After the Mariners acquired designated hitter/first baseman Edwin Encarnacion from the Indians in a three-team trade in December, the retooling M’s informed the slugger they were planning on flipping him elsewhere for prospects, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reports. While Enarnacion did generate interest from a few other teams after Seattle acquired him, he’s still a member of the Mariners nearly two months after the fact. The reason? Potential suitors for Encarnacion have faded, Divish relays, making it possible the 36-year-old will at least open the season with the Mariners.
The Rays, Astros and White Sox were reportedly “involved” in talks for Encarnacion in late December. Tampa Bay showed no interest in trading for Encarnacion, however, even if the Mariners ate half of the remaining $25MM guarantee left on his contract, according to Divish. Meanwhile, although the Mariners did shop Encarnacion to division-rival Houston, the Astros appear content with Tyler White and Yuli Gurriel as their top DH/first base options, Divish suggests. As for the White Sox, they don’t look like a clean fit for Encarnacion given the presences of lumbering sluggers Jose Abreu and Yonder Alonso.
With Encarnacion primarily being a DH at this juncture of his career, his market’s limited to the American League, where nobody is champing at the bit to acquire him, per Divish. The Mariners’ best hope of moving Encarnacion before the season may be if a contending team’s DH/first baseman suffers an injury during the spring, then, as Divish observes. Otherwise, it appears the M’s will be left to hope Encarnacion – a once-dominant offensive force who posted a 146 wRC+ and a major league-best 231 home runs from 2012-17 – can rebuild his stock in their uniform leading up to the July and August trade deadlines. Encarnacion did belt 32 homers in 579 PAs last year – his seventh straight campaign with at least 30 HRs – though his .246/.336/.474 line and 115 wRC+ fell flat in comparison to his tremendous output over prior seasons.
Like Encarnacion, right-hander Felix Hernandez is potentially a year from free agency and may be in his last several months as a Mariner. And the M’s have even less hope of finding a taker for the formerly marvelous Hernandez, owing to both his team-high salary ($27.5MM) and the hideous 5.13 ERA/5.12 FIP he registered over 242 1/3 innings from 2017-18. Despite King Felix’s recent struggles, however, “all indications” are that he plans to his career beyond the upcoming season, Divish writes. Regardless, Hernandez will try to return to at least serving as a viable starter this year after an awful showing in 2018, when the M’s briefly relegated the 2010 AL Cy Young winner to their bullpen. Going forward, though, general manager Jerry Dipoto emphasized that the Mariners are planning on using Hernandez solely as a starter.
Nice trade Cleveland, getting something before the interest totally dried up…
Yeppers.
Santana just replaced him. Either way they would’ve had one of the two. Not as if they just dumped all his cash and ran.
Plus, EE will out produce Santana big time. Pure salary cut for Indians.
I want EE for a contender but the list of teams trying to win in the AL is short. And list gets shorter when consider who still need DH. Want him for an Astro because Yuli’s bat is not good enough for a contender DH.
If that is true Ejem, why has there been no interest in him?
Because he gets paid.
Teams trying for to compete is not many. Teams cutting salary and not care about winning is many. EE produces to help win and gets paid nice to produce so that excludes most teams from interest.
Santana produced 1.9 fWAR to Edwin’s 1. Edwin posted slightly better offensive numbers in ‘18 but is projected to perform below Santana this season. Santana is also 3 1/2 years younger and slightly less expensive
The Mainers GM may be a darling to fans that think MLB is one big Rotisserie League, but some of us see him as a chicken running around with his head cut off.
A FO that gives out too many bad multi-year contracts with the backup plan to off them if the team doesn’t win, lacks the business experience or common sense to understand that once enough teams do that, there’s no one left to take the bad contracts on.
If Dipoto wants to get rid of EE’s, Seager’s, and Hernandez’ bad contracts (and possibly others) then he’ll have to eat part of the money, include some good players/prospects, and not expect much more then a few expiring contracts back.
@Ejemp
At least Santana can play defense, too. EE is nothing more than an overpaid DH.
The only multi year deals Jerry Dipoto has given out are Kikuchi, Segura(traded) and Nicasio(traded). Cano, Cruz, Seager and Hernandez contracts all come from Jack Z.
