After 89 wins in 2018 didn’t sniff the postseason, the Mariners willfully took a step back in 2019. A fifth-place finish and 94 losses later, the Mariners have another development year on the horizon when/if the 2020 season gets underway. Even so, General Manager Jerry Dipoto isn’t one to sit quietly on the sidelines, and he found ways to keep himself busy this winter.
Guaranteed Contracts
- Taijuan Walker, RHP: one year, $2MM (an additional $1MM in incentives)
- Yoshihisa Hirano, RHP: one year, $1.6MM
- Carl Edwards Jr., RHP: $950K, arb eligible after 2020 and 2021
- Patrick Wisdom, 3B: $600K, major league contract
- Kendall Graveman, RHP: one year, $1.5MM (club option for $3.5MM in 2021)
- Total spend: $6.65MM
Trades and Claims
- Claimed RHP Taylor Williams from Brewers
- Claimed LHP Nick Margevicius from Padres
- Claimed INF/OF Sam Haggerty from Mets
- Selected RHP Yohan Ramirez from Astros in Rule 5 Draft
- Acquired RHP Adam Hill and a Competitive Balance Draft pick from the Brewers in exchange for C Omar Narvaez
- Acquired LHP Nestor Cortes Jr. from the Yankees in exchange for $28,300 international bonus space
Extensions
- Signed LHP Marco Gonzalez to four-year, $30MM extension (from 2021-2024), $5MM in 2021, $5.5MM in 2022, $6.5MM in 2023, $12MM in 2024, plus $1MM signing bonus and $15MM team option for 2025
- Signed 1B Evan White to six-year, $24MM ($1.3MM in 2020 and 2021, $1.4MM in 2022, $3MM in 2023, $7MM in 2024, $8MM in 2025, $10MM team option in 2026 plus two more club options in 2027 and 2028 for a combined $21.5MM).
Notable Minor League Signings
Notable Losses
- Cody Anderson (signed to minor league deal and released), Tim Beckham, Domingo Santana, Arodys Vizcaino, Felix Hernandez, Tommy Milone, Keon Broxton, Ryon Healy, Connor Sadzeck, Sam Tuivailala, Jose Siri (claimed off waivers from Reds, lost to Giants)
First and foremost, let’s pour one out for King Felix. Now 34-years-old, Felix Hernandez joined the Braves as a non-roster invitee this spring, officially ending his 15-year tenure with the Mariners. Granted, we haven’t seen vintage King Felix since…maybe 2015? Regardless: 15 years, 418 starts, 6 All-Star appearances, a Cy Young award, 169 wins, 8 200-inning seasons, 25 complete games, 11 shutouts, 1 relief appearance, and tragically, zero postseason appearances. The Mariners fielded some competitive rosters over the years (85-89 wins five times from 2005 to 2019), but whenever the Mariners end their playoff drought, they’ll do so without King Felix. Still, he goes down as a Seattle great: a career 3.42 ERA/3.52 FIP, good for 50.3 bWAR/54 fWAR.
Beyond Felix, the Mariners didn’t lose anyone of terrible consequence this winter. Healy, Beckham, Milone, Tuivailala and Santana had their moments, while Vizcaino, Siri, and Anderson never appeared in a regular season game for Seattle. None should be missed long-term as the Mariners continue to set their sights on 2021 and beyond.
Meanwhile, they brought back a familiar face in Taijuan Walker. If healthy, Walker has a good chance of making the rotation. For $2MM (plus incentives), it’s a safe gamble for the M’s, and at 27-years-old, there’s still some upside if he can return to form. The M’s ought to have enough leash to give him that opportunity.
Elsewhere in the rotation, the Gonzalez extension keeps the former Cardinal at the front of the rotation for the next four seasons (maybe five) at a good rate. The 28-year-old is coming off solid back-to-back 3+ fWAR seasons, eclipsing the 200-inning mark while going 16-13 with a 3.99 ERA/4.15 FIP in 2019. He’s not the type to front a rotation, but he’s a solid arm who should continue to be an asset throughout the length of his new extension.
