Headlines

  • Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez
  • Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff
  • Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
  • Bobby Jenks Passes Away
  • Braves Release Alex Verdugo
  • Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Mariners Exercise Seth Smith’s Option, Decline Option On Chris Iannetta

By Steve Adams | November 3, 2016 at 4:24pm CDT

The Mariners announced today that they’ve exercised their $7MM option on outfielder Seth Smith and declined a $4.25MM option on catcher Chris Iannetta. FanRag’s Jon Heyman first tweeted that Smith’s option would be picked up, and SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweeted that Iannetta’s would be declined.

Smith, who turned 34 at the end of September, proved to be a useful platoon bat for the Mariners, hitting .249/.342/.415 with 16 home runs and a healthy 11 percent walk rate on the season. To say that he was heavily shielded from facing left-handed pitching would be something of an understatement, as Smith received just 33 plate appearances against southpaws compared to 405 against righties. The reasoning behind the move isn’t hard to determine however; Smith has mashed at a .272/.355/.472 clip throughout his career when he holds the platoon advantage but has looked lost against left-handers, as evidenced by a career .202/.282/.312 slash against same-handed pitchers.

On the defensive side of the coin, Smith’s contributions to the team didn’t draw favorable reviews. Both Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating pegged him as a poor left fielder and a roughly average right fielder. Smith has never been known for his glove, but this year’s poor marks in left field came in a fairly small sample, and he’s been largely adequate there over the bulk of his career per those same metrics.

As for Iannetta, the 33-year-old got off to a hot start with the Mariners in 2016 and looked to be working his way toward triggering a vesting option for the 2017 season based on his strong play through the season’s first two and a half months. As of June 16, Iannetta was batting a very respectable .247/.348/.412 through 198 trips to the plate. However, his production thereafter cratered, and as a result his playing time diminished. Iannetta received just 140 plate appearances from that point forth, in part due to the return of Mike Zunino but also due to the .160/.237/.216 slash line to which the veteran limped.

Iannetta was a well-above-average bat for the Rockies and Angels from 2008-14, but he’s now coming off a pair of dismal seasons at the plate that saw him bat a combined .199/.298/.332 in 655 plate appearances. Iannetta still possesses good discipline at the plate and a bit of pop from the right side of the dish, but he’ll probably have to entertain offers to be a backup catcher this winter after this 2015-16 run.

Share 0 Retweet 4 Send via email0

Seattle Mariners Transactions Chris Iannetta Seth Smith

Rangers Will Make Qualifying Offer To Ian Desmond
Main
Astros Claim Nori Aoki From Mariners
View Comments (5)
Post a Comment

5 Comments

  1. JDSchneck

    9 years ago

    Braves, you hearing that? Chris Ianneta is on the market. If we can’t get antibody else, he’s not that bad

    Reply
  2. whereslou

    9 years ago

    Hopefully Smith is just a bat off the bench and not someone Dipoto is going to count on to play in the field much. He is exactly opposite of what he says he wants in an OF’er fast and athletic. Dipoto needs to find some OFers and someone for 1st. Still don’t buy the guy we got for the guy who got the save in game 7 of the WS is the answer at 1st. He got fleeced in that deal IMHO.

    Reply
    • JT19

      9 years ago

      Smith is purely a platoon bat, a team can’t field 8 guys who are going to play everyday, hit both righties and lefties, and perfectly fit the description of the type of player the team is seeking at that spot. Also, how did the Mariners get fleeced on the trade? Vogelbach still hasn’t played enough to say the Cubs have won the trade. Just because Montgomery got the save, which was only one out, does not automatically mean the Cubs fleeced the Mariners.

      Reply
    • 24TheKid

      9 years ago

      Just because the guy has short arms doesn’t mean he’s going to suck.

