The out-of-contention Mariners cut some payroll Saturday when they traded pricey slugger Edwin Encarnacion to the Yankees. If Seattle ownership has its way, that won’t be the last payroll-slashing deal the Mariners make in advance of the July 31 deadline. Owner John Stanton & Co. would like to see general manager Jerry Dipoto move anyone making money, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network.
Considering the way the Mariners’ season began, this probably isn’t the news their fans were expecting in April. Although the Mariners retooled in the offseason and weren’t supposed to contend this year, they emerged as the story of baseball amid a blazing 13-2 start. The club has dropped 42 of 59 since then, though, now own the majors’ sixth-worst record (30-44) and is on track to increase its playoff drought to 18 years.
With no hope to push for relevance this season, the question now is which veterans will follow Encarnacion (and the previously departed Jay Bruce) out of Seattle. It’s “likely” the Mariners would prefer to deal right-hander Mike Leake and second basemen Dee Gordon more than anyone else, Heyman reports.
There have already been talks regarding Leake with at least one team – the Diamondbacks – though those discussions didn’t reach advanced stages. As a longtime innings eater who has typically prevented runs at a league-average rate, Leake could hold value to some team whose rotation needs shoring up. However, Leake’s still owed around $29MM through 2020 – including $9MM that his previous team, St. Louis, is paying him and a $5MM buyout for 2021 – and has a full no-trade clause. Therefore, even if the Mariners eat a sizable portion of Leake’s remaining deal, there’s no guarantee the 31-year-old would sign off on a deal.
Gordon, also 31, won’t be able to block a trade anywhere. The trouble is that the speed merchant has been little more than a replacement-level player since 2018. To make matters worse, Gordon still has about $20MM coming his way through next season (including a $1MM buyout for 2021), so there’s limited appeal in his case.
Other than Leake and Gordon, third baseman Kyle Seager, lefties Yusei Kikuchi and Wade LeBlanc, outfielder Domingo Santana, infielder Tim Beckham, and relievers Cory Gearrin and Hunter Strickland are each earning in the millions.
The Mariners won’t find a taker for the once-great Hernandez, an injured, sharply declining soon-to-be free agent on a $27MM-plus salary. Seager’s set for guaranteed salaries of $18MM-$19MM through 2021, and essentially has a poison pill contract that may be impossible to move. Seager would be able to convert his $15MM club option for 2022 into a player option if dealt. He’d no doubt exercise it.
Kikuchi hasn’t stood out during his first season in Seattle, but it’s hard to imagine the team cutting the cord on the Japanese import just a few months after he was a ballyhooed offseason addition. LeBlanc’s 34 and making $2.3MM this season, the last guaranteed year of his deal. He’s not pitching like someone who’d be able to help a contender, though.
Santana has been one of the Mariners’ best players in 2019, his first year with the club. It’s up in the air whether it would deal him, but as someone who’s only under control for two more years after this one, it could happen if Seattle doesn’t think it will contend by then. Santana, 26, would warrant a solid return considering his performance, control and current salary ($1.95MM).
Beckham has fallen off dramatically since a hot start to the beginning of the season, which has caused him to lose significant playing time. But the 29-year-old impending free agent may pique teams’ interest as cheap infield depth ($1.75MM).
Gearrin’s making a shade less than Beckham ($1.5MM), and because he has generally been a useful major league reliever, the Mariners may be able to trade him without a lot of trouble. Meantime, Strickland still hasn’t returned since suffering a right lat strain March 30. The former Giant could have been a trade chip this season had he shown well, as he’s making a mere $1.3MM and comes with arbitration eligibility through 2021. As of now, however, it appears he’ll say put this summer.
Aside from Santana, whom Seattle may want to keep as a building block, valuable commodities are hard to find among its million-dollar players. The Mariners combined for savings in the neighborhood of $10MM in the Encarnacion and Bruce deals, but continuing to cut payroll to a large extent will be difficult when the majority of their most expensive players aren’t producing.
What would this website be without Dipoto making deals? MLB trade activity will be cut in half if he ever gets fired.
Dipoto is trash he does nothing but destroy every club he joins
He didn’t destroy the M’s the window was closing fast he did the right thing
Dipoto is awful
Was the window ever really open ?
Moreno destroyed the Angels, not Dipoto, but keep pushing your false narrative
Don’t bother arguing with this guy, him and Halohank, who are probably the same person make the same comment on every single Mariners post.
Still wrong and still better than Eppler, angelsfan. You have Mike Trout and can’t sniff the playoffs. Dipoto earned every cent of his extension.
How’s Moreno’s signing of old man Pujols doing? Bummer they can’t move that contract like Cano’s.
Amen to that!