The rest of the rotation – and most of the roster – is a series of auditions. The M’s have a lot of interesting young players in the clubhouse, and before Trader Jerry gets set to make another push for the postseason, he’s got to sort the real McCoys from the small-sample hucksters.
In the rotation, there are two types of tryout candidates: prospects and retreads. Walker has the familiarity with the Seattle base, but Kendall Graveman may also get a chance to earn a rotation spot after spending last season rehabbing with the Cubs. Graveman knows the division well having put up a little more than two full seasons worth of solid back-end rotation work for the A’s from 2015 to 2018.
In the prospects camp, Justus Sheffield is facing a make-or-break campaign after seven so-so starts with the big league club last year. Justin Dunn also got a taste last year, and though the former Mets farmhand may not start the year in the majors, he should be a prime understudy after putting together a solid season in Double-A.
Waiver claim Nick Margevicius falls somewhere between the two camps. He struggled in the bigs last year with the Padres, posting a 6.79 ERA/5.64 FIP, but he made the jump from Double-A, and he’s still just 23-years-old. His typically pristine control slipped just enough to hurt upon reaching the big leagues, while his home-run-to-fly-ball ratio skyrocketed. He wasn’t exactly pitching in a bandbox in San Diego, but if he can limit the long ball and get his walks-per-nine back under 2 where it lived for most of his minor league career, the Mariners might have another lefty for the rotation.
Along with Yusei Kikuchi, that’s at least seven semi-interesting arms to look at, which might be more than enough in a short season (though there’s obviously a ton of uncertainty there). The other notable additions this winter were in the bullpen, where new Yoshihisa Hirano, Carl Edwards Jr., Nestor Cortes Jr. and Rule 5 pick Yohan Ramirez all have a chance to make the Opening Day roster.
Hirano struggles somewhat for the Diamondbacks in his second season stateside, but he also bumped his strikeout rate from 8.0 K/9 to 10.4 K/9 – with a lesser jump in walk rate (3.1 BB/9 to 3.7 BB/9). He could end up being a big piece of the bullpen. CJ Edwards, meanwhile, was one of the more inexplicable flameouts in 2019: 8.47 ERA/5.74 FIP across 22 appearances for the Cubs and Padres. Considering the 3+ seasons with a 3.06 ERA/3.12 FIP that Edwards put together for the Cubs from 2015 to 2018, and he makes for an intriguing flyer who is still just 28-years-old.
On the offensive end, Dipoto made two big moves. The first was trading starting catcher Omar Narvaez to the Brewers for a Competitive Round Draft Pick and 6’6″ right-hander Adam Hill. Narvaez had a good season last year (.278/.353/.460 with 22 home runs, 199 wRC+), but his other half Tom Murphy looked good too (just ask MLBTR’s own Anthony Franco). Hill has a big arm, but has to get his control under wraps. He was the Brewers #24 prospect per MLB.com at the time of the deal. The Brewers had him for just half a season after he joined the organization from the Mets in January as part of the Keon Broxton deal.
Dipoto took the opportunity to add youth, so they’ll turn over the backstop duties to Murphy and Aaron Nola’s big brother Austin. Murphy posted good numbers on both sides of the ball, and he’ll get the starting nod, but Nola figures to get plenty of playing time as well. Nola is an infield convert who plans to make catching his full-time gig in 2020. If he can stick it defensively, he seems to have enough bat for the position (.269/.342/.454 in 267 plate appearances last year). Assuming good health, the Murphy/Nola combo ought to be sufficient in 2020 while Cal Raleigh continues to work his way towards the bigs.
Dipoto’s other significant decision was giving first baseman Evan White a six-year, $24MM deal after he played the 2019 season for the Arkansas Travelers in Double-A. White, 24 on Sunday, certainly looks worth the money if he continues to perform as he did for the Travelers. White hit .293/.350/.488 with 18 home runs across 400 plate appearances in 2019. He’s the Mariners’ 4th-ranked prospect per Fangraphs, and he profiles as a complete player with plus power, speed, and defense that should help him claim (and keep) first base for the next half decade.
