TODAY: Strange-Gordon appeared on the MLB Players Association’s list of players who became free agents today, indicating that the Mariners have officially bought out his 2021 option.
OCTOBER 27: It’s no surprise, but it appears the Mariners are set to part with infielder/outfielder Dee Strange-Gordon. They’ll move on from his $14MM club option for 2021 in favor of a $1MM buyout, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reports.
After an effective run with the Marlins, with whom he posted 9.3 fWAR in three seasons, the Mariners acquired Strange-Gordon heading into 2018. The speedy Strange-Gordon didn’t offer the type of production the Mariners were hoping for, though, as he batted a meek .266/.293/.343 with seven home runs, 55 stolen bases and just 0.2 fWAR over 1,091 plate appearances as a member of the team. The 32-year-old did see time at both middle infield spots and in multiple outfield positions along the way, but he didn’t grade out especially well at any of them.
Assuming the Mariners do say goodbye to Strange-Gordon, he’ll become part of a second base class of free agents that’s low on great options after DJ LeMahieu. The Mariners, meanwhile, could stick with a combination of Dylan Moore, J.P. Crawford and Shed Long in their middle infield in 2021.
racosun
When did he get the hyphen?
No Soup For Yu!
This year apparently. It’s to honor his late mother.
racosun
Nice. I like it.
mcmillankmm
I didn’t even realize it either…but good for him to honor his Mom
FredMcGriff for the HOF
WHO???
RoyalsFanAmongWolves
Used to be known just as Dee Gordon. His father is Tom Gordon, He has a half brother that I believe is in the twins system (Nick Gordon).
One Bite Hotdog
Strange, don’t you think?
Mrtwotone
26th man at this point in his career
johanjoseph1
Why is his name strange now lol
tigersfan1320
Because that was his mother’s last name, who was shot and killed
hiflew
She was killed when he was six, not this year. It would have made sense to make the change long before now, but why bother when your career in the public is nearly over? That would be like Tom Hanks coming out and saying start calling me Tom Smith-Hanks because my maternal grandmother was run over by a car in 1978. Why spend all of your career making a name for yourself only to change it at the end?
MoRivera 1999
As I’ve learned reading the comments here, Strange-Gordon is his legal name. Always has been. He started using Gordon early in his career because it was easier.
chefly1
Was it the police that shot his mother?
mrkinsm
It’s his legal name.
Michael Chaney
I thought this was some sort of nickname when I read the headline, but had no idea that he actually started going by his full name instead of Dee Gordon. Am I the only one who missed when he did that?
norah w.
Apparently people don’t call him Dee either, but his full name of Devaris. But when he started out, I guess people were having trouble with his full name of Devaris Strange-Gordon, so he told them to just call him Dee Gordon.
Loling @ you
Dee strange? Lmao
randy g
Almost as funny as leotardo. Lol lol lol
bigdaddyt
Jays sign him to play 2nd shift Biggio to third/ CF and have Martin or Groshans play super utility. Allows Bichett one more year to prove himself at SS. Then all they would need to acquire is the position you don’t put biggio, a backup SS and maybe Rogers flex’s their financial might on the pitching market. If fans aren’t going to be in the stands Rogers would stand to make the most out of any team this season because of their tv rights
Tony Carbone
Dee may be a rebound candidate.
He was jerked around by the Mariners from the day they got him, waiting until he got to the door to tell him he was playing outfield.
Put him back at 2nd and you may see a nice return at both the bag and the dish.
BuddyBoy
Just like they pitched Walker wrong? Lol
Benjamin560
+1
jarc92
Rebound? When was he good?
agentx
May be a rebound candidate, though a 32-yo infielder a lot of whose game in his prime depended on speed is more suspect than turnaround prospect at this point.
Throw in his past PED suspension, and it’s hard to tell what more one could realistically expect out of Strange-Gordon.
keysox
If they keep the California rule for extra innings, he will get a job for 1 yr/1m somewhere
GoLandCrabs
Well I guess I’m not the only one who had no clue he added Strange to his name.
ldoggnation
People get in the public eye and resort to doing something stupid with their names to make a statement or just stand out.
Anyone remember World Be Free?
hereallnight
He decided to honor his mother, who was shot and killed when he was seven.
Not exactly ‘doing something stupid with (his) name.’
juanc-2
He’s honoring his dead mother, Mr. Jump to Conclusions.
gleybertorres25
Something stupid? He added his mother’s last name.
phillies012tg
Ignorant af it’s for his mom who was killed you jackass
martevious
Strange-Gordon is his real name. Always has been
Fly over fan
World B. Free, man got to free throw line like clockwork
norah w.
Strange-Gordon is his legal name. He started going by Gordon early in his career because people kept messing up his name.
throwinched10
Gordon is a strange guy who is about to be a free agent. Peace!
josesportsfan
His mother, whose last name was Strange, was shot and killed when he was 7. He started honoring her this year.
Stevil
Right now, Dylan Moore should get the lion’s share of starts at 2B. But Ty France will probably see more time there than Shed Long. Long will probably spend some time in AAA, and when he returns, he’s more likely to be used in a utility role.
As for Dee, it’s a pity he was injured most of the time and was mostly unproductive when he was healthy. But he seemed to be loved by teammates, journalists, fans, coaches, the moose, etc., and ironically, Moore gives him credit for helping with the adjustments that led to his breakout.
Wishing Strange-Gordon all the best.
Hawktattoo
Definitely a team and fan favorite.
Benjamin560
Mehhhhhhh! Nice guy, I’ll give him that.
Chester Copperpot
He got into a clubhouse fight in 2018 and couldn’t hit his way out of a wet paper bag. Plus, he thinks segregating the WBC would grow the game. I say good riddance to another bad Dipoto move.