That’s an extremely uninformed comment to say EE was purely a salary dump considering they took back a player w more money owed. Your comment just makes no sense.
fWAR is nifty but Santana OPS did .766 and EE did .810. Indians saved $10 million total in the trade to bring Santana. EE on obvious down trend but also for Santana. Salary dump, not totally but still move to save money and brought back smaller bat for DH during contention window. Who likes to see window close without a parade? Go for the gusto time is now in Cleveland.
See above, the Indians saved 10 million PLUS they brought home one of their own former star/fan favorites.
And Santana will offer to play defense anywhere they allow him he’s a team player willing to go out there and do whatever it takes to make the team better.
Dipoto “gave out” exactly zero bad multi-year contracts. He inherited the contracts of Felix, Seager, and Cano, and he managed to move the biggest one, Cano. Good luck finding anyone in the industry that doesn’t consider that a miracle.
Segura’s deal wasn’t restrictive (and proved moveable); Kikuchi is an affordable 4 years in a worst-case scenario, and other than Seager, nobody has a guaranteed contract beyond 2020.
One year of EE wouldn’t hurt Seattle. Keeping Leake, Gordon, and Bruce around even through 2020 wouldn’t, either. What you seem to fail to understand is that this offseason was about reloading and clearing payroll for the timeline they believe they can start contending, which is 2021. Have you seen what’s on the books for Seattle in 2021? Have you paid attention to the free agent class for 2021? Have you noticed that a slew of top prospects should be graduating at that time as well? Those are all things that common sense should have you checking.
It’s absolutely ridiculous for you to think you have a better understanding of how to do “business” than he does. He inherited a bad farm, a mediocre team, and a ton of salary and was asked to win with them. They actually produced the 5th most wins in the league in that span, but fell short of the postseason and only now is he getting the green light to do things the right way.
Yuli Gurriel would be good enough as a DH but fact is HE IS NOT THE ASTROS DH! Lol. He plays first base.
Santana is higher paid and a better player, the Mariners made the trade because they got the Indians 3rd round Comp pick not because they want EE more. The Indians did it to upgrade that it’s not that complicated.
Seattle at this point should wait for spring training and injuries. Forget their tax situation, suppose JDM suffers a season ending injury. EE would make a nice replacement. For Boston, the price would have to be phenomenal but the idea is there. A contender with a key injury might want his historical bat in lieu of what they have internally. ultimately the issue is whether EE is more movable than Santana.
Dewey that scenario is so far fetched I don’t know how you can just forget about their tax situation. you need their starting DH to go down and then you need them to forget they’d be paying over 10 mil in luxury tax fees on top of EE’s salary to take him.
During Tiger big champion window, at spring our super DH Victor Martinez blew out knee. Tiger great owner Illitch sign big Fielder for way too much because loving winning. Always a spring injury derail a contender and make for stupid spending like my example. Astro already thin for DH. Angel have Pujols and Ohtani but both could easily be on shelf, God forbid. EE could be a late move and mash bash.
Hi yo Silver
There are no more Mr I’s in baseball. Please provide a second example.
Christopher Ilitch
You’re right that it would mean eating a lot of dough, and Boston still might not be a great fit, but Houston and Tampa would be a couple to watch. If he isn’t moved before opening day, a deadline deal would be a possibility as well.
But worst case, it’s just one more year. Same with Swarzak. Bruce, Gordon, and Leake, just two more years each.
the retooling M’s informed the slugger they were planning on flipping him elsewhere for prospects,
Did Dipoto really tell him that?
I don’t think Dipoto’s plane would qualify as a ‘Proper Plan,’ if anything it seems a bit ill conceived!
Dipoto should stay open to moving Felix to the pen. He could bounce back, but he looks done as a starter. Best bet might be to roll the dice on a resurrection in the pen like guys like Smoltz, Gordon, Kerry Wood, etc. had
I like this idea too, then he can finish his career in Seattle
Problem #1, Felix’s worst inning is his 1st
Problem #2, Felix doesn’t want to relieve
For a season when they are explicitly tanking, letting Felix finish out his contract as a starter is not a bad strategy.
That is interesting; he was terrific in innings 2 and 3 but awful in the first inning. I wonder how to explain that.
lol
Seriously?
Top of the order compared to bottom of the order have anything to do with it? LOL!