Unless if he becomes the General Manager of another team and continues to be trade happy.
Interesting. The Cano-Diaz trade right now looks like it could go down as one of the best trades in Mariners’ history and one of the most lopsided in the modern era, JP Crawford is outperforming Segura on a rate basis, Mallex’s struggles at the plate have been nothing compared to Zunino’s, and Narvaez has been such an amazing offensive catcher that it overshadows his defensive struggles (let alone that he was acquired for only a reliever that fans hated… even if wrongly)
The only recent trades made by Dipoto that actually looks empirically like misses so far are the Paxton deal and Santana-for-Encarnacion+ deals. While the Paxton one does indeed look like a gut-punch so far, even if none of Sheffield, DTW or Swanson contribute, all of the other trades from the offseason were massive wins.
The in-season trades thus far have been good, too, once you account for the actual values of the players Dipoto’s traded away. That warm bodies were acquired for either of Swarzak or Bruce — let alone both of them — is amazing given that they were nothing more than salary offsets for the now-Albatross Cano contract. And teams just plain don’t value DH/1B types like Encarnacion at all… unless your memories of MLB’s behavior the last 3 years is just that poor.
Go Mariners!
It’s a fire sale! Everything must go.
So now we have basically traded Edwin and sears for Rumbelow who we just cutthis week. Can you just knock it off Dipoto and quit baseball? It’s not funny anymore. I’m beginning to think you are being threatened forced into these moves and are trying to leave us a message but I know you are not that smart.
Dipoto is going nowhere not should he. It’s two and a half months into a rebuild…they are trying to clear the books now for flexibility in the future to add around the guys they develop.
Keep up that thinking buddy!! Mariners will be trash til they get rid of dipoto
We were trying to win at that time and Then was a non-prospect when we dealt him for promising relief help. We’ve now changed our timeline for competing. Receiving a solid prospect in return for a slugger who is overpaid from the Mariners perspective but affordable for the Yanks isn’t a bad move. I’m sure we all would have liked more in the return, but shedding salary is nice, too.
Who is shedding salary nice for? Ownership? What team has ever grown better from shedding salary? You have to pay every year and you have to win some games and fans to make some more money. If we are actually trying to rebuild we should be eating these contracts and passed mistakes and getting the best prospects we can get back. Playing the middle like this and eating a bit of money and getting mid level prospects keeps you a middle level contender.
In only 2019-vs-2018-MLB-team terms, the Mariners have been loads better as a result of shedding of Cano’s salary. And that doesn’t even account for the Diaz-for-Kelenic+Dunn half of the trade.
Or have you not bothered to look at how good/ bad all of the newly-ex-Ms have been?
“So now we have basically traded Edwin and sears for Rumbelow who we just cutthis week.”
Do you honestly think that this is what happened?
There were lots of moves involved, because the team is trying to get younger. If you insist on lumping deals, this is what Dipoto did in aggregate:
-Ms trade Segura and Sears
-Ms acquire JP Crawford and Second round draft pick
The M’s are better after those deals. Crawford is good and under team control for six years. And the comp draft pick is very valuable.
How much money is SEA willing to eat….?? I could Klentak picking more bones on that carcass for the right price(s).
give us Dee!
Dipoto has a plan. Just not sure anyone but him knows what that is. It’s one thing to eat salary to gain talent and another thing to eat salary just to more a player.
Jerry has no plan terry
The plan is obvious. If you don’t understand the plan, you don’t understand the business side of baseball.
This is not true. You may not agree with it, but he has a very clear plan, which he’s articulated in interviews many times: get younger, and clear payroll to compete in 2020/2021.
The deals he’s made, while seemingly chaotic, are consistent with that plan. The M’s moved a lot of vets and a ton of payroll, and have added young players and dramatically improved the farm system.
You may not like the plan, but one clearly exists.
His plan has been transparent: Shed the expensive contracts and players who don’t figure into the long-term; give opportunities to those who do or can.
yep, there never seems to have been a plan from the start. he brings in vets that produce around where their contract would suggest, then sells them off to save 1/10 of their contract. he’s never had a plan with this team, and may never.
Yeah seriously about 1/10th too. We are paying so many guys that don’t even play for us just to save a buck and stock up on minor leaguers that probably won’t even ever sniff the big leagues with the mariners. If they get close we will trade them for another veteran that we will look to trade right away. I bet Dipheads taking personal payouts from other teams
Trading Kikuchi would be painfully hilarious.
That kinda feels like a nail in Jerry’s coffin.
It wouldn’t be that big of a deal as long as he doesn’t settle.