Granted, it’s risky to hand $24MM to a kid who’s totaled 4 games above Double-A, but Dipoto secured significant upside with this deal, which includes three option years for an additional $31.5MM. If White turns into the player Dipoto suspects, they’ll have him for the next 9 seasons at an AAV of $6.17MM. Also, they can now start White on the major league roster without manipulating his service clock (if they deem him ready). First base certainly isn’t thought of as a core position these days, but core players routinely make their homes there (Freddie Freeman, Anthony Rizzo, Paul Goldschmidt, etc.), and while White has a lot to prove before qualifying to break bread with that trio, the Mariner brass saw enough to write his name on the lineup card in pen.
If there was a surprise this winter from Trader Jerry, it’s that he didn’t find a way to move more of his remaining veterans. Kyle Seager and Dee Gordon would figure to be the first to move in 2020 if they can establish any value. Unfortunately, Gordon doesn’t have any at present (nor much of a path to establishing some), and Seager’s price tag all but nullifies any value he might have accrued during a bounce-back .239/.321/.468, 110 wRC+ 2019 season. The eldest Seager bounced around the trade papers this winter in regards to hot corner openings in the NL East, but he’s owed $19.5MM in 2020, $18.5MM in 2021, and if he were dealt, a $15MM club option for 2022 becomes a player option. The option clause makes Seager difficult to deal, and the Mariners like his makeup, so it seems as likely as anything that he’ll play out the remainder of his deal in T-Mobile Park.
Other veterans like Mallex Smith and Daniel Vogelbach are young enough to be a part of the next Seattle contender, but more than that, they don’t carry much trade value at present. Vogelbach, 27, finished last season with 30 home runs and a palatable 111 wRC+. But he’s not a fielder, and he’s not a runner, and even though he’s not even arb eligible until 2022, there’s not a lot of need for his skill set around the league. Smith, 27 in May, has shown promise at times in his career, but as MLBTR’s own Connor Byrne wrote about in a recent post entitled “Seattle’s Struggling Center Fielder“…well, the title pretty much tells the tale (and if not, Connor can take you the rest of the way).
Mitch Haniger is the guy toeing the line here, as the Mariners’ have long-lauded his character and the total package he brings to the table, but as a 29-year-old corner outfielder, it’s fair to wonder if his contributions would better serve a contender. A slew of injuries has kept that question on the back-burner, however, as there’s no timetable for his return after undergoing a pair of offseason surgeries.
Finding core players to play alongside White will be priority number one for Scott Servais and company whenever play resumes. Julio Rodriguez and Jarred Kelenic are two big-time prospects atop the M’s vision board, but they’re both probably a year or maybe more away. In the meantime, Servais and Dipoto will keep a daily eye on a whole host of young position players who may or may not become crucial parts of their future. Among those looking to secure their long-term place: Shed Long, Jake Fraley, J.P. Crawford, Kyle Lewis, Braden Bishop, and to a lesser extend, guys like Tim Lopes and Donovan Walton. Some vets were brought in to compete – CarGo, Cody Anderson, Wei-Yin Chen, among others – but it’s looking increasingly likely that the Mariners will ride the youth wave in 2020.
2020 Outlook
If a couple from the Long/Fraley/Crawford/Lewis bucket can establish themselves – along with Sheffield and/or Dunn in the rotation – then the Mariners will count 2020 as a success. They could even set themselves up as a real team of interest heading into 2021. Conditions for development aren’t ideal, but the biggest question facing the M’s might be how much they can learn about their young players in a potentially shortened season. Speculation on that front will have to wait until we know more. For now, we’ll have to settle for grading the Mariners’ winter work.
How would you grade the Mariners’ offseason moves? (Link for app users.)
Where did dealing dipoto go?