Regardless of what he wants to do, you can’t keep starting him as his era climbs towards 6. Possibly a new role and new mindset could be beneficial. All I’m saying is Jerry shouldn’t completely shut down the idea of a move to the pen.
Smoltz wasn’t “resurrected” in the ‘pen. He went there during rehabbing from T.J. surgery and stayed there as for the benefit of the team. Then finished his HOF career as a starter.
The right thing to do, in my opinion, would be to let him start. Restrict him to two times through the order, but give him a chance to rebound.
If he can rebound, try to move him to a contender at the deadline, even if it means eating nearly all of the remaining dough.
As much as it would be nice to see him potentially finish his career with one team, giving him a chance to taste the postseason would be honorable (assuming he would have his 10/5 rights).
Can’t believe the Twins are not interested.
Why? They just signed Nelson Cruz. How many DH’s does a team need?
Because the Twins never have enough…..
And yet, they were the team who gave up on David Ortiz.
Before Ortiz discovered muscle growth medicine secret. No hate, just truth.
So did the Mariners there Einstein!
And yet, David Ortiz was originally a Mariner. D’oh!
But he didn’t meet his PED suppliers until later, so there’s no guarantee he’d have put up those numbers in Seattle…
Unrelated, but the Twins perfectly embody everything that is won’t with baseball today. wide open division with last year’s winner arguably taking a decent sized step back, and yet they’d rather sit around, do nothing, and just hope they luck into some wins
Last year, Twins did big good off season, relatively tried to build up. But Twins young core took big steps back last year. Made team worry about direction. Now division even more open. Obvious Twins need front line starter and top closer to challenge Indians. Problem? Kimbrel would fit but no front line is available on market. Would need maybe, get scary, volunteer to eat Greinke’s contract. And that strategy still only works if you really really really believe in Sano and Bronxton bounce to fulfill potential.
One potential scenario could be if Abreu gets hot early in the season, he could go to a contender, Encarnacion goes to White Sox, and Mariners get a prospect or two. Alonso is better defensively than Abreu anyway.
Nobody wants 1B/DH types, especially the bad fielders. Nobody wants EE now, and throughout these years that the White Sox have had Abreu nobody has wanted him either. It’s just a very replaceable skillset, even if both of them were once fantastic at it.
Right, because 30 plus homer a year guys are so abundant…..
Not exactly, but times like versatility and rolling guys through the DH slot as a day off from playing the field and getting bench bats some playing time. The no glove strictly DH types are becoming less prominent.
They makes zero sense pal. Did you think that one through? Why would you trade a hot hitting Abreu on a one year deal to a contender to pick up encarnacion who is also on a one year deal?
Pot….
Meet Kettle.
Pa Kettle: “Well Ma, … I guess I’ll go out and take a look at the spot where I’m gonna dig the well.”
Mariners offense doesn’t look bad… interested in what they do
You are right…. no one wants a JD Martinez who single handily helped improve the Sox lineup. I believe they won the World Series wile besting the holy hell out of the “best” MLB had to offer. Yanks, Astros, Dodgers….
While beating the holy hell **^
i would love king felix to have one more great season. sucks watching great players have nothing left.
Hernandez and Lincecum. None of us would have ever imagined in 2010 their careers would have gone the way they did.
Well, Felix didn’t fall off until 2016.
Would love to see the King Felix work with Sabathia to learn late career resurgence method. The King lost the zip and it’s not coming back. And he is the body type who needs some innings to get hot so bullpen duty probably not the answer. Somehow needs to work upper zone for the swing and miss.
What about KC or Texas?
Dozier is hardly a sure thing and if he struggles early they could swap him out, and in Texas they don’t really have a strong right handed bat, I feel like there’s a match in there somewhere
lol
Both of those teams are in long-term rebuilds. They’re going to give youngsters playing time to develop. They’re not looking to take on a $20m-plus contract with a $5m buyout at the end of the season.
As for Dozier, I assume you looked at some stats and maybe a Depth Chart. Allow me to explain – any future Dozier has with the Royals will be at 3B. O’Hearn is a fine defensive 1B with potential 40 HR power. Additionally, the Royals have a few very good young 1B prospects. Manager Yost said at the end of the year that one of the major positives he saw was how much Dosier improved his 3B play as the season went on.
