The Mariners are close to re-signing Franklin Gutierrez to a one-year deal, sources tell Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports 1 (on Twitter). The Mariners need a right-handed outfield bat and have been encouraged by recent reports on Gutierrez's health, motivating them to facilitate a return, Morosi tweets.
Gutierrez, 31 in February, has a .256/.306/.391 career batting line but has a strong defensive reputation and a career .818 OPS against lefties. He became a free agent on November 1st when the Mariners turned down his $7.5MM club option and gave him his $500K buyout instead.
The veteran inked a four-year, $20.5MM extension with the Mariners after an outstanding 2009 season in which he batted .283/.339/.425 with 18 homers, 16 stolen bases and turned in the best center field defense in the game, all totaling a stellar 6.0 WAR. Unfortunately for both parties, several DL stints over the life of that contract kept him from living up to that deal. Gutierrez has battled hamstring, pectoral, and oblique issues and also dealt with a serious concussion.
Gutierrez is represented by Octagon, as shown in the MLBTR Agency Database. Over the course of the offseason, the Phillies, Red Sox, and Giants were all reported to have interest in the outfielder.
This will probably hurt Franklin more than the Mariners. Injury joke aside, I think this is good. IF he can stay healthy he is a great player. And they need a right handed bat that can play OF. I don’t know if he is a starter anymore, but it doesn’t hurt to at least see how he does on a cheap incentive based deal.
Thats one huge IF! He hasnt been healthy since hes been a Mariner!
Apparently they didn’t get the memo yet.
Oh god… Not again.
Grady Sizemore wouldn’t bite?
Yes!! This is a great move by the M’s! I know a lot of people are down on him with all of his injuries and all…but, when he’s healthy…his bat has been just as good, or at least close to it, as Cruz–while providing much better defense. I really doubt he is going to play CF…and he will be safer in LF, or RF, depending on how it shakes out.
I would put Saunders in CF, Ackley in LF, and Guiti in RF…and have Hart DH–occasionally playing OF…and Morrison can occasionally play OF–probably when we face RHP–and give Guiti a rest.
Good buy low option here M’s! I expect Guiti to get hurt at some point…but, an incentivized deal at a low amount…will provide efficient production–rather than overpaying for Cruz…and bring solid defense to the whole OF. Now let’s get a PITCHER!
Go M’s!
who will protect cano in that lineup?
The stacks of money he’ll be making for a while?
The doctors that performed the 4 knee surgeries on Corey Hart and Logan Morrison. Seriously though, Mariners have not surrounded Cano with other caliber pieces. It’s like buying a Porsche and going cheap on the oil and gas?
parking it in the street rather than a garage….
Protection is a myth. And even if it wasn’t the M’s lineup had a better OPS than the Yankees last year. Seemed like Cano did great in that inferior environment.
Presumably the deal will be a cheap base salary plus incentives. It’s the only deal he’s going to get from anyone except here we know and love Guti. The team really needs exactly what he brings: outfield defense and a decent right-handed bat.
As a backup plan the M’s have a couple of interesting prospects in the outfield that might be ready by mid-season if the injury bug bites again.
As long as it’s a one year incentive based deal, this is a good signing. Almonte can start in AAA and whenever Guti gets hurt, Almonte comes up as a capable replacement, something that the M’s haven’t had the past few years of dealing with Guti. There’s no real downside to bringing Guti back and if he’s ever healthy, its a nice plus to the lineup and OF defense. Now the M’s need to go out and find an everyday OF.
I want them to get Choo but I doubt it will happen
Choo would be nice but yeah I think his price tag is way too high right now. I think when all is said and done, Nick Franklin is going to be dealt in a package for an OF. The outfield FA market after Choo is just straight up depressing now.
But with Guti, Saunders and Ackley in the OF I dont see the need to get another OF and Almonte and Romero are pretty much big league ready too.
With “Guti, Saunders and Ackley in the OF”, why did we bother spending 240MM on Cano? We could have saved the money seeing we’re just going to be in the same hole with those 3 out there.
Nothing like a Mariners fan who forgets 1 season from the next.
I agree but I hope its Choo and not Cruz
If they settled with what they currently got, it could possibly be the worst OF in the league. At least 1 more starting caliber OF needs to be brought in.
There’s also Stefan Romero (though he isn’t on the 40 man yet)
They added Romero to the 40 a few weeks ago before the rule 5 draft. I didn’t mention him because he can’t play CF, but yeah he certainly provides depth in the corner.
Better than inking Nelson Cruz to a long-term deal but I’m not oozing with enthusiasm here. I hope he can return to normal, though I’m concerned he’ll have a nice season and the M’s will want to sign him to an extension again, which will lead to a repeat of the past four years.
You’re concerned he’ll have a nice season? Oh no!
Oh well, I was hoping for the Orioles to have been the mystery team to swoop down and given Guti an incentive laden one year contract. Drat!
PS I know that I would be among the very few here that would want this, but still.
No big surprise here. Guti owes the Mariners to at least come back for one more year on a 2-3 mil deal with incentives, and try to produce a healthy season. *crosses fingers*
If he can play 80-100 games, platooning in the OF, I’d call that a win for the M’s.
I always liked Franklin. Good luck to him.
I love this deal (assuming minimal contract). I was secretly hoping that my Angels would sign him. The guy is amazing in the OF and is worth a roster spot as a late inning defensive replacement. If he can actually hit that’s all gravy.
Good-Ness-No…. Old habits die hard guess, I mean I don’t want to write another negative comment but come on this guy has not wanted to be in Seattle for a while he has been injured as much as possible to avoid any playing time and then turned down a 7.5 MM deal I’d rather see the M’s take there chances with Saunders.. bring back Guti will be about as effective as putting me out there in CF and nobody wants that!
Why will Saunders see less playing time? If anything I’d say this bumps Saunders up on the depth chart, and puts Guti as the 4th OF.
When he’s on the field and anything close to healthy, Guti puts up very good numbers. Nothing to unlike with a low cost move like this. In 2009 he was one of the top 10 players in baseball in terms of WAR.
Umm the Mariners declined to pay him $7.5M… it was a team option not a player option. Also are you really implying that he choose to be hurt and kill his own value instead of playing? Seriously?
First and foremost, I really hope it’s a low base salary, high-incentive-laden deal. There’s no way to trust Guti’s health going forward.
Second, wasn’t there a report about 2 weeks ago that Guti was hurting again in winter ball? If so, then this is a very dubious move by the M’s. Loyalty for loyalty’s sake is a bad hallmark for this team; bringing back Bloomquist on a 2-year deal is a sure sign of that already, but if Guti had so much as a hangnail this winter, there’s no reason to bring him back.
If guti can stay healthy this could be a good deal IF…he platoons with Saunders in one of the corner of spots. Then if they can trade smoak/Montero/ackley they can put Morrison at first, hart at dh and then sign a corner of like Cruz, and then trade Franklin for a cf like Gardner(i know hes said to not be available but just a player like gardner)Who can leadoff.
Isn’t part of it that he’s one of Felix’s best friends on the team? Paying his buddy to try and convince him stay long term?
Felix is signed through 2019
This is a no lose move that I can’t find any fault in considering the circumstances. But hold off on Raul, Bedard and Endy Chavez.
They’ve already brought back Willie B and Guti.
If they’re going to sign another nostalgia player, it’ll be Choo…..
Franklin again???? Why Jack Z wants to waste the money. Anyone from the Tacoma affiliate can perform a lot better than him. They are saying he is good at defense, yes,because he goes after the ball he can grab, the others he let it go away.