TrillionaireTeamOperator
This whole situation feels identical to the Chone Figgins contract… also respect to Dee for honoring his mother with the hyphen.
myaccount
Being a Mariners fan, I can tell you they’re not at all similar. The Chone contract proved to be awul from day 1. He looked uninterested in playing and like he just wanted to cash his checks. Dee, on the other hand, had a great attitude, played hard, and contributed decently year 2. If he could take a walk he would have been worthwhile to play.
Chief Two Hands
It should be Dee Cheat-Gordon.
Hawktattoo
When has he been accused as a cheater?
Chief Two Hands
Are you kidding? He got suspended for PEDs when he was with the Marlins. Duh…basically the one big season he had was followed by a positive test. It’s not just accusation, it is fact.
Hawktattoo
Wow..ask a question and get a dick answer. Wasn’t aware of that from 2016, or couldn’t remember.
houkenflouken
All he did was ask a question and it made you angry for some reason. Just chill a lil, dude, lol.
Chief Two Hands
I’m far from angry. He’s just posting ignorantly. I answered his question honestly. No anger involved.
Chief Two Hands
Maybe just a kid who is new to MLB but he is here praising a proven cheater without knowing anything about his history. Gordon’s suspension is common knowledge, btw. He asked a question and I answered it.
Hawktattoo
You know nothing about me or who I am..far from being a kid.
rondon
Hey “chief”, you were rude and you’re making it worse. Let it go.
Rsox
Gordon-Strange is essentially a pinch runner at this point. Never been much with the bat and doesn’t really have a position
Benjamin560
Late inning defensive replacement as well.
davemlaw
I know some inside info about Dee. I live in the greater Seattle area and I’m friendly with someone associated with the team. Dee showed up to Spring Training out of shape and was asked to get himself into better shape following the halt of Spring Training. Once Summer Camp resumed it was obvious he didn’t do anything to get himself into playing shape.
I was surprised to hear this considering Dee was basically in a contract year. Now he’ll be lucky to get a minor league contract. But perhaps he was happy with his career earnings and is just ready to hang it up.
Chester Copperpot
Sounds about right. I don’t understand the Mariner love for Dee. He was paid a lot of money to be here, and he performed horribly.
ChangedName
I like the new name.
Better than ANOTHER “Jr.”, “Sr.”, “III”, “II”, “IV”, “V” like in football.
Mjm117
Wish Dee the best.
The return the Marlins got in Neidert, Dugger should start to pay off next year.
Benjamin560
Doubt it, but you never know. That sparkling 5.40 ERA just screams All-Star!
angels fan 3
It was only 8.1 innings
24TheKid
The Marlins clearly won this trade.
mlb1225
Didn’t know less than a single game’s worth of innings was enough to judge a player.
brianstancato
I’ve never been a fan of hyphenated names! Sounds like an identity crisis… if you want to honor your mom, cool, all for it, then change your last name! You already would have had to do the leg work to make this legally changed right? An not to start a war here, but why is it the overwhelming majority of athletes with hyphenated names are black?
Buddy “Bud” Hull
Oh no, it’s the hyphen police! They’re the most immensely-affected type of grammar law enforcement known to all!
norah w.
Strange-Gordon has been his legal name for a long time. He just went back to using his real name. If he was a football player it wouldn’t have been necessary for him to ever go by just Gordon.
I hope you made a similar comment about Ryan Roland-Smith when he joined the Mariners.
hiflew
I’m not a big fan of hyphenated names either, but seriously man don’t bring race into it. All you are doing is ruining your case by adding something guaranteed to offend a lot of people that doesn’t really help your argument at all.
norah w.
Yes, this.
Alan Chitlik
OK, so here’s more of the name “change” story. His actually full name is Devaris Strange-Gordon.
Here’s how he described the “Varis” that was on the back of his player’s weekend jersey in 2018.
“That’s actually my real name,” Gordon said. “I don’t go by Dee at home. It’s Devaris or Varis. The reason I go by Dee is so many people chop and mess up my name so bad. They say Darius or Devarius. “My family calls me Devaris. In high school, since I have two last names [Strange-Gordon], they called me ‘Dee-Strange,’ because I could shoot in hoops. They called me ‘Dee-Strange with the range.'” In his first year in the Minors, though, a public address announcer called him “Devarnius Strange-Gordon,” which prompted a change: “I said, ‘I’m just going by Dee Gordon from now on.”
Secondly, one of the classiest guys that’s come through Seattle. He was well-liked by his teammates and was even the Mariner’s nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award.
rememberthecoop
Very strange.
lowtalker1
What is up with that name? Did he takes someone’s last name like hot tub time machine
norah w.
Strange was his late mother’s last name. She was murdered when he was a child.
Actually Strange-Gordon is and has been his legal last name. But when he started in baseball, people didn’t know how to deal with a hyphenated last name, so he said to just call him Dee Gordon. This year he decided to go back to using his real name.
Dorothy_Mantooth
He will definitely get a minor league deal this offseason if he wants one. Hopefully he can get in better shape and prove that he still has something left in the tank. There are going to be a lot of decent players this offseason who will have to settle for a minor league deal (not saying Dee is decent), so he’ll have his work cut out for him to make it back to the show, that is if even he even wants to try to. He’s made a lot of money in baseball so perhaps he’s happy with what he’s accomplished and will call it a career.
norah w.
cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/news/mariners-dee-s…
Peart of the game
I’d recommend that he go to the NPB instead of signing a minor league deal.
Peart of the game
That is if he hadn’t been suspended for PEDS. Forgot that, so no NPB or KBO deal for him.
Vizionaire
good job, classless diputo, i mean, dipoto! you thought trading for gordon was hurting the angels!
bradthebluefish
Dr. Strange