At some point you have to sit back and watch your young (potential) stars grow and see what you truly have.
It should probably be mentioned that Gonzales was already living in Seattle when the Mariners acquired him and he views them as his hometown team especially after attending Gonzaga in eastern Washington. The other big thing is Kelenic and White have already m loop ved to Seattle as permanent residents. Showing that these guys are dedicated to being here long term and are absolutely not trade fodder in the future.
This mentality by the player shows the message is loud and clear by management that they want these guys here. It also explains the lack of trades by JeDi this past offseason. He wants to see what the young guys can do and Haniger needs to play to gain value. Despite Lewis not doing anything wrong but getting hurt his value is lowered and so he doesn’t make a good trade chip either. Fraley needs his AA and AAA version of himself to show up in Seattle if he wants to be viewed by the Mariners or any other organization as a starter.
My guess is Lewis and Fraley break out but someone has to leave to make space for Kelenic and Rodriguez with Haniger still part of the equation. The season not taking place is especially hurting the Mariners because they neeeded this season to evaluate the young guys and cull from the herd ehat can be traded for positions of weakness. Once the Mariners see what they have, they’ll demote/trade the under performer and if both are doing well, expect Fraley to be out.
I dont think its hurting the Mariners as much as it’s hurting teams with older players and then older players themselves. The Twins for example may have lost one year with Cruz and Donaldson who are both one year older and will not have seen live MLB pitching for a full season.
Worst case scenario for the Mariners is their young guys get evaluated one year later. They are still young and the Mariners aren’t planning to try and contend for another year or two anyway.
Good point throwinched10 – I remember reading articles warning fans about the decline of Nelson Cruz before the start of his last (2018) season in Seattle! What a stud- I hope the Ms can eventually find a hitter with the same type production. I miss that dude, the crack of the bat when he hits a HR! Had a different sound from every other bat in that lineup. I was happy to see him thrive in MN, he’s such a great hitter
I gave them a B. They’re doing what a rebuilding club should be doing. They signed a few high upside guys like Walker and Edwards Jr. Guys that at one point were pretty good pitchers who could have bounce back seasons, and extended some of their key young pieces.
F. They have basically no one under long-term contract now. Even if they don’t want to compete for the Gerritt Coles of the world, they need to at least be taking other teams’ bad contracts in exchange for prospects. Inexcusable to be cutting payroll as much as they are. On top of that they inexplicably traded Narvaez for a bag of balls.
why is it an issue that they made no long-term commitments yet? i get taking bad contracts, but simply spending a lot seems a silly idea.
Clearly the lack of long-term contracts is not a problem in and of itself, I just meant it as shorthand for their near-complete lack of payroll commitments.
Big swing and a miss with this opinion.
Having a low payroll is pretty much what rebuilding teams do. You don’t pay $25 million a year to a position player that has a slash line that looks something like .235/.300/.400, for example and you certainly don’t give them long term contracts. This is the kind of players rebuilding teams have.
You also aren’t going to throw tremendous amounts of money at established producers like Cole or even less expensive but still very productive players. The Mariners arent a Gerrit Cole away from a playoff spot yet so why spend the money? Spending big dollars is about timing. You have to wait for your young talent to develop and mature and THEN you hope that your team’s ownership wil spend the money needed to reenforce the youth movement.
I am curious though. What moves do you feel the Mariners should have been making?
I’m not sure why you’re explaining why rebuilding teams don’t sign big-name free agents when I specifically mentioned another option for spending the tens of millions of dollars they have lying around, i.e. taking on contracts in exchange for prospects. Instead they are dickering about how much salary they will eat when moving guys like Bruce and Encarnacion, and getting worse prospects as a result.
And I don’t agree that Cole wouldn’t have made sense simply because he wouldn’t singlehandedly put them in the playoffs in 2020. The org claims to be aiming to compete in 2021. If they’re serious about that, then having Gerrit Cole already on your roster in year 2 of his contract – hear me out here – might very well come in handy.
