, the Seattle Mariners have a history of making bad trades and poor decisions. I cherry picked 4 trades that mlb fans would remember. Just google worst mlb trades then count how many Mariner trades you see. A lot. My point is Seattle has a history of making bad decisions and moving Cruz would be another in a long line of fails. For the record, I like Dipoto and think he’s our best GM since Pat Gillick
Literally every fan base says the same thing about their team
At least the Mariners didn’t release David Ortiz or trade Johan Santana for a bag of peanuts. Unsalted.
Your right, they diddnt release David Ortiz, they traded him!
You’re talking about several different management teams in Seattle. That’s like saying Theo Epstein is to blame for the Dallas Green trading away Joe Carter in 1984.
What!? How’d you make that connection man? Seattle FO’s have made bad trades/acquisitions- please google mlb worst trades. We excel in bad moves. If they trade Nelson (please no!) that would be another bad decision. How is that the same as saying Theo is to blame for a trade in 1984 ?
He’s saying the current FO for Seattle has nothing to do all the bad trades over the past years.
The 3 relievers you listed are pretty good bets to be protected. Bullpen is one of our biggest needs at the moment. I can see us DFAing Casilla, non-tendering Phegley, Garneau or Hendriks so we can protect those guys.
Cadillac is owed $6 Million so there’s no way the A’s are walking away without getting something in return. Hendriks is arbitration eligible. If there was justice in the universe Hendriks would wind up paying the A’s back the salary he ‘earned’ last season.
@zacharydmanprin So who else should pay back the ‘salary’ they earned from the A’s. Did you have a look at what Hendriks strand rate was? On many occasions he was given runners on and got the A’s out of a jam, of course sometimes he went for a HR in those situations. Although his K9 was up so were K/BB and BB/9 and HR/9. I think that your comment is a bit harsh on him considering the situations he pitched in, and furthermore he’s still only 28 and I think he still has some room for improvement.
Nontendering Hendriks is just an option, although I don’t see us doing it. His second half was really solid; 2.63 ERA in 27 innings pitched from the ASB on.
I do 100% see us DFAing Casilla, if there are certain factors present. Right now the bullpen rounds out like this: Treinen, Pagan, Hatcher, Hendriks, Coulombe, Casilla. Wahl, Sanchez, Bassitt and Triggs will all probably be in the discussion as well. We don’t need a guy that will only see 1 inning every 4 days when we’re losing, because our manager can’t trust him to hold on to a lead.
Nelson Cruz really is a tremendous player. His career numbers will surprise many. Can’t believe the Red Sox wouldn’t be interested and offer a good return?
Keep Nelson Cruz and trade him mid-season should you be out of contention.
But honestly, I’d rather extend him then trade him. 40 home runs or more for the past several seasons. Great overall hitting stats too. How can you replace that?
Mariner fans hoping they get the slugger with 38 career jokers and 2.283 baa need know that a majority of that came at 3rd where he is a .300+ hitter, at first he was a .260 hitter and not much of a slugger for the defensive struggles he has.
Now for Oakland I hope pheagley and smolinski and canha are set free as well as Joey wendle (,,because I think he could play elsewhere) and Hatcher for all rule 5 guys listed. Considering they just traded Healy for a pitcher with similar numbers to Trivinos, I think he is safe. Bj Boyd is the interesting one to watch.
All of the relievers listed throw gas, and could be in the picture for us in a troubling bullpen this season, so I agree. I kinda want to let Boyd go so he can actually have a shot. Not sure he’d get to the majors with us.
I think Cruz will get extended, 2 yr with a club option for a 3rd..if Cruz wants to still play baseball.
Mariners are a Ceterfielder/Starting pitcher away from hitting playoffs over the next 6yrs
I’d bet money Gattis is not an Astro in 2018. I don’t get why they would tender him a contract that will approach 9 million, when Tyler White could equal his production from the right hand side.
Use the money that would goto Gattis on someone like Jake McGee.
I think I’ll take that bet!