The annoying thing for me is seeing him trade away a player only to trade back for him a year or two later. If you liked that guy so much to begin with why did you trade him in the first place? I think the secret in these deals is there asking other clubs to develop the talent since they’ve been incapable of doing it for so long.
Are you serious? Two years ago they were trying to add a bullpen piece to a club hoping to make a run so they moved a 17yr old Then to do that.
Now they are in a rebuild so they are looking for young talent that they hope to develop. Then now has a stateside season and results so he has more value.
Kaehlaone, I’ve found that’s there’s no longer a hope in trying to explain this over and over again to the people that don’t understand because they only choose to pay attention when a trade occurs. If this people would listen to the countless times Dipoto and ownership have explained what the plan is, then they wouldn’t be so confused about every move.
I understand the plan and am glad there rebuilding. You also have to understand that as a 17yo his body is going to change, velocity, pitches, Look into the future. If you value him why give him away in the first place. Why does everyone get so worked up on these sites good Lord it’s a game and you’re not even a part of it. Just enjoy it. Everyone has there take if you don’t like it move on
Let’s face there isn’t much on the Mariners roster worth making stretch run deals for. Pathetic having to pay all that $ to Yankees to take a guy that will likely be on and off the IL the rest of the year.
Not a Mariners fan, but I have 3 Seattle players on my fantasy team. It does seem to me that the FO is not concerned with winning baseball games.
Every FO is concerned with the bottom line profit. Sometimes trying to win ballgames syncs up with that and sometimes it doesn’t.
You are right, it’s a rebuild so winning is not the top priority. The books will look good next year, young talent is developing in the minors, and in 2020 they will have enormous flexibility to add talent.
You mean the rebuilding team isn’t concerned with winning games in the current season?!?!?!?! Egadz! You must be a genius!
Oh, wait. Nope, never mind. You just clearly didn’t realize that they were rebuilding (well… “retooling” use Dipoto’s attempt at a fancier word). Though, it is… odd… that anyone who clearly follows MLBTR enough to comment and Fantasy Baseball didn’t realize that…
There is a reason I dont read comments and this list is why. No, Mariners are not trying to win baseball games. they stopped trying when they traded Cano and Diaz to NY. There is a reason they even started the year with Encarnacion and Bruce, no one wanted them then either, they cost too much. Of course Jerry had to pay the salaries down. And no one gets anything in trade anymore unless your trading a superstar with years of cost certainly. This year is about getting rid of older costly players by whatever means necessary. His plan is not to win this year, it’s not even to win next year. In fact 2021 is probably a bit too rosy to think they would win that year. The Mariners are in a rebuild. Did you all think Jeff Ludnow was a terrible GM when he was picking 1 in the draft 2 out if 4 years? Your team has to suck before it can be good. Just the way baseball works when your not the Yankees or Red Sox.
You’re right. Too many people on these boards can’t comprehend the business-side of baseball. Dipoto is clearing the books and now has a top 10 farm in the eyes of multiple prospect websites.
I’ll take it.
The Rays never sucked to be good and have also had the lowest payroll in the big leagues the entire time, just saying. They had one down year in 2016 and that’s it since 2008 really. I’d argue a fair number of other mid to small market teams have as well, such as the Brewers. Just saying it is quite possible to win without tearing your team down to the studs, although that is the popular way to do it for sure.
I guess I’m in the minority. I see ditching the dinosaurs as a plus and getting younger players PT a plus. I love the younger players acquired. And I think they have some guys in the pipeline now that will be pretty good.
They will be an interesting team the 2nd half of 2020,
What does this do for Mitch Haniger?
Nothing, dude can’t even nut while on the IL.
Hahahahaha
Nothing. Haniger’s been hurt for a while now in addition to suffering from (fluke BABIP-induced) down year.
Everyone wants pitching so, Mike Leake and Tommy Milone will get some interest. After that, no one is worth their cost unless injury creates a need on another team..
The people of Seattle should run dipoto out of town along with his underling servais.
The people in Seattle that understand are behind Dipoto. The reimagine off the team is going fine. Don’t look at the little picture each trade by itself but the big picture all trades together.
I guess some people will always be drinking the Kool-Aid.
Santana makes a LOT of sense for CLE, but I have no idea what they’d be willing to give up for him. Tribe doesn’t want to give up any money or talent to acquire an impact player, and those are just 2 reasons why they won’t even attempt a deadline deal this year.
Santana shouldn’t be that expensive, anything with Hankins in it should be able to get a deal done.
I totally get what Jerry is doing what is the point in finishing in 3rd place . really means that Mike trout gets to go back to Philly in the first week in October and watch Eagles games and he is the best player in the game.the Mariners and rangers and angles are not better then the Astros or even Oakland.and how are you going to be better than Astros is through the draft.and finding young talent