Cole would have had to have wanted to come to Seattle, and the price would have been higher than the 36m AAV that he got with NY.
Easy to suggest Cole would have been handy in the future. But that’s no small chunk of change and I think most fans, as well as the front office, know that contending in 2021 was somewhat wishful thinking. Not impossible, but more of a transitional year.
Now, 2023 might be the more realistic target date.
Oh I’m well aware that Cole wouldn’t want to play for our absolute failure of a franchise and we’d therefore have to pay a ridiculous premium. I know it would never happen (then again, Cano happened…). But they didn’t even bother to pretend. They’re just so used to being losers that they didn’t even try.
Why would they go after Cole when they were a good two years out of contention? You complain about people explaining the details to you, but you don’t seem to be grasping them. Two years of non-contending baseball would have meant more than 72 million spent to fall short, while losing a high draft pick for compensation and improving their record by 4 or 5 wins which could have meant lower draft order in 2021 and 2022, as well as 72m+ less to spend on players when they are in contention, or at least closer to contention.
Then there’s the fact that they would have essentially wasted 2 years of Cole’s prime. Imagine if he had signed with Seattle and ended up injured just as they were breaking out of the rebuild.
Fans would never let it go.
When the roster got torn down and rebuilt I don’t think anyone thought we would have to wait until 2023 to contend or nobody would have agreed with it. They didn’t keep Seager, Haniger and Gonzales to contend 5 years down the road. 2019 was suppose to be a stepback year, then we were suppose to be good in 2020 and contend in 2021. They never mentioned anything about contending 5 years later. In baseball that is an absolute age
Who are they going to lock up with long term contracts right now? They have locked up Gonzales, Kikuchi, and White already. I recognize that Kikuchi’s first season was terrible however. They will try and lock up the rest of the supposed core – Kelenic, Rodriguez, Dunn, Sheffield, Gilbert, Raleigh, Long, Kirby, and Crawford. Lewis and Smith are both a ‘wait and see’ at this point. They also have to wait and see how Haniger responds after so much time off from his serious injury.
I am not complaining about the lack of long-term deals in and of themselves, I am pointing out that they have minimal payroll commitments right now because all the players you list are on team-friendly deals and everyone else other than Seager and Gordon is still in their control years or on a small FA deal.
That’s ridiculous. The players they anticipate making up their next core still have the standard 6 years of control minimum. Gonzales’ contract keeps him controlled for 6 more years as well and White’s options could keep him around for 9.
Seattle would probably be interested in locking up Rodriguez, Kelenic, and Gilbert as well to a contract similar to White’s, but none of them were as far along as White and White’s contract came as a bit of a surprise. Point is, there’s still plenty of time to get something done. It’s not common to see deals this early.
Narvaez can’t catch. The bat was admirable, but it shouldn’t be hard to understand why a team with so many young starters coming into the fold would go with the backstop who handles a staff better, not to mention Murphy and Nola were solid offensively as well. That wasn’t a giveaway, either. The slot money was valuable as much as the pick.
As far as cutting payroll goes, what do you expect from a rebuilding team? You think they should spend big on players that might get them to .500 while they miss the postseason (again), get lower draft picks as a result, , and end up with less to spend less when their young talent is finally ready to help them contend?
You also make it sound like a number of teams were flashing some of their best young talent along with a number of bad contracts and that Seattle could have taken their pick. Not likely. We saw one such deal (kind of) between the Angels and Giants, but San Fran didn’t (and still doesn’t) have a great farm and there’s no indication that anyone else was doing the same as LA. Clubs with larger budgets would be diving in if that were the case.
Seattle will spend when the time is right. They might eventually be willing to absorb a contract that isn’t too ridiculous should the opportunity for talent present itself, and they may take a larger contract in a deadline deal when they’re clearly in the hunt.
But for now, they’re playing it right. The money they’ve saved will apply to future payroll., and keep in mind this is an organization that puts all profit back into the organization.