      Reply
  3. whereslou

    9 years ago

    Lol I was mostly being a smart a$$ about it. I think Dipoto was trying for Schwarber and we will see down the road if he came close. I don’t think he is going to be an everyday 1st bm though because of the short arms but we will see he looks to be a DH and I still don’t think you trade a LH SP with Montgomery’s upside for a DH. I have been wrong before and you can laugh at me if I am wrong with this one. Time will tell.
    I get gun shy when we make trades right now because we have been on the awful side of so many lately. Hopefully Dipoto can turn that around. I also want to see us keep and grow our young talent and not trade it for a quick fix that will hurt us down the road. The Gohara for Cozart trade is exactly the kind of trade the last 2 GMs would have made. Fill in a minor need with glaring needs unfilled and we might have made the WC might not but probably lost the game and lost one of our best young arms for a rental player. Marte has to get better but we lost more games because of poor OF play or 1st base play than SS. We also needed a bat off the bench that wasn’t Lind. Fix the big holes then worry about the small ones later. It was almost like fixing an over flowing toilet on the titanic and ignoring the gash from the ice berg. Hopefully we can fill some holes in the off season and make a run. It is time to hang a banner at Safeco.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

  • Top Stories
  • Recent

Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff

Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

Bobby Jenks Passes Away

Braves Release Alex Verdugo

Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline

Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim

Yankees Have Shown Interest In Ryan McMahon

Royals Interested In Bryan Reynolds

Rangers Option Josh Jung

Kevin Pillar Announces Retirement

Braves Place Spencer Schwellenbach On IL With Elbow Fracture

Giants Exercise 2026 Option On Manager Bob Melvin

Yordan Alvarez Shut Down Due To Setback With Hand Injury

Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib

Tucker Barnhart To Retire

Tyler Mahle To Be Sidelined Beyond Trade Deadline

Reds Release Jeimer Candelario

Dave Parker Passes Away

Griffin Canning Diagnosed With Ruptured Achilles

Nationals Sign Luis Garcia

Cubs, Tigers Among Teams Interested In Ke’Bryan Hayes

AL Central Notes: Thomas, Ragans, Lynch, Cobb

Padres To Activate Yu Darvish On Monday

Rhys Hoskins Suffers Grade 2 Thumb Sprain, Headed To IL

Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

Rays Sign Peter Strzelecki To Minor League Contract

MLB Announces 2025 All-Star Rosters

Pirates Re-Sign Yohan Ramírez, Release Peter Strzelecki

Diamondbacks Place Pavin Smith On IL, Select Tristin English

MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

Latest Rumors & News

Latest Rumors & News

  • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
  • Luis Robert Rumors
  • Alex Bregman Rumors

 

Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

MLBTR Features

MLBTR Features

  • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
  • Front Office Originals
  • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
  • MLBTR Podcast
  • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
  • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
  • Contract Tracker
  • Transaction Tracker
  • Extension Tracker
  • Agency Database
  • MLBTR On Twitter
  • MLBTR On Facebook
  • Team Facebook Pages
  • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

Rumors By Team

  • Angels Rumors
  • Astros Rumors
  • Athletics Rumors
  • Blue Jays Rumors
  • Braves Rumors
  • Brewers Rumors
  • Cardinals Rumors
  • Cubs Rumors
  • Diamondbacks Rumors
  • Dodgers Rumors
  • Giants Rumors
  • Guardians Rumors
  • Mariners Rumors
  • Marlins Rumors
  • Mets Rumors
  • Nationals Rumors
  • Orioles Rumors
  • Padres Rumors
  • Phillies Rumors
  • Pirates Rumors
  • Rangers Rumors
  • Rays Rumors
  • Red Sox Rumors
  • Reds Rumors
  • Rockies Rumors
  • Royals Rumors
  • Tigers Rumors
  • Twins Rumors
  • White Sox Rumors
  • Yankees Rumors

Navigation

  • Sitemap
  • Archives
  • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

MLBTR INFO

  • Advertise
  • About
  • Commenting Policy
  • Privacy Policy

Connect

  • Contact Us
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • RSS Feed

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top

Register

Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version