It’s as if the rangers didn’t sign Lance Lynn to a 3 year 30 million dollar deal. I’m sure they’re completely averse to signing anyone…..
Exactly why I figured they’d be a match..
You really shouldn’t start a comment with “lol”. You’re missing a few things yourself.
Though neither team is going to be cough up prospects to acquire a player with 1 year of control, O’Hearn projects similarly to Ryon Healy (replacement level), and like Healy, he never mastered AAA and his rookie-year-success is in the small sample size range. Soler should be KC’s left fielder, which still leaves plenty of room for a 1B/DH type and KC doesn’t have several (good) 1B prospects. They have Pratto and he’s 2-4 years out. Who are these other “very good young 1B prospects” you mentioned?
Regarding Dozier, he may have improved defensively, but he’s has a lot to prove.
Texas is going to give Guzman a hard look, but he’s hardly a lock and they don’t have any real alternatives.
Both Texas and KC should be looking to add. They should be far more interested in pre-arb additions, though.
Samuel believes the royals are the best ran team in baseball and that they can do no wrong. Having a logical argument with him about royals baseball is a futile attempt. The fact of the matter is the Royals stink. They don’t have a farm system and they’re refusing to deal their best asset in Merrifield. With their payroll restrictions it could be another 6-7 + years until they’re back in the playoffs. The only thing they have going for them is their division is about as bad as they are.
Young, rebuilding teams don’t trade for expensive veteran DHs.
Among MLB players with at least 190 innings at first base last year, Edwin Encarnacion ranked 34th in UZR/150, ahead of National Leaguers such as Eric Hosmer, Justin Bour, Ian Desmond, Jose Martinez, Josh Bell, Mark Reynolds, Eric Thames and Dominic Smith.
fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=1b&stats=fld&#…
Encarnacion is fairly characterized as a defensive liability but there are worse defenders at first base.
Roster Resource projects Encarnacion as Seattle’s starting first baseman where the Mariners will hope the veteran fields well enough to open up the National League market:
rosterresource.com/mlb-seattle-mariners/
Regardless, Encarnacion’s defense won’t be the difference between the Mariners advancing to the playoffs or extending their postseason drought.
UZR is not a great way to evaluate a 1B for one thing. And there’s a huge sample size issue with what your presenting here. You realize 180 innings is essentially 20 games right? Comparing that apples to apples with a guy who played/is capable of playing 100+ out there is a different story. Encarnacion is as much of an AL player is there is. He’s not starting 130+ games for anyone on the dirt. And at that salary that’s exactly what you’d need him to do.
Seems like they may have overvalued their trade asset. He’s play a position deep with talent and he’s not cheap. Best they could hope for is a hot first half, trade deadline flip.
Also, we know, the Mariners promised a re-imagined cheaper lineup, not a rebuild. EE will go when there is a contender with a need come spring. I liked him for a package deal that included Haniger to Astros but since Astros signed Brantley not many possibles left.
Why not trying the King as a reliever? The A’s did with Dennis Eckersley and it worked just fine.
Dipoto was confident he’d get EE moved. Anyone paying attention knew it would be very difficult. 1B is not a strong market right now. All contenders have a first baseman they believe in (even the Yankees), Edwin won’t want to go to a losing team and then there’s the $20-mil contract. Edwin’s a Mariner and will remain a Mariner until at least the summer.
Probably need to wait now for injuries to other teams DH
Encarnacion is a FA after the 2019 season. That’s one season. The Mariners can’t go wrong by keeping him. Ideally they find a taker but regardless, the money will be off their books after the season at the latest.
I don’t understand why Tampa Bay wouldn’t take a shot on this guy after losing out on Nelson Cruz. They were willing to spend to get Morton, and a solid slugger is the one thing they’re missing. It almost reminds me of the Red Sox being willing to spend big on Eovaldi but then being unwilling to spend 5 million or so on a solid reliever that they badly need.
He’s very expensive and the Rays probably didn’t offer Cruz anywhere close to that much despite being the clear better hitter.
Oh No! We’re stuck with a Middle-of-the-Order Run-Producing Slugger…LOL! No Reason to make a trade until the Demand is Higher, which is inevitable once key injuries start to hit contending teams!