“The money they’ve saved will apply to future payroll”
lmaooooo man I’m sorry I actually like you and enjoy your comments but come on. For serious? I guess if you believe this then sure, their spending posture is justified. I sincerely wish I could believe it too.
I know Narvaez can’t catch. The defensive metrics despise him. And yet his bat compensates enough to where he is still a league average player with multiple control years remaining! Comp picks and slot money for a league average starting player? No thanks. If that’s truly his market you just don’t do the deal and maybe try again later, it’s not hard. Worst case scenario you continue to be saddled with a league average regular as you try to contend next year.
We don’t have to speculate about the Mariners refusing to eat contracts, we know the Rays offered a better prospect than Then for Encarnacion but he went to New York so the Mariners wouldn’t have to eat so much salary. (I misspoke by including Bruce in one of my other comments, they did eat almost all of his salary.) But yes, other teams will generally trade players for fair value, and it’s possible to value things in terms of money saved, not sure why you’re acting like it’s some kind of exotic deal that some teams simply won’t do (obviously the incentives are different for teams in different sized markets but they still exist). Like, the Red Sox just moved Mookie Betts in essentially a salary dump, even big market teams like saving money.
Aren’t the Mariners carrying a lot of “eaten money” on the books now? I don’t follow them closely, just wondering…..
Less than 30 million this year and just over ten million next year. The fact remains they are tied with Boston for most salary shed since last year, and Boston at least has the excuse of the being up against the luxury tax in the first place.
I don’t know why you think that’s funny. Stanton openly discussed that himself. They probably won’t cross the threshold, but it shouldn’t surprise anyone if they pay to fill in the remaining holes once they know where they are.
Regarding Narvaez getting traded, I think you’re underestimating the value of that pick and slot money. Seattle wasn’t the only team to do that, either. That, or you’re overvaluing Narvaez.
Regarding bad contracts for prospects…
First, We don’t know the difference in dollars with the EE deal, but obviously Jerry valued Then and cash more than what Tampa was willing to throw in (or not) with Solak. But Solak went for an unknown reliever, so his value wasn’t likely much higher (if at all) than Then’s. Defensively challenged players aren’t too difficult to find.
Betts wasn’t a typical salary dump and a big market team with high payroll acquired him with Price. Boston fans were ticked,though, if you didn’t notice.
You’ll have to forgive those of us challenging you on your opinions here. Speaking for myself, I don’t think you’re seeing the big picture. It’s about the timing. Take a glance at the 2022 free agent class if you haven’t done so yet.
I am going to defend 3cardmonty here in that the skepticism is well justified. The team said #1 this is not a rebuild, because #2 the team has a young veteran core to build around (like Narvaez) which has mostly been traded or cut, and #3 ownerhship will be spending lots of money to accelerate the reimagination, leading to playoff quality baseball by 2nd half of 2020. That’s the expectations that the team set to the fanbase and that’s what they should be held to. Dipoto has tried to weasel his way out of it by saying last year didn’t go at all as they expect, but c’mon.
If you are just playing armchair GM, the Mariners rebuild looks great on paper because that’s how it should be done. However, if you are a long-suffering baseball fan who desperately wants to see a playoff game in Seattle, everything the team seems to say has been based on deception and half-truths. With the NHL team almost here & playing all of the fan outreach cards properly (e.g. Cammie Granato as a scout, lots of women involved in the org, perfect diversity moves for the city), it seems likely the Mariners will continue to bleed fans and no one will care whether this rebuild works or not.
ghph, skepticism is warranted. But not for the reasons you laid out.
First, Jerry never said this wasn’t a rebuild. He said it wasn’t a tear-down. He didn’t trade everyone with value. The point was to stress that this wouldn’t be a traditional rebuild and that they can get back into contention quick. Whether or not that 2-3 period was/is realistic is debatable, but again, he never said this wasn’t a rebuild.
Second, none of the young core have played a game for Seattle yet. Narvaez was never in that conversation. The players they intend to build around are Gilbert, Kelenic, Rodriguez, and White. That doesn’t mean other prospects can’t or won’t change things (think Marte), and it’s likely that core will be expanded with free agents or players currently no with Seattle. Narvaez was an experiment. They needed a replacement for Zunino, they believed they knew what was wrong with his defense and could fix it. They couldn’t, but they found solid alternatives with Murphy and Nola, and here we are. They might kick the tires on Realmuto this coming offseason, but they’re probably more likely to spend on a front-line starter, like Bauer, who could help Gonzales mentor players like Sheffield, Dunn, and Gilbert. And before anyone suggests that same logic applied to Cole, it didn’t. Part of the attraction to Bauer would likely be his character and he’s becoming available a year later and will come at a fraction of the cost (regardless of where he goes).
Third, there was never a guarantee of anything in 2020 or 2021. The use of modal verbs here is important. “Could”, “may”, or “might” are not definitive. The belief was that they should (another modal) be seeing improvement by the second half of 2020. But 2019 did little in way of experience. Fraley, Bishop, and Long all spent significant time on the IL and ended up with minimal experience. Crawford was the only one who got significant experience and he struggled with RHPs. Sheffield, though not injured, proved to need to take a step back before he could take two forward. So, the players that missed time in 2019 were suppose to join the next wave and get settled in this year. Obviously that’s not likely going to happen now.
Last, what more could you really ask for in just two offseasons of a rebuild? They have a handful of prospects that could be real game-changers and a number of others that could prove to be solid contributors, and the projected payroll is next to nothing at the time when Kelenic and Rodriguez should be debuting and contributing.
Again, there are no guarantees. The patience required is understandably difficult and a lot to ask of fans. But ask yourself this: Would you rather have seen the team stay stuck in mediocrity and try to sneak into the postseason before committing to a much lengthier rebuild? Keep in mind, it would have been harder in 2019 than it was in 2018.
They really had no choice. They needed an overhaul.
I have no problem with the idea that it was time to rebuild. My main objection is that they didn’t fully tear down and sell high on Haniger. 2021 was always a pipe dream. They’ve never had any realistic plan for catching up to the Astros or even the Angels/Rays/Twins tier. But other than that things are going swell. I will say of all the trades Dipoto has made, I could always at least follow the logic until Narvaez. That was just a dead-ass stinkbomb and it blows me away that most fans seem totally fine with it.
Ironically, it blows me away that some fans think that was a bad trade.
He had a career year offensively and possibly benefited from juiced balls. It was a small sample of power. He had never hit more than 9 dingers before last season.
But even if Laker fixed something in his swing and he maintains his numbers moving forward, it wouldn’t be enough to justify the horrific defense and Seattle is likely going to rotate the DH with fielders. Haniger or Lewis could very well be part of that rotation.
One last thing I should point out is the 2020 draft class in itself is deep and Seattle now has the 64th pick with a slot value of 1,050, 300. That may sound like nothing to you, but it could lead to a better catcher for the future and/or help sign a better selection at 6 or 43.
For two years in a row now and over 800 plate appearances Narvaez has hit 20% better than league average. A 120 wRC+ hitter at catcher can have extremely bad defense and still be valuable! Why, just look at Narvaez’s WAR totals for an example. His defense is atrocious but his bat more than compensates, you can’t just say it doesn’t – by every publicly available metric, it does! 64th pick in the draft for a league average 28 year old starter who isn’t a free agent till 2023. How in the world does the draft pick fit better with the rebuild than the young starting player?
How did he not mention the perfect game under The Kings accomplishments?
solid buy low deals but they could have taken a few more risks in that like. Salazar and Sanchez could both be had for the pen at what Taijuan got. shouldve added all three. also trading Narvaez for nothing was dumb. MiLB signings were also mediocre, and they shouldn’t have given up on Tui so quickly.
This is a give the young guys their chance season which is why they didn’t sign a lot of major league ready players. Once a core is established then that is the time to spent and it will allow you to know where to spent it.